Consumer rights champion Martin Lewis has called on publishers to take more responsibility for adverts shown on their websites after prominent outlets ran promotions announcing his death.
The adverts featured a mock-up of the moneysavingexpert.com founder’s bloodied face and were presented as breaking news alerts. They were also badged with the logos of mainstream news outlets including the Mirror and London Evening Standard.
The ads appeared in prominent positions on the homepage of Mail Online, linking to scams including opportunities to buy bitcoin, and were also spotted on stories published by the Guardian and Independent newspapers.
Lewis, who grew up in Manchester, told the Guardian: “Newspaper publishers need to take responsibility for what is on their sites. The argument is that they are using an ad-serving platform that uses those ads.
