Using FOIA To Find Out How Much Gov't Is Spending On Ads Promoting FOIA

from the follow-the-circle dept

It would appear that the UK government is trying to promote its website for those filing Freedom of Information Act requests using paid search. Any time people search on "freedom of information act" or "freedom of information" an ad may appear. That, apparently, caught the imagination of someone who wondered just how much the government was paying for those ads and, conveniently, filed a freedom of information request to find out. Apparently, about 4,000 people have clicked through since the ads began last July, costing the government a few hundred pounds. There's no word on whether or not one of those clicks was from the person filing this FOIA request -- but you would assume that would be the case.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2006 @ 1:34pm

    No Subject Given

    first post, but I am not using my name cause it might get me in trouble. :)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      CSM-Bobcat, 6 Mar 2006 @ 1:56pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      Is there some sort of reward for being the first post? You don't seem to have anything to contribute to the topic.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dan mayer, 6 Mar 2006 @ 2:25pm

    Pretty funny

    That is a pretty funny use of the FOI act. I am also really suprised that it was only about 4,000. I guess it is a pretty specific search term, but you think they would have had to spend more than that. Over all thought i think it shows that it was a good use of money to help promote it. A few hundred pounds is pretty much nothing, and it was probably targeted at those users that truly cared about it.

    Very cool and really funny.

    (No award for first post, just kinda lamers really like to do it for some reason)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rhetoric, 6 Mar 2006 @ 2:42pm

    Funny

    CSM-Bobcat, you posted second... mentioning that the first poster didn't contribute anything to the topic. Did you bother to read your own comment? Did YOU contribute to the topic? Silly.
    Quite interesting that the gov't would spend money on freedom of information. Just exactly where did they advertise?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      CSM-Bobcat, 6 Mar 2006 @ 3:31pm

      Re: Funny

      An irony that did not go unnoticed. But I had to ask...

      Any yes, this is yet another post with no real relevance to the topic. My apologies.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.