Employed posters in forums?

Think some posters are moles employed by who they cheer for?

[texasville]

Has it ever piqued your curiosity as to whether certain posters throughout WW and other forums are employed by different companies to lurk and watch for threads that denigrate them and then jump in and defend? Or perhaps, denigrate other similar companies in threads?
I see certain posters jump from thread to thread, forum to forum, cheering on certain brands while denigrating the competition. I wonder how they can spend so much time doing this. Usually they really don't contribute anything, just defend and cheer, and cloud the issue.
I even see it for private or non profit types. How can one or two people spend countless hours doing this if they aren't getting paid. I am talking a lot of fervor here.
Anyone?

[encyclo]

An earlier thread (from 2002) you might be interested in:

Professional Forum Spammers [webmasterworld.com]

[claus]

Yeah, there are jobs such as that, afaik. Niche marketing agencies, even.

[TypicalSurfer]

Some boards are actually "viral marketing" from top down, not just the posters. ;)

The web can be a tangled weave.

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I remain fairly convinced that no one is funding (most of) WW's band of anti-Google nay-sayers and conspiracy theorists, or at least if they are hoping to make look G look bad, they're only making them G look better compared to the people who apparently hate them with every fibre of their being (but still, in some cases, cash their AdSense cheques)!

Rgds

Damon

[texasville]

I was really thinking of the google cheerleaders.

[MetalType]

The web can be a tangled weave

Loved that one! Hope it was intentional.

[Jane_Doe]

I was really thinking of the google cheerleaders.

Not sure about the cheeeladers, but I suspect either Google or some of the main SEO firms have posters that step in whenever a thread give away too much really good info. Then they make long mindless, rambling posts to try to contradict, obfuscate and/or steer off topic the really good tips.

[Essex_boy]

I wish I was paid.

[BillyS]

>>I was really thinking of the google cheerleaders.

There are some here that never say anything bad about Google. I suspect it is because they are afraid of repercussions.

[Essex_boy]

Theyll get you in the end.....

[vincevincevince]

I don't know how much visitors read and look for mention of the company they 'defend'/'promote' - but I am sure they employ facilities such as blogsearch and google alerts to keep them in-touch.

I've also got a suspicion that Brett has a function which allows any thread with a given word in it to be flagged up in a list. I say this because GoogleGuy will frequently jump into a thread at a moment's notice - and soon after a mention of his name. That might just be paranoia taking over though!

[DamonHD]

Hi,

Does Brett have access to wiretapping and black helicopters? B^>

Rgds

Damon

[Brett_Tabke]

> black helicopters

Actually the color is hex #888888 (dark gray).

> any thread

Don't you know, I read and participate in all 500 active threads a day and I personally hand edit all 4000-7000 messages a day. Aside from that part time job, I manage 200,000 affiliate websites and I also write 5000 emails a day. Then for a kicker, I like to get in 18 holes of golf in the afternoon.

Seriously Vince - it is just me and you here - everyone else is a bot...

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I have been programmed to believe that I am *not* a bot.

Rgds

Dam%^£

SIGBUS - core dumped

[claus]

>> cheerleaders

Regarding the G, Y, M, they have their own employed people frequenting the forums, so I wouldn't think they employed guerilla tactics. Neither "pro" nor "con". It's not impossible, but it wouldn't be my first guess.

I would think more about affiliate opportunities, different types of webmaster services, software, ect. Even SEO firms, but also real world "brick and mortar" firms.