Did Nvidia Hire Online Actors to Promote Their Products?

[Delicieuxz]

 

Did Nvidia Hire Online Actors to Promote Their Products?

Quote

I interviewed for a guerilla marketing business in San Francisco that targeted web forums.

 

I was told that if I accepted the job, I was to have at LEAST 50 identities on as many forums as I could muster (they wanted 100 eventually), with a goal of 5 posts an hour. The posts had to be well thought out, and the idea was that I was to establish multiple identities with a history on the forums, so that when the timing was right a well written but subtly placed marketing post could be finessed in. And regular visitors would recognize the post as coming from a long time poster.

If Nvidia did this, I think it is plausible that there would be some people on this forum doing this: people with either an anti-AMD posting streak, or distastefully-biased pro-Nvidia streak. I think it's an awful practice, and totally disrespectful of the communities and people that get subjected to this type of propaganda. In Canada, something similar was reported to be done by one of its federal political parties, the Conservatives. A disgusting practice, IMO.

 

So far, Nvidia has not responded to these questions, posed to Nvidia by the site that ran the linked-to article:

Did Nvidia hire AEG or other companies to seed online communities with undisclosed marketers posing as fans?

 

If not, what exactly do you mean by “engage with some NV fans help educate people on the web?” Are these ‘fans’ given products, money, or services to speak about Nvidia products without fully disclosing those gifts?

[Master Disaster]

3 minutes ago, Delicieuxz said:

Did Nvidia Hire Online Actors to Promote Their Products?

 

 

If Nvidia did this, I think it is plausible that there would be some people on this forum doing this: people with either an anti-AMD posting streak, or distastefully-biased pro-Nvidia streak. I think it's an awful practice, and totally disrespectful of the communities and people that get subjected to this type of propaganda. In Canada, something similar was reported to be done by one of its federal political parties, the Conservatives. A disgusting practice, IMO.

Pretty sure everyone is doing this these days.

[minibois]

That's stupid

I hope people on the forums they infected at least corrected the fake accounts if they spread lies/talk way too good about Nvidia products or people just suggested the alternatives as well (which people should on a forum)

 

but hey companies, you could hire me to say good things about ya. wink wink nudge nudge

/s

[LeChef]

you can be sure that everything that isn't illegal, but shady AF will be used by companies as long as it does the job. Nothing new here.

[Thorium19]

really doesn't surprise me that that's the case, looking at the attitudes of some people in the past I wouldn't put it past them being company employees.

[CommandMan7]

@Trik'Stari 

Can I borrow a tin foil hat? I'm all out

 

anyways, this is why you're supposed to look at multiple sources while looking at a product. If that was ever to happen on this forum, I'm sure there'd be such an argument that the OP couldn't keep up. 

[MageTank]

This is why I always tell people to ignore brands and flashy aesthetics if possible, and focus entirely on price:performance. The one metric that will NEVER steer someone in the wrong direction, and is bias-free. Any brand can win in price:performance on any given game, and people should focus on that above all else. Once you factor in the best price:performance product, then you should start worrying about other aspects, such as TDP, aesthetics, etc. 

 

As for whether or not that is happening on this forum, it's hard to tell. Some people are just genuine blind fanboys. 99% of which, are not "well though out" to qualify for this "job". Even if they do exist, It's kinda hard to get away with misinformation when others can call you out and prove you wrong with several different sources on the internet. It's why I also ask people to provide proof to their claims when making suggestions to people.

 

As for the morals of this practice, it's sad to say that it's not the first time a company has done this. Whether it comes to fabricating benchmarks, or simply cooking up a very one-sided fight on specific games to make their hardware standout, you will always see sketchy marketing tactics deployed whenever possible.

[ivan134]

As much as i am on a personal boycott of Nvidia, I would bet my left testicle AMD does this too. Corporations will do anything to get ahead as long it's legal, and even illegal as long as they don't get caught. This shouldn't really surprise anyone. 

[Master Disaster]

21 minutes ago, CommandMan7 said:

@Trik'Stari 

Can I borrow a tin foil hat? I'm all out

 

anyways, this is why you're supposed to look at multiple sources while looking at a product. If that was ever to happen on this forum, I'm sure there'd be such an argument that the OP couldn't keep up. 

I calling it now, @zMeul is 100% an Nvidia Guerilla.

[Tomsen]

3 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

I calling it now, @zMeul is 100% an Nvidia Guerilla.

Doubt it, he wont get past their requirements..

 

Quote

The posts had to be well thought out

 

[Notional]

Well listening to that obnoxious girl at the paper launch, it would not surprise me. I mean they had Angry Joe at the event. I mean I like the guy, but he is not a hardware guy: he only buys NVidia and only factory made computers. I doubt he could assemble his own even if his life depended on it.

NVidia knows how to do marketing and people are just gobbling it up like a beep in a prison.

[InsanelySecretD]

Oh, gosh! Guys, I am so happy with my GF 980 that I bought couple of weeks ago at a discounted price from Overclockers.co.uk!

 

This card is great I was able to play Stronghol: Crusader HD at max details!

 

I am so amazed with how well it performs at 1080p gaming - definitely a good grab, especially now, with all the 9xx cards being so cheap!

 

Also, I don't think I would be happy with buying AMD cards to the same extent as I am happy with my GeForce 980 - it's without comparison.

 

Still, 50 seperate identities, 5 posts an hour, well established presence within the community? They'de have to pay me $20 an hour to even consider that... Also, I am pretty sure this is illegal - if 'influences' have to disclose the fact that a piece of content they produced was sponsored, I think they could qualify despite having a smaller 'audience'.

[Humbug]

well they did.

 

but whether they still do I don't know.

[Delicieuxz]

28 minutes ago, ivan134 said:

As much as i am on a personal boycott of Nvidia, I would bet my left testicle AMD does this too. Corporations will do anything to get ahead as long it's legal, and even illegal as long as they don't get caught. This shouldn't really surprise anyone. 

Is it legal, though? I thought people legally have to disclose when they're being compensated to promote a product. I figured that was what The Consumerist, the site that posted the OP article, was getting at in these questions they fielded to Nvidia, which Nvidia has not responded to:

 

Did Nvidia hire AEG or other companies to seed online communities with undisclosed marketers posing as fans?

 

If not, what exactly do you mean by “engage with some NV fans help educate people on the web?” Are these ‘fans’ given products, money, or services to speak about Nvidia products without fully disclosing those gifts?

[Prysin]

1 hour ago, MageTank said:

This is why I always tell people to ignore brands and flashy aesthetics if possible, and focus entirely on price:performance. The one metric that will NEVER steer someone in the wrong direction, and is bias-free. Any brand can win in price:performance on any given game, and people should focus on that above all else. Once you factor in the best price:performance product, then you should start worrying about other aspects, such as TDP, aesthetics, etc. 

 

As for whether or not that is happening on this forum, it's hard to tell. Some people are just genuine blind fanboys. 99% of which, are not "well though out" to qualify for this "job". Even if they do exist, It's kinda hard to get away with misinformation when others can call you out and prove you wrong with several different sources on the internet. It's why I also ask people to provide proof to their claims when making suggestions to people.

 

As for the morals of this practice, it's sad to say that it's not the first time a company has done this. Whether it comes to fabricating benchmarks, or simply cooking up a very one-sided fight on specific games to make their hardware standout, you will always see sketchy marketing tactics deployed whenever possible.

are you hinting that a person on this forum that we both know may just be what has been described here ?

[Unhelpful]

13 minutes ago, Prysin said:

are you hinting that a person on this forum that we both know may just be what has been described here ?

Would this maybe be a person who believes himself to be the smartest guy in the room, who constantly cites his own napkin-work as a source? >_> 

[Prysin]

4 minutes ago, JoeyDM said:

Would this maybe be a person who believes himself to be the smartest guy in the room, who constantly cites his own napkin-work as a source? >_> 

How would i know, for all i know, it could be. I simply imply that there may be a person who fit the description that both me and @MageTank has had lengthy discussions with before.

[Notree]

Good ole plant an wait.

[FirstArmada]

THat articles from 2006 , although this is properly true it doesn't belong in the news section if the source is 10 years old

[Paranoid Kami]

This is only a problem with forums not looked after properly. They may make one account per site, but if they make 2 they will have the same IP address and that would be a dead giveaway to a mod that was looking at it. Doubt they use a proxy for each of their 100 accounts.

[Tataffe]

You do realise that the article quoted in the OP is from 2006, right? 

[dalekphalm]

14 minutes ago, Paranoid Kami said:

This is only a problem with forums not looked after properly. They may make one account per site, but if they make 2 they will have the same IP address and that would be a dead giveaway to a mod that was looking at it. Doubt they use a proxy for each of their 100 accounts.

Multiple accounts coming from the same IP isn't inherently a bad thing - there are definitely members on the forum where brothers/fathers/mothers/sons/sisters/husbands/wives, etc, are members.

 

It could certainly help rooting some of them out, but that alone is by no means proof. It's definitely not a "dead giveaway". They'd have to research and keep tabs on the users with the same IP, and, over time, may be able to tell. Or it could just be husband a wife going on LTT at the same time.

[Delicieuxz]

27 minutes ago, Tataffe said:

You do realise that the article quoted in the OP is from 2006, right? 

Actually, no, I hadn't. My bad.

[Paranoid Kami]

2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Multiple accounts coming from the same IP isn't inherently a bad thing - there are definitely members on the forum where brothers/fathers/mothers/sons/sisters/husbands/wives, etc, are members.

 

It could certainly help rooting some of them out, but that alone is by no means proof. It's definitely not a "dead giveaway". They'd have to research and keep tabs on the users with the same IP, and, over time, may be able to tell. Or it could just be husband a wife going on LTT at the same time.

Sometimes, yes. For the most part, no. I've been a mod on a gaming forum for a few years and most cases are people making second accounts to talk to themselves. The second most likely case is that they forgot their password and just decided to start a new one. Third is when people post on a college network that has the same IP and fourth would be people living in the same house. Usually brothers.

 

Mods can just do a quick post lookup to see what kind of things they talk about or if there are posting similarities. Only takes a minute or two and things only get done about it if it's obvious or if the person admits it when you ask him why he's posting on the same IP.

[Commander Llama]

This is nonsense. Everything on the internet is completely true with no biases behind anonymous posters.