> I don’t see how this is a big deal. It may not be a big deal to you, and that's fine, but it was a big deal to some of these publishers. Many of them take th

> I don’t see how this is a big deal. It may not be a big deal to you, and that's fine, but it was a big deal to some of these publishers. Many of them take their neutrality seriously, to the point that they edited the articles to remove mentions and/or links when they learned about the undisclosed conflicts and the sockpuppet promotion. Also, many (most?) of the publishers hadn't seen something like this: for-hire operation, well-known startups, and getting distribution in some of the largest technical blogs. While that certainly doesn't mean it isn't happening, it does mean that there's value to publicizing the details.