I wonder if this is related to the myriad of "NO SD CARD, NO REPLACEABLE BATTERY, NO BUY" type user comments that littered positive reviews for the HTC One.
I made one of those comments (although worded a bit better). I certainly wasn't paid :(
Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
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Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#82I wonder if this is related to the myriad of "NO SD CARD, NO REPLACEABLE BATTERY, NO BUY" type user comments that littered positive reviews for the HTC One.
They could well have been responsible for some of them, but there are certainly a lot of us who feel that way reasonably strongly.
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Companies who are leaders in their industry do not usually need to do this. I've heard of it happening at smaller organizations or sole proprietorships (small business), but it is strange to see from a company as large as Samsung. What's important is how high up the chain this was sanctioned by. If it's a lowly manager somewhere, he/she will just get fired and this will all blow over. If it's right at the top, it's m…
Dude, I don't see why you need to defend Apple so seriously and in all probability, they are no different and just because they haven't got caught yet, doesn't mean you can't rule out the possibility that they aren't into this. As an example, during the Apple vs Samsung patent wars (after Samsung lost), a handful of publications were writing in support of Apple even when most of them knew that Apple was abusing the p…
I'm not defending Apple. I'm not a huge fan of their stuff. But, they are their market's leader and the parent post mentioned the outrage that one might see if Apple did the same as Samsung in this case.
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#84>perhaps the bigger issue here is this: if Samsung has been using these tactics against HTC, are they also engaged in similar marketing techniques with other rivals? The even bigger issue is, who else is doing this more intelligently than Samsung?
Eventually all you have to do is mimic human behavior closely enough and it's untraceable. Sometimes that's expensive, but it's always doable.
It didn't sound to me like this is an automated system. Just humans pretending to be who they're not.
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#85The title is a bit misleading -- the story is not that Samsung used devious marketing methods, the story is that they were caught. Any number of companies hire shills to post phony endorsements, the trick is not to get caught. In fairness to companies like Samsung, if everyone is doing it, to stand on principle is to risk being trounced by those who don't.
I think this is good that they are getting called out, but I'm not surprised. I'm sure a decent number of big companies do this. My brother bought a new truck awhile ago, and the dealership ended up filling the gas tank for him for free. They just asked to fill out a comment card for him.
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is an amazing list. They seem to be on top there together with Ryanair and european banks.
Samsung's antics are hardly contained to smartphones & tablets either.
It reminded me of a project we did by analysing the reviews using basic NLP techniques. http://goo.gl/TqhfL
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#87As a New Zealander, quite frankly I have to say that Americans sound like a bunch of racists to me whenever they discuss Samsung vs Apple.
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#88>perhaps the bigger issue here is this: if Samsung has been using these tactics against HTC, are they also engaged in similar marketing techniques with other rivals? The even bigger issue is, who else is doing this more intelligently than Samsung?
This. I love Samsung hardware, but the company seems critically unable to think big. They have no apparent direction or higher thinking, they just make solidly good devices and throw gobs of money at marketing. It's bizarre - in spite of their devices and a reputation for quality gear, they still act like a cheap Korean knock-off company instead of a market leader. It's no surprise that when they try to do evil, they…
Samsung are one of the biggest and most diversified companies in the world (did you know they are the world's biggest ship builder? Or that they offer life insurance?). I don't have difficulty imagining a lack of organisation and direction in management when they have so many arms doing so many different things.
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#89I wonder if this is related to the myriad of "NO SD CARD, NO REPLACEABLE BATTERY, NO BUY" type user comments that littered positive reviews for the HTC One.
I doubt it. People who like those features are typically very vocal about them (especially since they're dying out).
Re: Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web
#90Samsung has been doing this for a while in their home market of South Korea. I've heard tales of Samsung hiring 1,000 temporary employees with the sole task of blogging or commenting on blogs/social networks about their products.