Keyword grabbing.
Astroturfing can be utilized within
forums-when key words or phrases are employed in order to fool the consumer
into thinking that any given product is more popular than it really is. To make things more interesting these same
‘keywords’ can be used within forums to ‘spam’ the above concepts.
A great way to ‘spot’ these individuals
would be to look at commonly recurring posts along a similar vein, with users
with an unusually high post count.
A possible example on keyword spamming is
shown in the below link below.
Could this be a possible sign of
Astroturfing and then Spamming the former?
So,
let us dig a little deeper and see where the trail goes.
Below is a
partial table of results and referenced screen shots of searches and a small
sampling of them at the end of article. Competitor names were substituted for
AS using the exact same phrase for these comparisons.
If one consults the table shown below and
inputs the search results under a search engine then the results can be
replicated.
Search Engines Results
of AS5 Marketing Mems V the Competition
|
||||||
Tested
Phase
|
Arctic Silver
|
AS5
|
AS Phrase Totals
|
Arctic Cooling MX
|
Gelid GC Extreme
|
Shin-Etsu
|
"A little dab will do ya"
" Product Name"
|
1,120
|
185
|
1,305
|
2
|
4
|
8
|
"Where can I buy*********"
|
13,200
|
49
|
13,249
|
3
|
0
|
8
|
" Upgrade to*********"
|
6,280
|
581
|
6,861
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
"Tried and True****"
|
254
|
135
|
389
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
" I swear Buy*******"
|
3,470
|
7
|
3,477
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
"Good ole*******"
|
54
|
425
|
479
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
"Good Old******"
|
1,670
|
600
|
2,270
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
"Good Ol*******"
|
2,110
|
1,590
|
3,700
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
" get yourself some ******"
|
10,400
|
813
|
11,213
|
4
|
1
|
6
|
" you can't go wrong
with***"
|
506
|
230
|
736
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
"can you use ******"
|
42,300
|
5
|
42,300
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
" A little dab will do ya"
"*****"
|
676
|
45
|
721
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
"**** upgrade"
|
573
|
106
|
679
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
"****** is the way to go"
|
8,810
|
1,930
|
10,740
|
0
|
2
|
7
|
" pick up some *****"
|
571
|
10
|
581
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
"more important to apply"
"****"
|
711
|
9
|
720
|
3
|
1
|
6
|
"***" “gets the job done
right"
|
381
|
187
|
568
|
1
|
7
|
1
|
"***** Asap"
|
328
|
79
|
407
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
"****" " Get it from
Amazon"
|
86,200
|
104,000
|
190,200
|
5
|
3
|
7
|
"a thin layer of ****"
|
8,050
|
6,190
|
14,240
|
10
|
2
|
10
|
"trusty *****"
|
662
|
1,670
|
2,331
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
"trust ****"
|
725
|
69
|
794
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
**** Note to test this yourself insert the product name in the in asterisk field replacing the asterisks, then cut and paste entire search result in a new search window and empty out the old data cache each time. |
||||||
This is an extraordinarily
unique lopsided monopoly on these 22 generic
search phrases far in excess that
would be attributed to a normal market share distribution.
This could suggest that when a ‘user’ in a
forum employs the above phrases when recommending a product then that person is
not a number of differing individuals with the same opinion but rather one
person contracted by a company or a group of people operating on the same SEO
scripts.
A Possible example of astroturfing and then
Spamming the former is shown below.
Could this be the typical example of all
companies whom wish to sell more of a product that trails behind the
competition? Is this the usual routine-especially when one takes into account
my last article?
So if we further investigate the above
image and collate it together with the many so-called positive remarks from
‘end-users’ then to my mind this further demonstrates that Astroturfing is
perhaps more widespread than previously thought.
“get
yourself some ” -A search of this catchy phrase
yielded 10,400 results, the marker here being “yourself” in our comparison test phrases we substituted the
competitor brand names for AS looking for a more or less consistent use across
the population of users.
Basic textbook advertising principle is a
call to action so one can inform the customer to “go out and get some” however
the problem is that ordinary people will do the same so how can one distinguish
the difference ? Get yourself was one way.
“Get
some arctic cooling MX” yields a healthy
26K. The term “
get some Arctic Silver” yields 5,270. A little flip flop on
results as MX sells probably a 5th of what AS sells on a market
distribution ratio so I wonder if we bumped into an Arctic Cooling MX Astroturf
program here?
Where
Can I buy – Apparently
AS fans have not discovered the magic of a .23 second search using the leading
search engine and would prefer to log onto a forum and start a new thread and
then wait for replies.
“Can you use ”– This
generic phrase generated the high return rate of 42,300 vs 0 for the comparison compounds and odd that only the AS
returned this very generic phrase. This is often posed as a question like “can
you use it on a GPU” or^(Nvidia GTX 980 ti) or a CPU ( Intel Core I7 479OK) is a smooth entry on to a forum and you now have
the full AS name for the search engines in place (now an advert /review) and is
psychologically designed to be non-threatening
in order to lower the guard of would-be consumers.
It is thermal
paste after all and if you discover that you need thermal compound for a CPU
(such as an Intel Core-i7 5960x ( you are not going to ask such a redundant
question so the oddity or awkwardness of certain phrases appear to be a
possible marker for this kind of stuff.
Could all this be a coincidence and that I
am putting 2+2 together and making five or quite possibly there is something
actually in this and that the public at large should be made aware?
All I can say is input the keywords
yourself in order to see if you come up with the same results as I do. Baring
the above in mind I will leave you the reader to come to your own conclusions.
