Should shilling in ANN topics be banned?

[NotATether]

Now, I'm all for companies inviting their users to post their experience using their service, but this example is borderline spam:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5585950.20

There is no sensible reason to be using shills with brand new accounts and no posts to create what seems to be automated reviews.

My proposal is that such shilling posts be deleted.

[Upgrade00]

I agree and if that's done there is enough reason to nuke those newbie accounts making them. The spammer can always create more accounts yes, so let them go through that process of creating new ones which they'll tire out of doing when they're not getting results for their "promotion" (in air quotes).

We could also have the bump restriction added on that board.

[_act_]

I see no problem with it, but what if the accounts belong to a single person creating new accounts and posting? That is the reason I can not support it.

Genuine reviews will be from people that have been using his forum account actively and not new accounts which we do not know if they belong to just few people or just someone.

I consider such reviews as fake reviews.

[Nwada001]

My proposal is that such shilling posts be deleted.

Your proposal is valid, which I also support. This type of shilling, if looked at very well, can only mean one thing: the project either doesn't have confidence in themselves or their chances of being a scam are high, and they need some fake testimonies to increase their visibility and possibly attract people who might have doubt about their service. This is a typical example of what’s common on Meta and some services.

And if the account is brand new/woke up for just that sole purpose, a temporary ban on such an account will be nice to send a warning and delete all comments. which falls under that shill should be done as well, but I the thread should be open and not deleted.

Side note: I can’t even find a clear rules on the forum concerning shilling if it’s allowed or prohibited

[EarnOnVictor]

My proposal is that such shilling posts be deleted.

I second this proposal!
This looks like a dumpster; the forum should not tolerate it. Such an unhealthy practice is common online. That's not even the issue, but the truth and sincerity of the users, who they really are. A person could be sitting comfortably in front of his computer with different usernames perpetrating it.

[Cookdata]

This is more than shilling, this is a scam attempt. The op posted 2 months ago, suddenly, since 20 August, newbie accounts are being created to give false testimony. Each day, at least 1 newbie account is created to post fake posts on the thread, and once they are done, they go offline.

It's very convenient that you can see all the details of the exchange before it's confirmed. This gives you confidence that everything will go smoothly.

I liked that I could start sharing immediately, without any formalities. As someone who doesn't like sharing data, this is fantastic.

Everything was logical: pair selection, exchange rate, confirmation. The final amount matched the estimated one. Excellent work by the developers.

Tired of exchanges with verification and waiting? There's nothing extra here: no passports, no forms, no accounts. Just enter your address, get your payment, send it - and you're done. Honest and convenient.

I tested it with a small amount: sent BTC, received ETH. Everything is transparent, the rate is visible upfront, with no hidden pitfalls.

Truly no KYC required - deposited USDT and received BTC in 10 minutes. The rate was a pleasant surprise; it's not a scam. I'll definitely be here again.

My life hack: first I look at the amount on your calculator, then I go to the stock exchange to check. You are always in profit. So now I don’t even check - I’m flying to you straight away.

Ideal for those who value privacy. No emails, texts, or photos. Just enter your address, send, and receive. Fast and hassle-free.

I used an exchanger without registering for the first time and thought I'd been scammed. No, everything was legit. The Bitcoin to ETH conversion went through without a hitch.

No text messages, no passport photos, no lines. Apply in a minute - cash in five.

It's so nice that you don't have to create anything. Just enter the address, see the amount, and send. Everything is as clear as glass. Thank you!

I value transparency. I saw the final amount before sending - no surprises. I converted USDT to BTC in 10 minutes.

I tested several exchangers with small amounts. This one turned out to be the most reasonable in terms of rate and speed. I've added it to my bookmarks.

These accounts need to be nuked.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

DT members used to red trust such accounts for fake vouches/reviews or paid/fake bumping services, but the practice disappeared. There used to even be a reputation board thread tracking such practices. I think this can be revived again.
For fake reviews, red tag and flag the OP of the ANN and then red tag even other fake newbie accounts that post fake reviews in the ANN. This will make their effort useless. Of course this can be done on a case-by-case basis,

[bitbollo]

This kind of shilling accounts are easy to identify.
In a certain way this qualifies clearly the "quality" of business (there is also the opposite case where the competitors ruin online reputation of someone)....
A ban should apply only if they are spamming.
scams are not moderated here on the forum. The trust system + flags are the right way to deal with this users.

[Catenaccio]

Now, I'm all for companies inviting their users to post their experience using their service, but this example is borderline spam:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5585950.20

There is no sensible reason to be using shills with brand new accounts and no posts to create what seems to be automated reviews.

My proposal is that such shilling posts be deleted.

Spams for shilling are not allowed.

[8] - "Advertising spam is not allowed" - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=718124.0

Report these shilling posts, they will be deleted. Just don't duplicate your reports on same posts.
@mods:50 reports of shill posts in the same thread marked bad. What went wrong?

[Rikafip]

Now, I'm all for companies inviting their users to post their experience using their service, but this example is borderline spam

It is spam for sure, and is usually deleted as soon as it gets reported.

Beside that, to me it looks more like owner of that thread hired one of those "marketing agencies" to do the shilling, rather than real users sharing their experience. It used to be very popular some years ago, but I guess some are still using them.

[Mrbluntzy]

The deceptive spam-shilling posts are enough reason to agree with your proposal to ban shilling in ANN topics. The newbie accounts that are hired to shill the project might not even have an authentic experience using the platform but just pretend as if they have had good experience with the platform. They only read information from the website and make one or two line post like a bot.

[Sandra_hakeem]

This is more than shilling, this is a scam attempt.

I'm a little unsure what their main target is.

The op posted 2 months ago, suddenly, since 20 August, newbie accounts are being created to give false testimony. Each day, at least 1 newbie account is created to post fake posts on the thread, and once they are done, they go offline.

Maybe they thought creating an ANN topic was all they had to do to promote their exchange, but questions started flooding in from every direction.

It's obviously a mixing service and there's no reason why that topic shouldn't be trashed by the moderators. He employed a shill since he wasn't getting the same attention like he did two months earlier.

So we're not a mixer after all. We provide cryptocurrency exchange services. We accept cryptocurrency without any KYC/AML requirements.

if you are not a mixer, then why do you offer the option to exchange BTC to BTC?
why would you describe the output BTC as clean?
why would anyone want to exchange their bitcoin to "clean" bitcoin if not to mix it?

[hosemary]

Spams for shilling are not allowed.

[8] - "Advertising spam is not allowed" - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=718124.0

The rule you quoted has nothing to do with what OP is talking about.
If you visit the link posted by mprep, you will see that his definition of "Advertising spam" is something else. He meant advertising a service in other people's threads.

[irfan_pak10]

I believe it is highly discouraged from the start, and many of clients use to ask to do it and I always rejected the idea of shilling in thread, first it is very obvious, secondly potential clients want to run away seeing such activity. So it is bad for project in anyway, dont know who recommend such activities to project owners.

[LTU_btc]

I have no problems with such kind of shilling. Actually, it works as red flag not to use this service who are using fake reviews to build their image. Not sure why someone thinks that's good idea.
But such kind of shilling is concsidered as advertising spam and it goes against Bitcointalk rules and probably should be deleted.

[Rikafip]

So it is bad for project in anyway, dont know who recommend such activities to project owners.

It's probably not that hard to sell such a service to people who know absolutely nothing about bitcointalk and how it works.

They think it's just another platform like Twitter, where you can shill as much as you want without any consequences whatsoever. And when you add to that the fact that these marketing agencies bullshit them about the shills looking "organic" as if genuine users are writing there, you get what we see in the OP.
 

[Stalker22]

Now, I'm all for companies inviting their users to post their experience using their service, but this example is borderline spam

It is spam for sure, and is usually deleted as soon as it gets reported.

Beside that, to me it looks more like owner of that thread hired one of those "marketing agencies" to do the shilling, rather than real users sharing their experience. It used to be very popular some years ago, but I guess some are still using them.

I haven't looked atFiverr or such freelance sites, but I remember how flooded they used to be with cheap "crypto promotion" gigs offering 50 forum posts or artificial thread bumps for ten bucks.  Funny thing is how much people still burn money on this shit, convincing themselves they will create actual hype, when all it actually does is flag their project as a scam to anyone with half a brain cell

[DYING_S0UL]

Now, I'm all for companies inviting their users to post their experience using their service, but this example is borderline spam:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5585950.20

There is no sensible reason to be using shills with brand new accounts and no posts to create what seems to be automated reviews.

My proposal is that such shilling posts be deleted.

Voted YES, because I fully agree with you. I don't like how they are conducting their business/promotions here. Flooding the ANN with paid shills? That's a really bad start (a sort of red flag). Those posts needs to be removed. Furthermore, they seem to have BTC to BTC swap/exchange. Doesn't that somewhat fall under the mixer's category (they admitted they have mixing capabilities)? So now it's a question of whether they should be allowed on the forum or not. Again, they need to remove that BTC to BTC swap option...

Something feels off with this service!

We do not position ourselves as a mixer. However, we do have that capability.

Definition of a mixer

For clarity, here is a detailed definition of what we mean by a "mixer". Most people know intuitively what a mixer is and don't have to read this.

     b. If a site is not primarily a mixer but has a mixer function, such as a mixer function on a gambling website, then the whole site is considered a mixer.
    

[PrivacyG]

Yes, there is no good reason to keep them.  At least the ones that are clearly paid or marketing shills.  They do not even attract people to the platform, I would be pushed away as far as possible from ever visiting them.

[letteredhub]

No this doesn't look good at all what they're doing over there.

I can understand that some brands may not have money to organise a signature campaign even if it's a single week. Instead of shilling in this way which may attract tags why not create a contest with the least $ amount and invite forum members to get participation. Only by doing this you would be attracting more random real reviews about your platform without paying anyone to shill to get the ANN Thread bumped now and then with fresh newbies accounts not older than the ANN thread.