Not sure how I'd prove this publicly (nor is it something I'd like "out there"). PM me and I can send a few upvotes your way.

It's got nothing to do with pg, really. Not sure how anyone would stop a voting ring. Most people get caught for doing stupid shit, like upvoting one link 50 times in a minute or using accounts that have no activity at all except upvoting that one link. My servers are constantly requesting the front page, pretending to read comments, upvoting links, and just generally acting like regular users. When I feel like commenting on HN, I query my main server, which picks a random account to use, so over time most of them seem fairly real. About half of them submit links too.

One thing I'm scared of is that the accounts are all fairly new, so that could be a way of filtering/catching them. But they're not that new, and in any case it's not like I'm using them all at once. Thirty votes is usually enough to get you on the front page without raising suspicion because as long as your link is mildly interesting, being on the frontpage has this compound effect, and you'll get other upvotes that get mixed in with mine.

Back to my question though - how much would you pay?

Edit: Also, it's almost zero risk for the buyer. The payment system works so that my servers will upvote your link automatically as you send money to an address. You can buy a few votes, watch it go up, then buy more.

Hi all,

I've spent the last few weeks building and training a network of computers to connect to Hacker News, upvote random stories, commenting now and then, tricking the system into think they're real, whatever. I now have 200 computers on this network--a total of 200 upvotes, enough to get your link to the top of HN. Don't worry about it seeming suspicious; I have my own algorithm to beat this.

I'm thinking of starting a low-key service where you can submit a link and send Bitcoin to an address. As you send Bitcoin to the address, my network will upvote your link based on how many votes you've paid for.  Which also means, you won't have to buy all 200 upvotes.

I'll also charge for how fast you want the votes to come in (e.g. seven votes in a minute will get you on the frontpage already, but won't guarantee that it'll stay), because faster votes add suspicion to my network. But remember that either way, this will only push you to the front page. You still have to gain traction yourself. If your link is simply uninteresting, the biggest voting ring in the world couldn't save you (and indeed it won't do you much good to be on the front page anyway).

Here's my question: how much would you pay for this? I'm thinking of charging 0.125 BTC for 50 upvotes, so 0.5 BTC for the full 200. Too much? (Too little?)

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More Information

What would this be good for?

The best use case for this is probably "Show HN" posts. People on HN are smarter than the average audience, but they'll still upvote something if it's nice, shiny, and SV-startup-like. Being on the front page of HN will put a lot of eyes on your startup/product, and you'll be able to tell if you've got a good one or not.

; I'll write more later