Is it legal for Nv to hire shills and trolls...

[piesquared]

...to spam forums with misinformation and FUD? Bye bye tech forums and tech enthusiasts, you've officially become propaganda tools.

Not saying they are of course, just wondering if that would be legal.


Threadcrapping and trolling are not allowed
Markfw900

 

[Silverforce11]

Weren't some IHVs caught out in the past for this?

Is there a law against misinformation via third parties? If not, then go for it, it's all "marketing" strategies anyway, as long as more gamers buy your products.

 

[littleg]

I'd leave both of these for the mods to clean up tbh.

 

[Bacon1]

AFAIK its not Illegal, but definately immoral.

And yes they have been caught doing it before:

About a week ago, The Consumerist stumbled upon claims made by various gaming websites (specifically, Elite Bastards and [Update: a poster on the forums at] Beyond3D) that graphics chip manufacturer Nvidia, in cooperation with the Arbuthnot Entertainment Group (AEG), had seeded various gaming and PC hardware enthusiast sites with pro-Nvidia shills. That is to say, that AEG would hire employees to create ‘personas’ in various gaming communities, slowly building up the trust of other members by frequent posting unrelated to Nvidia, to later cash in that trust with message board postings talking up the positive qualities of Nvidia’s products.

Mr. Higham passed us on without response to Derek Perez, Nvidia’s Public Relations Director, who is quoted on the AEG Testimonials Page saying, “AEG
s online community outreach programs have been extraordinarily successful in improving public perception of our company and its products.”

https://consumerist.com/2006/02/06/did-nvidia-hire-online-actors-to-promote-their-products/

 

[boozzer]

it is up to the forum admins and mods. fyi there is nothing in the rules against shilling, even if they are in your face obvious right now in this very forum. anyone with 2 working brain cells can tell who they are after reading this forum for a few weeks. But as long as the rules aren't broken, nothing you can do. oh and don't call them shills straight up, because then it will be call out. it is kinda frustating to see that people coming here asking for help gets bombarded by the shills, but there is nothing you can do. I know I would have been pissed off if I had to shift through the current amount of fud when I asked for help back in 2012.

check the Aandtech preview on the 480, check the first comment, check that name on this forum it is pro

follow the rules, don't create extra work for the mods, they are nice people who are just doing their thankless jobs.

I would love to be wrong about shilling not breaking the rules on this forum.

 

[SPBHM]

AMD even have or had a special site for "advocates" and they would give you points for positive posts on other forums and social media, so you could win prizes, I think some user(s) from this forum was on their list, but it was a while back

 

[24601]

https://web.archive.org/web/2013012.../channel/2012/11/07/the-digital-shelf-part-2/

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2306732 There was a better thread, but i think it might have gotten deleted.

https://community.amd.com/community/red-team/blog/2015/07/23/red-team-plus-the-gathering

Looks like it still exists

It’s been almost two years since the launch of the AMD Advocate Program. And for the second time, we’ve held another successful event called “The Gathering”. I can confidently say that this year’s event was by far the highlight of the program for both the AMD staff and the members of Red Team Plus

 

[CHADBOGA]

...to spam forums with misinformation and FUD? Bye bye tech forums and tech enthusiasts, you've officially become propaganda tools.

Not saying they are of course, just wondering if that would be legal.

Is there any reason you think Nvidia would be more likely to do this than AMD?

 

[ocre]

https://web.archive.org/web/2013012.../channel/2012/11/07/the-digital-shelf-part-2/

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2306732 There was a better thread, but i think it might have gotten deleted.

https://community.amd.com/community/red-team/blog/2015/07/23/red-team-plus-the-gathering

Looks like it still exists

So to answer the OP question, it probably would not be illegal if nvidia was really doing the things the OP ask about.

So from the first link,

Online Advocate Marketing

Our research indicates that consumers are highly persuaded by online experts and personalities, hence AMD’s advocacy marketing focus. These key influencers are AMD technology enthusiasts that are well respected in their communities: Twitter, Facebook, forums, blogs, etc.

At AMD, we run specific marketing programs for our advocates and are always looking to identify and build those relationships. For example, we may run a promotion featuring a great new AMD product, the winner of which might receive not only a product sample but also tickets to a great show or event, or maybe even the opportunity to attend a product launch.

We understand that more and more often people are turning to influencers in their online communities rather than the spiffed or commission based in-store sales person.* Consumers are seeking advice from the very experts and personalities that we target.* This is an example of not only aligning the troops but also providing the perfect tactic on the chosen battlefield.

Now we focus on page rankings in search engines or positive product reviews on the front pages of well-respected review sites

I don't think AMD would do this if it was illegal.

You know, just to note, there are a lot of people buying nvidia cards. The volume and market share would make it reasonable to expect that way more people by Nvidia gpus. So it would not seem strange that there are pro nvidia people. The reality is that there has been 4 nvidia gpus sold for every 1 amd gpu. You should expect to see nvidia fans. I supposed there would also be some really huge die hard fans out there.

Even still, there are usually just as many (if not more) Nvidia bashers than nvidia preachers, this is not counting the massive AMD fanbase presence. Considering the market share, It's only natural there would be a lot of nvidia fans. So I guess I am confused a little, it seems logical their would be many pro nvidia people....It's a given

 

[Mike64]

Not saying they are of course, just wondering if that would be legal.

I still say AT needs a proper <rofl> or at least <lol> emoticon (preferably animated <g,d&r>), but in the meantime, ":twisted:/:hmm:" will have to suffice...

 

[Jaydip]

https://web.archive.org/web/2013012.../channel/2012/11/07/the-digital-shelf-part-2/

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2306732 There was a better thread, but i think it might have gotten deleted.

https://community.amd.com/community/red-team/blog/2015/07/23/red-team-plus-the-gathering

Looks like it still exists

Funny thing is one member of that group Durvelle who was also a member here was kicked due to posting fabricated benches and btw there was an AMD sponsored section here in AT not too long ago.

 

[Nhirlathothep]

...

 

[Markfw]

LOcking this flamebait