Shilling, Astroturfing, Google Bombing and Other Dubious Practices

How far do you trust those five-star book reviews at Amazon.com and other book sites? Finlo Rohrer in the BBC News Magazine writes about the practice of shill reviewing where individuals are paid to write positive reviews for a publisher.

Other (rather nice!) terms for the practice include :

Amazon bombing: Concerted effort to change Amazon sales rankings by simultaneously buying product

Sock puppetry: The act of creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one's self, allies or company (New York Times)

Astroturfing: Formal political, advertising, or public relations campaigns seeking to create the impression of being spontaneous "grassroots" behaviour (Wikipedia)

Seeding: Process of placing viral marketing such as videos in forums etc

Of course, we book buyers are really not so naive as to believe all the hype. Or are we?

(Picked up this story from Ellen Whyte's Facebook page.)