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I created a fake business and bought it an online reputation

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Re: I created a fake business and bought it an online reputation

#3
There's a whole seedy world under the surface of Fiverr, and I'm surprised no one seems to have done an in-depth "Inside Fiverr" piece yet. Vectorization services that present as individuals in the US but are actually farmed out to workshops in non-English speaking countries. Voice actors whose work samples consist mainly of dubious get-rich-quick ads. And as this article points out, "SEO" and "reputation building" services as far as the eye can see. (For $5, you can have your yoga "article" featured on this woman's website, complete with up to "three... dofollow links": https://www.fiverr.com/maigent/post-your-content-on-my-yoga-...)

Re: I created a fake business and bought it an online reputation

#4
That was a good write-up. Thing is, this works. Even (or especially) for startups. Only if to kickstart the hype a bit. Real followers and likes will follow, but let's be honest here: Who doesn't automatically trust a business that has 19K Twitter followers and a few good reviews out there?

From the article: And these days, which is more real: a fake business with a real website or a brick and mortar business with no online presence?

Re: I created a fake business and bought it an online reputation

#9
post #4

That was a good write-up. Thing is, this works. Even (or especially) for startups. Only if to kickstart the hype a bit. Real followers and likes will follow, but let's be honest here: Who doesn't automatically trust a business that has 19K Twitter followers and a few good reviews out there? From the article: And these days, which is more real: a fake business with a real website or a brick and mortar business with no…

> Real followers and likes will follow, but let's be honest here: Who doesn't automatically trust a business that has 19K Twitter followers and a few good reviews out there?

For now. As more companies cheat the system, people will be less likely to trust them based on things like followers and reviews.

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