https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cT4r7wulD0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkvxxwoxD1k
So you think China doesnt hire "Water Bombers" to post on your forums and web pages then...he he
think again!
The Chinese online ‘Water Army’
- June 25, 2010 |
*Maybe it’s a good sign for the rest of us that there are
huge gangs of private competitive-intelligence guys screwing each other
over in the Chinese private sector. Presumably these guys aren’t
goldfarming, or combing through some foreigner’s zombie hard-disk.
*Wait a minute… have I become I hopelessly cynical now? How could that possibly be a “good sign?”
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/17/content_9981056.htm
“Posting negative comments on the Web about products and services is fast becoming the most popular channel for Chinese consumers to vent their spleen. Yet, behind this veneer of free expression lies a murky world of cyber bullies and unscrupulous webmasters who are manipulating the media to either promote or smear a company’s image for profit.
“In a country with nearly 400 million Web users, (((bigger than 4chan, even))) online marketing has become a big business and has spawned a legion of Internet public relations agencies. Their services include not only getting a product seen but also removing any negative feedback they find.
“Real estate, cars, electronics: These are usually the most lucrative when it comes to deleting negative posts,” said Ma Mingdong, a 25-year-old Beijing blogger and online marketer. “Many people think it’s complicated to delete posts but it isn’t.” (((I hate to think of all the keyboard-punching 25-year-olds out there who imagine that this is a real job.)))
He said it costs just a few hundred yuan to bribe staff at a website or forum to delete posts, and if that fails, “paid posters” – netizens hired to leave fake comments and delete genuine ones – can use software to copy the official documents and identification that websites need before they agree to remove a comment.
Posts can be deleted legitimately when a company or individual provides a copy of their ID card or business license, while many websites, including Baidu Post and tianya.cn, have issued statements saying they provide the service for free.
Several chat groups on QQ, the instant messaging service, have even become mini-trading centers where PR firms regularly advertise for paid posters, otherwise known as shuijun, the “water army”. (((Maybe I should advertise for some of those guys here on my WIRED blog. I’d kind of like to have a vast mercenary corporate “water army” of obedient Chinese, but I’m trying to figure out what I would do with it. I mean… what commercial product am I most keen to have smeared? Jiffy Peanut Butter, maybe? I never much liked peanut butter, and also, it smears really easy.)))
However, industry experts argue that the use of shuijun undermines consumer trust in the Web, as well as underlines the need for stricter policies to protect the rights of netizens and ensure fair competition. (((I’m not sure where this fairy-tale idea of “strict Chinese policies to ensure fair competition” comes from. Their finance bureau, maybe?)))
The China International PR Association also released guidelines shortly after World Consumer Rights Day – March 15 – that specifically bar marketers from paying to have genuine negative comments removed. (((Do you think that the “China International PR Association” is more or less scary than a massive online army of mercenary 25-year-olds?)))
With the vast amount of information uploaded every minute, though, the rule is virtually impossible to enforce. (…)
More worrying, perhaps, is the growing use of fake negative comments by websites to pressure businesses into advertising with them. (((The ol’ shakedown method. You know what would be great? A water army methodically libelling another water army in a Chinese-scale massive water flame-war.)))
Wang Yu (not his real name) worked as a Web editor for a property website in Jiangsu province after graduating from college in 2007. He said his job involved copying various articles about real estate agents from other sites and then leaving fake complaints about them under any number of pre-registered usernames. (((“Oh, that wasn’t me, that was just my pre-registered username.”)))
“Negative comments are like intangible assets,” said the 26-year-old, before explaining that the companies usually responded to his comments “about poor service and bad construction” by offering to advertise with the site – on condition that the posts are deleted. It is a common problem faced by many Chinese businesses, and can be particularly hard on small, family-run firms that cannot afford to hire a PR firm to protect their reputation. (((How handy.)))
“Deleting news articles is difficult, but deleting posts from online forums is very common nowadays, only the price changes,” said Li Haigang, founder of Caogen PR, an Internet marketing company. “If one of my clients gets negative posts on certain online forum, everyone would say, ‘Oh, they are in trouble’ – but only because this forum charges more than the others.
“Of course, no one would list ‘post deleting’ as part of the contract,” he added. “The deals (between the website and the companies) are made in the name of advertising.” …
(((I bet you can’t wait till these guys get some Augmented Reality ambush marketing.)))
*Wait a minute… have I become I hopelessly cynical now? How could that possibly be a “good sign?”
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/17/content_9981056.htm
“Posting negative comments on the Web about products and services is fast becoming the most popular channel for Chinese consumers to vent their spleen. Yet, behind this veneer of free expression lies a murky world of cyber bullies and unscrupulous webmasters who are manipulating the media to either promote or smear a company’s image for profit.
“In a country with nearly 400 million Web users, (((bigger than 4chan, even))) online marketing has become a big business and has spawned a legion of Internet public relations agencies. Their services include not only getting a product seen but also removing any negative feedback they find.
“Real estate, cars, electronics: These are usually the most lucrative when it comes to deleting negative posts,” said Ma Mingdong, a 25-year-old Beijing blogger and online marketer. “Many people think it’s complicated to delete posts but it isn’t.” (((I hate to think of all the keyboard-punching 25-year-olds out there who imagine that this is a real job.)))
He said it costs just a few hundred yuan to bribe staff at a website or forum to delete posts, and if that fails, “paid posters” – netizens hired to leave fake comments and delete genuine ones – can use software to copy the official documents and identification that websites need before they agree to remove a comment.
Posts can be deleted legitimately when a company or individual provides a copy of their ID card or business license, while many websites, including Baidu Post and tianya.cn, have issued statements saying they provide the service for free.
Several chat groups on QQ, the instant messaging service, have even become mini-trading centers where PR firms regularly advertise for paid posters, otherwise known as shuijun, the “water army”. (((Maybe I should advertise for some of those guys here on my WIRED blog. I’d kind of like to have a vast mercenary corporate “water army” of obedient Chinese, but I’m trying to figure out what I would do with it. I mean… what commercial product am I most keen to have smeared? Jiffy Peanut Butter, maybe? I never much liked peanut butter, and also, it smears really easy.)))
However, industry experts argue that the use of shuijun undermines consumer trust in the Web, as well as underlines the need for stricter policies to protect the rights of netizens and ensure fair competition. (((I’m not sure where this fairy-tale idea of “strict Chinese policies to ensure fair competition” comes from. Their finance bureau, maybe?)))
The China International PR Association also released guidelines shortly after World Consumer Rights Day – March 15 – that specifically bar marketers from paying to have genuine negative comments removed. (((Do you think that the “China International PR Association” is more or less scary than a massive online army of mercenary 25-year-olds?)))
With the vast amount of information uploaded every minute, though, the rule is virtually impossible to enforce. (…)
More worrying, perhaps, is the growing use of fake negative comments by websites to pressure businesses into advertising with them. (((The ol’ shakedown method. You know what would be great? A water army methodically libelling another water army in a Chinese-scale massive water flame-war.)))
Wang Yu (not his real name) worked as a Web editor for a property website in Jiangsu province after graduating from college in 2007. He said his job involved copying various articles about real estate agents from other sites and then leaving fake complaints about them under any number of pre-registered usernames. (((“Oh, that wasn’t me, that was just my pre-registered username.”)))
“Negative comments are like intangible assets,” said the 26-year-old, before explaining that the companies usually responded to his comments “about poor service and bad construction” by offering to advertise with the site – on condition that the posts are deleted. It is a common problem faced by many Chinese businesses, and can be particularly hard on small, family-run firms that cannot afford to hire a PR firm to protect their reputation. (((How handy.)))
“Deleting news articles is difficult, but deleting posts from online forums is very common nowadays, only the price changes,” said Li Haigang, founder of Caogen PR, an Internet marketing company. “If one of my clients gets negative posts on certain online forum, everyone would say, ‘Oh, they are in trouble’ – but only because this forum charges more than the others.
“Of course, no one would list ‘post deleting’ as part of the contract,” he added. “The deals (between the website and the companies) are made in the name of advertising.” …
(((I bet you can’t wait till these guys get some Augmented Reality ambush marketing.)))
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