I found black-hat content marketers: sockpuppet bloggers, fake Reddit/HN accts

Post by momokoko » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:42 AM UTC

dang wrote: post #139

momokoko wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've personally spent hundreds (probably thousands) of hours investigating such things, have banned many accounts and sites for it, and have put tons of effort into writing code to combat it. > No, that is not what's happening. Not to try and get clever and twist your words, but these statements do not appear to line up particularly well with one another.

Ok, I'll give you a detailed breakdown. You said that three things were happening which in reality are not: (1) that we "realize the exact opposite [of what we say]" — in reality, I tell the truth as far as I know it, because I respect this community (edit: plus, for the cynical, it would be a stupid and unnecessary risk not to); (2) that we're "terrified what will happen if the public finds out how common it is" — i…

Post by dang » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 5:57 AM UTC

momokoko wrote: post #151

dang wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, I'll give you a detailed breakdown. You said that three things were happening which in reality are not: (1) that we "realize the exact opposite [of what we say]" — in reality, I tell the truth as far as I know it, because I respect this community (edit: plus, for the cynical, it would be a stupid and unnecessary risk not to); (2) that we're "terrified what will happen if the public finds out how common it is" — i…

> in reality, unless I'm wildly ignorant of my job, it's tiny relative to the quantity of imaginary things people make up about it. It is a safe bet you would not have written this the way you did if you knew this was a larger problem that you did not reveal or you were an amazing thespian. Apologies on the insultation, which is obviously unfounded at this point.

Post by thaumasiotes » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 6:15 AM UTC

nl wrote: post #135

ineedasername wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, according to their page, disclosure is a best practice, but doing otherwise isn't inherently illegal. Their own guide [0] begins by talking about adhering to their guidelines as "voluntary compliance", and that a failure to do so would require their investigation into the specifics to determine if it was a violation of law: It is not automatically a violation. [0] https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/a…

Those guidelines are voluntary, sure. But there are actual laws included (section 5 of of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 45)) that make some things actually illegal. Specifically: "Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful."[1] This voluntary guide helps people understand how the FTC inteprates that law. Deciding no…

Post by barumi » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 6:28 AM UTC

troydavis wrote: post #4

mtmail wrote: post #2

In the past I have pointed the HN moderators (contact link is the footer) to threads with sock puppets. Some are easy to recognize, e.g. new users praising a service that got submitted only 10 minutes ago. Sometimes it's harder to find a pattern. Do email the HN moderators if you suspect fraud or unfair practices.

Normally they're pretty trivial like you said. This one is extensive: 20+ sockpuppet HN and Reddit accounts and dozens of fake blog posts submitted to many of the largest Medium-style blogs. It's an entire propaganda network just devoted to content marketing.

Post by pvg » Thu, Oct 15, 2020, 7:01 AM UTC

dang wrote: post #145

krimeo wrote: post #142

Eye opening isn't it? Now you can see where most of the stuff on top of HN comes from.

Unless I don't know the first thing about my job (always possible I suppose), that is definitely not true.