Slashdot Mirror
Belkin's Amazon Rep Paying For Fake Online Reviews
remove office writes "I recently discovered that Belkin's lead online sales rep, Michael Bayard, has been secretly paying internet users to review his company's products favorably on Amazon.com and other websites like Newegg, whether or not they've ever used the devices. Bayard instructed the people he was paying to 'Write as if you own the product and are using it... Mark any other negative reviews as "not helpful" once you post yours.' Ironically, he was using Amazon's own Mechanical Turk service to hire his fraudsters. Did he honestly think he wouldn't get caught? Are Slashdotters aware of other examples of other such blatant astroturfing on behalf of a large tech company like Belkin?"
Not much different than the Linux zealot who hasn't touched a Windows machine since 1997 making up a bullshit story on the net about Windows XP taking 8 minutes to boot on his P4, but when they switched to Linux all their programs ran 325% faster under WINE. Others make up bogus stories about converting everyone from 90 year old grandmothers to mentally challenged school children. While they could not remember if they should click the left or right mouse button on Windows, they are now writing their own bash scripts.
Lying trolls are a dime a dozen. The only exception here is someone is actually paying for them, when others get them for free without even trying. The motivation isn't money for some, but the game is the same.
"When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving, kick him out of the door." - Xah Lee
Check out the Olympics stories on slashdot and you'll see them.
See also the Obama stories on CNN.