So, who's the mole?

[cevik]

Just saw this on Penny Arcade, it's most likely rubbish, but it's interesting and if it's not true now, I seriously doubt that it will remain not true in the future:

We received the following from a young man who we will call "Mr. Smith."

(CW)TB

Hey guys,

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.

They had 12 people working there full time, and were hiring 10 more.  You do the math.  No wait, I'll do it for you:  that's 880 posts a day (if minimum was met).  However he said the better ones could do around 8 or 10 an hour.  And they had different "verticals" so there was the sports guy, and the games guy, the hentai, excuse me I mean anime guy, etc.

But the most critical point was this: develop and integrate the identity.  No random "HEY EB GAMES IS AWESOME BUY THIS" stuff.

Kinda spooky.

Didn't take the job.  It was a fucking mill.

P.S.:  I was shopping at EB games the other day and this girl came up to me and said "omg, people who shop at EB games are so hawt" and I got laid.  I thought I'd let you guys know that you should check out ebgames.

P.P.S.:  I couldn't decide where to post this, and I thought "well, mmog companies are the lowest of the low, thus the most likely to do this, so it'll go in mmog discussions", feel free to move it to wherever (the den?).

P.P.P.S.:  Have you checked out the MVP NCAA Baseball '06?  It rocks!!1!

[WayAbvPar]

I seem to remember Schild getting an offer to do something like this, or heard about it, or something. Maybe not. It has been a long week.

[tazelbain]

> 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.

That rules me out, I am barely coherent.

[Samwise]

No, I definitely remember that.  I lack the energy to look up the thread but I'm sure there's someone out there more energetic than I am.

I remember looking at the job posting and doing the math on how much they were paying per post vs. how long it would take to write posts of the quality that they were apparently looking for, and concluding that a very competent writer and swift typist could maybe make minimum wage.  I'm amazed that they got 12 employees - I can only assume that the actual posts they churned out were subliterate spam that accomplished nothing.

[Polysorbate80]

The posts had to be well thought out

Fortunately, that rules out all the posters at f13.

I was to establish multiple identities

Do multiple personalities count?

[Margalis]

I started playing FFXI again. FFXI is better than WoW, and has seen numerous improvements since I stopped playing.

Now go about your regular business.

[schild]

I seem to remember Schild getting an offer to do something like this, or heard about it, or something. Maybe not. It has been a long week.

Correct.

[Krakrok]

You can get $8 per 250 word article. Or at least that is what one site is charging for labor.

[Swede]

Its a "common" if new practise in internet marketing - Christina Aguileras first album was almost solely marketed in this fashion in the earlier stages. (That is word of mouth by "established" profiles on major chewinggum pop boards/communities)

Im taking marketing major, and this have been discussed quite alot among different classes - its actually a very effective, if abit shady, way or marketing since it bypass the inherent dubiousness/sceptesism most of us have regarding conventional advertising.

[Tale]

I have believed for some time that IGE has people do this. It may be Andraste or one of their other staff, or it may be outsourced, but there's always some low post-count person who will weigh into secondary market discussions to say "hi, I'm a gold buyer and it's cool, you should do it too".

[StGabe]

This is just an extension of existing practices with blogs.  I've seen crap like that attached to products that I was involved with -- a random blog poster that starts out sounding legit and interested in the original article and then links to the, only marginally related, product with a glowing appraisal.

[Lt.Dan]

Well they got smart and realized low post counts stick out like dogs' balls and either get deleted or thejeni'd.

The way I see it they'd have to post somewhere where they get enough eyeballs to justify someone paying them to advertise this way.  Then the issue becomes how the hell is their promotion du jour not swamped by all the mindless chatter on a big, high-traffic board.

Probably best application would be on technical boards where posters can actually build credibility and there's a lot of activity and searches.  The gently posted "linksys is the more reliable option" might actually work.

[Kitsune]

Penny Arcade, much though I am loath to point at them, has put forth a rumor that was passed on to them that is rather disturbing but not wholly surprising.  To the point, they have posted a mail from a man who claims to have interviewed for a job that involved infiltrating internet forums, getting chummy with the community therein, and then engaging in clandestine product placement once he's 'one of the gang'.  He said that they had a good dozen employees who were doing nothing but posting on various forums to gain a veteran status so they could start trying to influence the buying patterns of others.

Daikatana was the most fun I've had in weeks.
Starforce copy protection never once broke my computer.
I really like in-game advertising, it adds a lot to the atmosphere.

Makes one wonder.

[Stephen Zepp]

Penny Arcade, much though I am loath to point at them, has put forth a rumor that was passed on to them that is rather disturbing but not wholly surprising.  To the point, they have posted a mail from a man who claims to have interviewed for a job that involved infiltrating internet forums, getting chummy with the community therein, and then engaging in clandestine product placement once he's 'one of the gang'.  He said that they had a good dozen employees who were doing nothing but posting on various forums to gain a veteran status so they could start trying to influence the buying patterns of others.

Daikatana was the most fun I've had in weeks.
Starforce copy protection never once broke my computer.
I really like in-game advertising, it adds a lot to the atmosphere.

Makes one wonder.

Ugh...guilty as charged I guess (although I have nothing to do with any drastic plot, nor when I joined the forums was I part of any company related to game dev!

And for the record I cleared how to talk about GG stuff here on the forums well ahead of time with Schild/Shockeye...just wanted to be upfront about the whole thing!

PS: And it's not like the bleeding red nametag gives it away or anything I guess :P

[Kitsune]

Um, no, not red names.  They're above-board, people know they work on certain games, that's perfectly legit.  What the guy described were people paid to join forums as everyday posters, talk on various threads until they're considered part of the 'in crowd', then use that status to help sell things by posting positively about those things.  Sleeper agents, basically.

[Righ]

It would be a dead giveaway on f13. We love to hate. If somebody were to talk up a games console that is fragile and overheats, or a portable games platform launched with next to no worthwhile games or a twitch-oriented reworking of MMOG that left it devoid of players, we'd see through it right away. Bwahahaha.

[MrHat]

It would be a dead giveaway on f13. We love to hate. If somebody were to talk up a games console that is fragile and overheats, or a portable games platform launched with next to no worthwhile games or a twitch-oriented reworking of MMOG that left it devoid of players, we'd see through it right away. Bwahahaha.

<3

[Stephen Zepp]

Um, no, not red names.  They're above-board, people know they work on certain games, that's perfectly legit.  What the guy described were people paid to join forums as everyday posters, talk on various threads until they're considered part of the 'in crowd', then use that status to help sell things by posting positively about those things.  Sleeper agents, basically.

Ah, gotcha (takes off guilty hat)

I'm INNOOOCEENNNTTTT!!!

[Rasix]

Blizzard bought me an Acura.

[penfold]

I've noticed a few "the chinese gold farmer in our wow guild is actually a really nice guy" threads about on forums recently.

Are you sure these arent commie infiltrators ?

[SuperPopTart]

It's me. I admit it.

I am the mole. 

[Signe]

Now to infiltrate Corpnews!  Soon the internet will be ours!

[SuperPopTart]

We are all going to be taken over. All of us. It simply will be.

[Lantyssa]

The Phantom will be the greatest console ever.  You should all buy stock in Infinium Labs.

[NiX]

I think poptarts sig is appropriate for this topic.

[Hoax]

It would be a dead giveaway on f13. We love to hate. If somebody were to talk up a games console that is fragile and overheats, or a portable games platform launched with next to no worthwhile games or a twitch-oriented reworking of MMOG that left it devoid of players, we'd see through it right away. Bwahahaha.

The only person who comes close is Schild    can one infiltrate one's own site?

P.S.  IBM!

[Lantyssa]

I am burning my keyboard as we speak.   Melty plastic hurts.  Don't make jokes like that at home kids.

[schild]

I know some companies who do that. I think they call it guerilla marketing. I call it bad marketing.

[Raging Turtle]

This has been going on in gaming for years, probably longer.  Marketing techniques like this are applied to a ton of different products, and they're more effective than you might think.
 
The Onion even spoofed it a while back

[Strazos]

I know some companies who do that. I think they call it guerilla marketing. I call it bad marketing.

Didn't we already declare marketing to be, in general, lame?

[schild]

I love marketing. Good marketing. There's just very little of it.

[Paelos]

It's me. I'm the mole.

[schild]

It's me. I'm the mole.

No, you're the monkeh. They said mole. Despite popular belief, they're two different animals.

[Paelos]

It's me. I'm the mole.

No, you're the monkeh. They said mole. Despite popular belief, they're two different animals.

But they have fur! Dammit! I was way off.

[Llava]

I win.

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=4744.0

Posted 4 months ago.

Take THAT, Penny Arcade.