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A Reminder That Asstroturfing Exists
,----[ Quote ]
| Fresh off the presses, another asstroturfing site brags about how they game
| social bookmarking like it was Three-Card Monte. The story got posted on
| Reddit so Redditors can laugh and point at Digg, as if the exact same thing
| never happens on Reddit.
|
| Of all the spam and advertising fraud out there, it is perhaps asstroturfing
| that is the meanest. Asstrturfers undermine the social web. The story you see
| that's voted up to the front page, even though it's a troll? People were paid
| to vote that up. Your social-network-site "friend" who recommends spams and
| scams to you non-stop? He's paid to pretend to be your friend. The comments
| that flood a story, flaming about one side of the issue, insulting and
| modding down everybody who objects, and make it sound like it's the
| world-against-you? They're paid actors. The troll who harassed you in a
| thread for numerous replies until you gave up in frustration? Paid to do
| that.
`----
http://penguinpetes.com/b2evo/index.php?title=a_reminder_that_asstroturfing_exists&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
The Social Marketing Hall of Shame
,----[ Quote ]
| Social media marketing is a tricky balance. If you can come up with a viral
| smash hit, there’s nothing better. But if you grossly underestimate the
| intelligence of the community you’re targeting- it can create devastating
| backlash
`----
http://socialmediarockstar.com/the-social-marketing-hall-of-shame
Related:
EU cracks down on fake blogger astroturfing
,----[ Quote ]
| But back to the web, and with sneaky marketing campaigns likely to be more
| effective than upfront marketing campaigns, what is stopping companies from
| simply risking it and continuing existing practices?
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/03/eu_flogging_ban/
Corn Farmers Against Google?
,----[ Quote ]
| Only if they're planting in AstroTurf
|
| [...]
|
| How do you know the organization, and the op-ed, weren't created by LawMedia
| Group at the behest of some well-funded clients? If they did their jobs
| right, you don't know.
|
| Some of them have left digital fingerprints here and there, though, says
| Declan McCullagh, in a blockbuster of a report exposing the intellectual
| whoredom offered for various important issues. Shortly after Microsoft hired
| LawMedia, for example, legislators, national agencies, and news outlets
| received pointed complaints from coalitions of farmers, rural voters, and
| geeky Latinos about how Google's advertising deal with Yahoo would wreck
| everything.
|
| [...]
|
| Don't call them a PR firm or a lobbying firm though, Law Media – which has a
| ton of lawyers working for them too—is a "public affairs firm" specializing
| in producing "remarkable coalitions" for anything one might need a coalition
| for.
`----
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/08/14/corn-farmers-against-google
Microsoft Pays $200 for Mentioning Its Tools
,----[ Quote ]
| If you're a professor and you mention Microsoft programming tools in a
| scholarly presentation -- in fact, even if you just use the tools --
| Microsoft will send you a check for $200.
`----
http://chronicle.com/data/articles.dir/art-44.dir/issue-33.dir/33a03001.htm
Microsoft pays star writers to recite slogan
,----[ Quote ]
| The stodgy old media industry has a rule that newspaper reporters, and TV
| news hosts, shouldn't trade on their public trust to endorse products.
`----
http://valleywag.com/tech/federated-media/microsoft-pays-star-writers-to-recite-slogan-271485.php
MSN Is Spamming The Blogosphere
,----[ Quote ]
| Mr. Youth LLC is a marketing firm and lists MSN as a customer. Their
| website is here: http://www.mryouth.com/ Their phone number is
| (212) 779-8700.
|
| I've talked to a couple of other bloggers who said they are receiving
| similar comments on their blogs. This pisses me off because MSN/Mr.
| Youth should 1) be more upfront about their true identity, and 2)
| provide a real e-mail address so that I can request they take my
| blog off their marketing campaign.
`----
http://www.scott-o-rama.com/2006/12/06/msn-is-spamming-the-blogosphere/
Microsoft really loves Bloggers !!!
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft regularly flies customers and industry experts to its
| campus in Washington to listen to the feedback given by those
| people.The company invites dozens of key customers and partners
| to the event,where they spend brainstorming as a group.But as of
| late, Microsoft has changed it's strategy and the company is
| making extensive use of blogs to get direct customer feedback.
|
| Within a year,more than 1000 Microsoft employee blogs featured
| developers and product managers talking directly to customers every
| day, instead of once a year.Microsoft employees read dozens of
| blogs every day to see how customers react to Microsoft products
| and services. In fact,Microsoft employees have taken a bigger leap
| and even contribute to other's blogs in the expanding space of
| Blogosphere.
`----
http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com/2007/03/microsoft-really-loves-bloggers.html
Microsoft Traps and Hunts for Bloggers in India !!
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has announced the "Microsoft BlogStars" contest, to Hunts
| for Developer Bloggers in India. After feeling the power and increase of
| the Bloggers community in India, Microsoft tries to trap and hunt Bloggers
| in India to buildup the blogging community, for writing blog posts
| supporting towards Microsoft Technologies.
`----
http://i5bala.blogspot.com/2006/10/microsoft-traps-and-hunts-for-bloggers.html
Seattle Area Bloggers Needed for Microsoft User Research Study
,----[ Quote ]
| For your participation, we'll give you your choice of retail
| software and hardware from our extensive list. Current titles
| include the latest Xbox, Xbox 360, and PC games, keyboards,
| Microsoft Office, Windows, productivity software and much more.
`----
http://blogs.msdn.com/usability_recruiting/archive/2007/01/05/seattle-area-bloggers-needed-for-microsoft-user-research-study.aspx
Bloggers meet Mr. Bill (Gates)
,----[ Quote ]
| That meeting is to help Web developers understand how to "unlock new
| revenue opportunities" through technology and content, which could
| include podcasts and blogs. The Microsoft sessions wraps up with a
| one-hour q-and-a up with Bill Gates.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BD18F3BC9%2DF59E%2D4DB4%2DB978%2DD4651079E274%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo
http://tinyurl.com/yjaseg
Bribing Bloggers
,----[ Quote ]
| This is the most frustrating thing about the practice of giving
| bloggers free stuff: it pisses in the well, reducing the credibility
| of all blogs. I'm upset that people trust me less because of the
| behavior of other bloggers. Don't even get me started about PayPerPost.
|
| [...]
|
| Do not, under any circumstances, consider upgrading an XP system to
| Vista... even if it's fairly new and even if it's Vista Supremo
| Premium Ultra-Capable.
`----
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/12/28.html
Microsoft's Laptop Giveaway Becoming PR Disaster?
,----[ Quote ]
| This thing is starting to feel like a PR disaster. Bloggers are
| starting to smell blood and this thing very well may begin to
| turn into yet another episode of bloggers gone wild.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/061228/23174_id.html?.v=1
Bribing Bloggers
,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bribe. Period. You say nice things about us, you get nice
| things from us. Heck, just say neutral things about us-we'll give
| you a killer new laptop and we know that you'll be inclined to say
| better things about us.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2077596,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616
Getting a Vaio [with Vista, from Microsoft, even in March 2007]
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Belgium rang me yesterday (I don?t think they realised it
| was a public holiday here!).
|
| [...]
|
| The phone call yesterday was to confirm my address - the laptop (a
| Sony Vaio - dunno which model or spec yet) is en route with Vista
| Ultimate and Office Ultimate pre-installed.
`----
http://www.tomrafteryit.net/getting-a-vaio/
INQhack survives Vistability test in Volesville
,----[ Quote ]
| The Vole (Microsoft) supposedly invited The INQ over for tea because
| we are notorious "Microsoft doubters" - and we were accompanied by
| other supposed Vole doubters such as the folk from lifehacker and
| a very nice man from Slashdot, as well as some Microsoft MvPs.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36312
Microsoft desperately wants my love -- and yours
,----[ Quote ]
| I spent December seventh, eighth, and ninth in Seattle as Microsoft's
| guest. Microsoft flew me there from Florida at its expense, put me up
| in a nice hotel, provided decent food, and comped me and four other
| invitees to this "special conference" with presentations about the
| marvels of Vista and other recent or upcoming Microsoft products. They
| didn't quite play the old Beatles song "Love Me Do" in the background,
| but it was the event's unstated theme.
`----
http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/12/12/085222
Yelp Controversy Highlights Trouble With Consumer Reviews
,----[ Quote ]
| This consumer review thing may need to be rethought. Like just about
| everything else that came out of the Web 2.0 movement, customer reviews of
| businesses are huge targets for abuse.
`----
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/03/05/yelp-controversy-highlights-trouble-with-consumer-reviews
Whisper campaigns exposed: pay per lie on YouTube
,----[ Quote ]
| One of Australia's most popular YouTube users has admitted being paid to
| spruik Ten's new show Lie To Me surreptitiously in the latest example of
| marketers invading the popular video sharing site.
`----
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/biztech/whisper-campaigns-exposed-pay-per-lie-on-youtube/2009/02/19/1234632880291.html
Is Yelp Manipulating User Reviews?
,----[ Quote ]
| Is Yelp.com manipulating user reviews to coerce small businesses to advertise
| with the site? That's what some business owners in the San Francisco area are
| claiming, and they've taken those complaints to both the East Bay Express
| and the student-run newspaper the Daily Californian. Yelp denies these
| allegations and says its sales staff does not have the power to either move
| or delete reviews.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/159839/yelp_accused.html?tk=rss_news
Wanted: £160k-a-year Twittercrat
,----[ Quote ]
| Can a magic sprinkling of Web 2.0 buzzwords revive the fortunes of a deeply
| unpopular government?
|
| That's what the Cabinet Office hopes with the appointment of a civil service
| post with the title of "Director of Digital Engagement". The lucky bureaucrat
| will play the part of cybernetic overlord - "to embed digital engagement in
| the day to day working of Government". However, he/she won't have executive
| powers over existing departments.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/18/twittercrat/
Google’s Cutts Apologizes For Paid Post Snafu
,----[ Quote ]
| Google Japan hired a Japanese company called Cyberbuzz, who paid bloggers as
| much as $100 to write about a new search widget. This was a clear violation
| of Google’s rules, which Google has aggressively and publicly enforced over
| the past couple of years, much to many directory operators’ chagrins.
`----
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/02/16/google%E2%80%99s-cutts-apologizes-for-paid-post-snafu
Outdated Whois Information Might Lead to False Light Tort--Meyerkord v.
Zipatoni
,----[ Quote ]
| Unfortunately for Sony--and Meyerkord--the campaign did not go well. Bloggers
| and others got suspicious of the overly colloquial site, unmasked the
| astroturfing and decided to "out" the people involved. They pulled up the
| Whois records, saw the outdated information that Meyerkord was the
| registrant, and mistakenly assumed he was involved in the campaign.
`----
http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2009/01/outdated_whois.htm
Belkin boss 'extremely sorry' for cash-for-good-reviews plan
,----[ Quote ]
| According to an open letter from Belkin big cheese Mark Reynoso,
| the "unethical practice" was conducted by "one of our employees", who offered
| cash in exchange for good reviews.
`----
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01/20/belkin_prez_apologises/
Caught AstroTurfing: Bad Belkin Bayard Business..
,----[ Quote ]
| It seems a Belkin employee was caught red-handed looking for people to write
| positive reviews of one of their products. Our own Paul Ferris discusses his
| observations and some of the bigger social issues that 'AstroTurfing'
| exposes.
`----
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/114965/
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