[frik]

MS kind of infiltrated HN in 2015, visible to HN users during the Build 2015 conference in early 2015. Coincidentally Microsoft and Y Combinator formed a partnership, https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/stevengu/2015/02/09/y-combi... and somewhere I read that they formed a joint venture (but I haven't found the source again).

In 2015 a lot of new (green) sock puppet and corporate accounts appeared that down vote comments and flag stories that share not their "nice vision". The worse situation around MS all started when Gates (who is apparently still a driving force) replaced Ballmer with Nadella, a marionette. I am viewing HN using a third party front end, and every time a unfavorable MS story appears it doesn't last long on HN until it gets flagged - no other company story is handled that negatively or flagged in any way that often. So there is a clear pattern behind it. To make my point clear, also this story quickly vanished from the HN frontpage. And I would have no chance to even know about it. HN used to be a better site :(

[dang]

Microsoft has no special status on Hacker News. It's true that HN sees a flurry of MS stories on their big conference day, but it's also true of Google, Apple, and Amazon's annual conference days, and maybe others. That's how they all like to do their big tech announcements. Each time it happens, people complain that HN has fallen into the clutches of MS|Google|Apple|Amazon, but nothing has changed at our end. Actually we raise the bar a bit on those days so that only 3 or 4 such stories stay on the front page instead of 7 or 8. They'd probably get more attention overall if they staggered their releases through the year.

There have been a lot of unfavorable stories about MS on HN, including recently. We don't do anything special to penalize them, nor do we let users abuse flagging in the way you suggest. In fact the Windows 10 update nagware saga has appeared numerous times on HN's front page, including multiple stories about clicking 'x' on the dialog box, how it screwed some African satellite operators, etc. The current one fell suddenly off the front page because of software (it set off the flamewar detector).

If MS "infiltrated" HN, it's news to me and I'd like to know about it. It's our job to protect the integrity of this place for the community and we take it seriously. When we see gaming and manipulation we crack down on it hard. But actually the BigCos aren't the ones who do such things. They're (rightly) too risk-averse.

If you think you see evidence of manipulation you should email us at [e-mail]. When we get emails like that we always look into it.

[frik]

Look: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11845741

This MS story from today also vanished from the frontpage quickly.

I contacted HN (you), I highlighted several vanished posts. You mentioned you see no pattern or unusual activities.

Also this one vanished: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11846199

[dang]

Those stories fell off the front page because of software that penalizes overheated threads, which tend to be shallow and sensational. That software has been running for years.

Even if an automatic penalty hadn't kicked in, moderators would have penalized that first link (even if we personally agree with what it says). First, it's a duplicate that adds no new information over previous incarnations of the story (which have already appeared more than once on the front page, already an indulgence and certainly not a pro-MS one). Second, it's a garden-variety riler-upper, and those aren't a good fit for HN, as should be well known by now.

None of these mechanisms has anything to do with Microsoft. I'm pretty sure that the bias you're arguing for doesn't exist at our end. How sure are you that you're not simply noticing things because they fit your interpretation?

[frik]

Ok, fair enough. It's certainly a fine line. Though, a company is playing a not so nice but well known game, a game it is known for decades. And one can see how reasonable objective comments get downvoted and highly opinionated pro-biased comments get upvoted to influence the audience. And about stories, you rarely see objective stories about that company, because the fear to loose ads or the big gorilla and its lawyers. I will continue using a third party frontend, as HN frontpage hides some of the "heated discussions" or "high voted stories" that got flagged a lot too. But I am here because of the insightful comments and stories.