IPTV Google Sponsored Listings – Are They Legal?
Over the past few years IPTV services have grown in popularity as cord cutters are trading in their $200/month cable & satellite subscriptions for services that offer much more content for only $10-$20 per month.
When I say much more, I mean 10,000-20,000 live channels, local channels, Pay Per View events, thousands of Video on Demand movies/TV shows, etc.
In 2022, Cable and Satellite providers lost an astounding 5.8 million subscribers! Yes, many of them are flocking to IPTV services or they’re getting nickle and dimed by the dozens of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, fuboTV, YouTube TV, etc.
The days of traditional cable and satellite businesses are done. They were originally created as a means to bring cable television into homes but now that we have the Internet, there’s no longer a need for them. The Internet is the new delivery mechanism for every type of media that we consume whether that’s live TV, movies, TV shows, music, e-books, you name it.
The only reason why cable/satellite still exists is due to the long-term contracts that broadcast companies got roped into. Wouldn’t channels such as ESPN, Fox News, CNN, HGTV, etc. do a better job for their advertisers if it were free for everyone to consume?
The delivery mechanism that really gets me are the Pay Per View sporting events. We pay anywhere from $75-$120 for one live event yet we are advertised to throughout the entire airing. Why don’t UFC, Boxing, WWE offer their events for free and charge the advertisers more due to the large audience they will attract? It works for the Super Bowl, doesn’t it?
Law Enforcement Cracking Down on IPTV
Various law enforcement agencies around the world have tried clamping down on these IPTV services by imprisoning or fining the masterminds behind them. But, the problem is that when one service gets shut down, ten more pop up. There are literally thousands of IPTV services now available and this surge doesn’t seem to be slowing down whatsoever.
There’s no stopping IPTV just like there was no stopping music piracy when Napster hit the scene in 1999. At least the music industry pivoted and embraced delivery mechanisms such as Spotify where consumers are willing to pay $10 per month for ad-free unlimited music. When will we see something similar in the movie/TV streaming space?
The General Public Doesn’t Understand Legal Ramifications of IPTV
One major problem surrounding IPTV is that the general public doesn’t understand that some of these are illegal operations. Fancy websites and slick marketing make these outfits look legit and most people can’t discern from what’s legal and what’s not.
Fancy IPTV Websites & Slick Marketing
TROYPOINT has always taken the stance that there is no way that we can determine whether a service holds the proper licensing and this is true. We don’t accept revenue from unverified services due to the legal questions surrounding them. It’s also important to mention that outside countries have different laws pertaining to this type of technology. The only people who know whether a service is illegal or not are the individuals running them and the rights holders whose content is being distributed.
The legal IPTV situation puts consumers in a precarious situation. Is it illegal for someone to subscribe to one of these services? I’m not an attorney but I would say no because there is no way for the consumer to know whether or not it’s illegal. Yeah, common sense may tell us that $10 per month for 20,000 channels is too good to be true but that’s because we’ve been trained to expect $200 per month from the cable/satellite monopolies.
To take this a step further, Google seems to have no problem allowing ads to run for these questionable IPTV services.
What I think is hysterical in the following example is that regular website pages have been de-indexed from Google for mentioning various IPTV services (DMCA Complaint). Yet, Google gladly accepts ad money from the same questionable services!
I would guess that when a consumer lands on a page like this, they would assume that the Google Sponsored listings are legal, right?
When I do a Google search for Meth, Cocaine, or Prostitutes in Chicago, I don’t see any sponsored listing for those. Why are these IPTV services allowed to advertise though Google Search? Is Google in the same boat as TROYPOINT and it’s impossible for them to discern between what services are illegal and which aren’t?
There’s no doubt that some of these services do provide an amazing product and first-time users are in shock when they see what they can get for a few bucks per month. Even though the product is amazing, that doesn’t mean there’s no funny business going on behind the scenes.
It’s a well-known fact that some of these services sell credit card information and email addresses on the dark web. We hear it time and time again, “I signed up for XYZ IPTV Service and now my credit card has bogus charges on it.”
Stay Secure When Using IPTV
When using these questionable services, there are a few things that you should do to protect yourself.
Quality VPN is a Must
Connect to a quality VPN such as Surfshark prior to registering for service. You DO NOT want to provide your identifying IP Address to these services! Once you setup the service on your streaming device, make sure that you’re VPN is always ON with kill switch activated. You already protected yourself in the first step when registering but that all goes down the tubes if you use the same service without VPN active on your streaming device.
Don’t Provide Any Personal Information
You may wonder how these IPTV companies can charge only $5-$10 per month and make a profit. It’s because many of them are selling your personal information on the dark web such as credit card info, billing address, email address, username/password combos, etc.
Use a StartMail alias when registering for an account. DO NOT provide your real personal email address when registering.
StartMail Tutorial & Free Trial
Stay away from IPTV services that require credit card payment. Use crypto through Coinbase to pay when possible. PayPal also serves as a middle-man between you and your bank but they can still get your personal email address associated with your PayPal account.
If you must use a credit card for payment, you can use a masked credit card that acts like a prepaid card through Abine Blur.
The above precautions may seem like a lot but it’s the only way to thoroughly protect yourself when using these unverified IPTV services.
What do you think about these Google Sponsored IPTV Listings? Let us know in the comments below.
The post IPTV Google Sponsored Listings – Are They Legal? first appeared on TROYPOINT: Tech Tutorials On Firestick, Kodi, Android TV Box, VPN, IPTV, Streaming, & More.
