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This is surprising if true. Surely any of these companies would realize that the reputational risk of signing up for such a scheme is much larger than the relat
by sdhgaiojfsa 8y ago
This is surprising if true. Surely any of these companies would realize that the reputational risk of signing up for such a scheme is much larger than the relatively minuscule benefits it might offer. I would like to see some evidence.
- usrusr 8y agoNot necessarily: many people kind of assume the worst anyways, but without getting terribly riled up about it. To them, confirmation will read like tautology, hardly newsworthy. Those same people will tend to be sceptical of puff pieces, but if they occasionally let their guard down the positives might outweigh the negatives even if the conspiracy does come to light.
- ocdtrekkie 8y agoGoogle's been paying off academics to make fake academic studies for years. Nobody seems to bat an eye about it anymore, so presumably, these companies have realized that paying people to pretend they have independent opinions about you doesn't actually hurt your reputation much.
- grandmczeb 8y ago> Google's been paying off academics to make fake academic studies for years. Example?
- ocdtrekkie 8y agoHere's the biggest one, GMU and "Professor" Joshua Wright, the former FTC Commissioner: https://www.salon.com/2015/11/24/googles_insidious_shadow_lobbying_how_the_internet_giant_is_bankrolling_friendly_academics_and_skirting_federal_investigations/ https://www.salon.com/2015/11/24/googles_insidious_shadow_lo... (Note the date, this became known back in 2015.)