Fortunes were made by pushing ads into every conceivable media channel, trying to lure consumers into buying the advertised product.

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Other research has shown that the more exposure to a particular ad, the more likely the viewer will want to buy the advertised product.

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The idea is to "nudge" (Cass Sunstein's catchword) consumers into making healthy choices by either restricting unhealthy ones (Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on large sodas), mandating disclosure of information (the ObamaCare provision mandating calorie counts on chain-restaurant menus), or mandating the manner of disclosure (for example, requiring a product advertised as "90% fat-free" to be reciprocally labeled "10% fat").

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The advertiser has two variableto contend with(1) the sheer number of eyeballs or ears that a particular advertising strategy will reach, and (2) within a set, the number of eyeballs and ears actually interested in the product being advertised.

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Security Shield: This scareware is particularly tricky because the web crooks have created fake reviews on Facebook and Twitter that say the product works as advertised.

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In that suit, the Kings County Superior Court judge denied the request for class-action status, ruling that Microsoft had taken sufficient care to ensure its product worked as advertised, and threw the suit out of court, Murray said.

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