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Microsoft Paying for Positive Xbox One Coverage on YouTube
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft, partnered with Machinima, has put forth a promotion for YouTube personalities: make a video about the Xbox One and get money for it. Problematically, they also require the reviewer not to disclose that they're getting paid (or mention anything negative), which breaks FTC disclosure rules (PDF). Microsoft has a well-known history of astroturfing, but is this the first proof of them doing it illegally?"
its legality is irrelevant
The astroturfing itself isn't that newsworthy, but if it could be proved MS is doing something illegal here, it might blow up and become quite something.
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
Maybe we can dedicate a whole website to the 1,000s of companies that do this type of thing.
Don't know about a website, but at Wikipedia people have collected a list of astroturfing cases.
Fake reviews, Fake adverts, Fake court presentations...
And they complain if we use a fake copy of Windows!
Thanks for keeping us posted on how the PC gaming community doesn't like consoles. Without your post, I would never have guessed.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
It's not a fine line at all in many jurisdictions, where any paid promotion must be explicitly disclosed. The agreement quoted here includes a gagging clause that's in direct conflict with that.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?