Ha! Somebody's getting axed next week, and I bet his name is Bayard.
What's even funnier (sad) is that this person didn't even try to cover up his name. He didn't think some person on the webs would do just a bit of investigation into who posted that ad? Pretty naive.
Submitted by Jane Prusakova on Sun, Jan 18 2009 - 12:40 PM.
Wow, what a crude attempt to cheat the review system!
Several companies have been known to offer rebates or coupons for posting good reviews, but those were "deals" offered to customers who actually bought the product. Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk takes cheating to a whole new level.
Submitted by softwarejanitor on Mon, Jan 19 2009 - 3:18 PM.
I agree... a number of companies over the years have had this kind of "astroturfing" blow up on them. Unfortunately it seems like some never learn... A certain large company in Redmond apparently still engages in this kind of activity, although from what I've read it is mostly done by people operating as rogues rather than by official policy.
Comments
Ha! Somebody's getting axed
Ha! Somebody's getting axed next week, and I bet his name is Bayard.
What's even funnier (sad) is that this person didn't even try to cover up his name. He didn't think some person on the webs would do just a bit of investigation into who posted that ad? Pretty naive.
Wow, what a crude attempt to
Wow, what a crude attempt to cheat the review system!
Several companies have been known to offer rebates or coupons for posting good reviews, but those were "deals" offered to customers who actually bought the product. Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk takes cheating to a whole new level.
Jane Prusakova
Software Architect & Developer
My blog
There's an outside chance
There's an outside chance that someone planted those offers in that guys name, but it doesn't seem likely.
David W. Smith
Husband, Father, Technologist, Nerd
Belkin has apologized -
Belkin has apologized - here's the update on this issue.
Truly, any gain from 'shilling' isn't worth the ire from your customers when they find out.
David W. Smith
Husband, Father, Technologist, Nerd
I agree... a number of
I agree... a number of companies over the years have had this kind of "astroturfing" blow up on them. Unfortunately it seems like some never learn... A certain large company in Redmond apparently still engages in this kind of activity, although from what I've read it is mostly done by people operating as rogues rather than by official policy.