[throwahey]

Hate to piggyback but I noticed that whenever this service gets posted on Reddit there are dozens of accounts that reply addressing Scott by name and have little to say.

Upon checking their comment history, I saw that most users hadn't posted anything for months, or even ever. It was clear that there was some kind of voting manipulation going on, and as reddit goes, if something gains traction it's bound to get upvoted just because.

It's a bit like Candy Japan, who posts here once a month with very little to say, and nothing vaguely technical in his articles. These kinds of posts just seem like blatant advertising. What are the rules for self-promotion of services on HN? It just seems dirty when there is a half-hearted article advertising a service without being labeled as an ad.

Throwaway of course, because I'd rather not get attacked by some bots.

[cbhl]

I used Candy Japan for a bit, and I still rather like the articles that they post. I stopped subscribing because I didn't actually eat the candy; now I buy Bento boxes at my local Japanese grocery store, and I have a "Prime Surprise Sweets" Dash Button in my house. But I'd never have been open to the idea of subscription boxes (like the Pusheen Box) if it wasn't for their articles.

Native advertising (where the content is an ad) is increasingly common; just look on YouTube, Instagram, Buzzfeed, or the average newspaper. Done well, it's win-win -- the customer learns about or feels good about a brand or business; the business gets better brand recall or a new customer or whatever. But the root cause is that people are having trouble making money online (banner ads, pre-roll ads, and text ads don't pay what they used to).

[arjunrc]

Can you post some of these reddit links?

I'd imagine several small businesses these days would opt for the "vote manipulation" marketing since its easy. (The Silicon Valley TV show had a similar plot point).

[maksimum]

I'll do you one better, "Reddit For Sale", investigatie journalism in a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxNvUWN3vYk

[jakobegger]

If you hate to piggyback then don‘t do it.