Paid to Post Commenters from China

scotty on 25/11/2011 - 11:51

Saw this article today from TheNextWeb:

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/11/24/chinas-water-army-of-p…

On the Internet, the paid posters represent a new type of online job opportunity. They get paid for posting comments and new threads or articles on different online communities and websites for some hidden purposes, e.g., to influence the opinion of other people towards certain social events or business markets.

Interesting read, because over here at OzBargain we are pretty much combating the Chinese water army everyday.

Internet

Comments

  • CuteChocobo on 25/11/2011 - 12:28

    This is especially big in App stores to boost reviews of games, productivity apps!
    http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/03/app-store-payola/
    Been following this trend of a while. Whilst it is a blooming business for those who need the money, but it created a false sense of truth in these activities. In the past, I trust online reviews/user reviews on products. But after knowing the hidden conspiracies, no more review reading. I rather visit 'more' professional sites to see their slightly less-biased reviews!

    Good post Scotty :)

    • scotty on 25/11/2011 - 12:32

      it created a false sense of truth in these activities

      A false sense of truth is worse than no truth in my opinon. That's exactly the reason why us, the moderators at OzBargain, worked hard on getting rid of sockpuppets. Sometimes they can hide for months before getting detected.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/11/2011 - 20:36

        At at the same time, they can have Friends for life….;)

        But is this any different from getting someone to like you on facebook for a discount?

        And some in the West get paid to refer their facebook friends.

        Since we gave up trusting emails from those looking for love, and offering instant larger you know whats, over 15 years ago, to believe a review or even 100's of reviews, went the way of DoDo.

        SEO companies have been promoting ways to get higher Google rankings for a website, for years. Dont you love it when you search for a manual for a X2345C widget (even using.pdf) , and the first site that pops up on Google, when you visit says' We DONT have a manual for X2345C !!!

        This biggest surprise is that our Chinese friends took so long to copy this idea…

        http://www.dwayneflinchum.com/2011/08/22/in-the-world-of-%E2…

        • illusionarybreeze on 26/11/2011 - 01:09
          +2

          Pretty sure the Chinese have been doing it for years. It's just taken this long for someone to officially put a report out.

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