A company which duped holidaymakers into paying for a free security check has had its online advert banned.
The advertising watchdog has ruled the sponsored Google link for www.estauk.com was misleading.
People travelling to the US without a visa - such as British travellers - must fill in a compulsory online Esta form.
It is offered for free on the US embassy's website.
But www.estauk.com - which used a logo similar to the embassy - charged users around £30 to submit the form through their official-looking site.
Their paid-for ad was one of the top results tourists found when they searched for "esta" online, and appeared above the official site.
The Advertising Standards Authority has now confirmed it will be banned.
The ASA began investigating the web link after a consumer complained that they had been duped.
The authority found the ad breached advertising codes on the grounds of honesty, truthfulness and substantiation.
"We considered that the claims in the sponsored link 'Esta Application Website' and 'Welcome to the US Esta Application website' implied the advertiser was an official US Government Esta website," it ruled.
"The ad must not appear again in its current form."
The site, www.estauk.com claims to be part of Visa Express Co Ltd but Sky News has revealed it is run by Paygate, a South Korean firm.
:: Follow Ruth Barnett on Twitter.
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