Except if there are tells that can be quickly distinguished, that would save a lot of us a lot of time and effort.

I would personally find the answer - if there is an effective one - very valuable. And I would likely employ said answer to filter out ads purely out of spite even if it takes longer and more effort than applying.

Fuck any company that uses ghost ads, they should all go on a public “don’t bother applying to ANY job here” registry. Let’s see them find applicants for the genuine jobs when they’re well-known for such shitty tactics.