clickbait

[ klik-beyt ]

/ ˈklɪkˌbeɪt /

Digital Technology.

noun

a sensationalized headline or piece of text on the internet designed to entice people to follow a link to an article on another web page.

adjective

noting or relating to such internet content: Clickbait articles contribute to the online visibility of the news website.

Origin of clickbait

First recorded in 1995–2000; click¹ (in the computer sense) + bait

Words nearby clickbait

cliché, clichéd, Clichy, click, clickable, clickbait, click beetle, clicker, clickety-clack, click fraud, clickjacking

Example sentences from the Web for clickbait

Clickbait title notwithstanding, Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Whenever I take a clickbait quiz to determine which of The Avengers I would be, I always game the questions to aim for the Hulk.
Model Minority Rage: Why the Hulk Should Be an Asian Guy|Arthur Chu|July 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
However, Mizrahi is less certain that clickbait culture will fade away in the near future.
Saving Us From Ourselves: The Anti-Clickbait Movement|Emily Shire|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The clickbait backlash on various forms of social media is not only incredibly meta, but perhaps on first glance, overly dramatic.
Saving Us From Ourselves: The Anti-Clickbait Movement|Emily Shire|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The incentives for even the most respected news agencies to rely on clickbait are obvious: traffic.
Saving Us From Ourselves: The Anti-Clickbait Movement|Emily Shire|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST