[chasebank]

Already happening? Here's a clip from an astroturfing firm in the year 2000 for Sprite and other clients. They called it 'under the radar marketing' back then. I'd wager 95% of all product recommendations on Reddit, and HN for that matter, are placed by people with agendas.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0z0a4SLIsM

[AndrewCopeland]

That's what I do, I think I provide a great product/service but also still want to get the word out.

A marketing agency who will sell a bag of shit as long as they get paid is definitely a net negative.

Overall reddit has been going down hill for a decade at this point and it only makes sense that it will/has been captured by companies trying to profit off it.

[qiongzhouh]

Do you have any pointers for learning more about this space? I've personally been pretty skeptical of sponsored products on YouTube, though I find myself getting tempted to / actually trying them out anyway, but haven't thought too hard about small Redditors or Tiktokers getting paid to shill products.

Curious what companies do this / how companies are going about conducting these unpublicized marketing campaigns?

[dawalker]

The top comment on that clip scores home that point. While there's no way to verify that, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a lot more than we realize. That being said and to play devils advocate - if all of them are already astroturfed with some people discovering that, then how much do most people care about it?