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http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57579749-94/samsung-probed-for-allegedly-bashing-rival-htc-online/
The Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission has reportedly launched an investigation into Samsung on allegations that the phone-maker was paying students to post negative online comments about HTC devices, according to AFP. HTC is one of Samsung's most staunch rivals.
Supposedly, the South Korean tech giant hired students to both write the inflammatory comments about HTC products and also recommend Samsung cell phones. The commission says that this type of behavior is akin to false advertising. According to AFP, the Fair Trade Commission spokesman Sun Lih-chyun said, "The case was set up last week after we received complaints."
For its part, Samsung has said that what happened was "unfortunate" and it occurred because there was "insufficient understanding" of the "fundamental principles" of the company's online procedures. The company also said that it has stopped all marketing that "involves the posting of anonymous comments."
Remember that Samsung guy that got banned off TL a while ago? It seems like his enthusiasm for Samsung may have been more than voluntary...
Mod edit:
On April 16 2013 16:51 ControlMonkey wrote:Relevant.
This makes Chinese state media's recent bashing of Apple all the more interesting as well. Were they bought off by Samsung too?
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Samsung hwaiiting (literally)!
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Ah remember the good ol' days when sales depended on how good the product is instead of using slanders to put down competitions?
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On April 16 2013 16:32 phodacbiet wrote:
Ah remember the good ol' days when sales depended on how good the product is instead of using slanders to put down competitions?
I'm only just 23 and this has to be before my time. :O
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Did someone call?  . I'm not surprised by this news one bit. Although I'm glad Apple is getting slandered in China. I think that company is terrible.
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On April 16 2013 16:32 phodacbiet wrote:
Ah remember the good ol' days when sales depended on how good the product is instead of using slanders to put down competitions?
what time was that lol
or was that sarcasm XD
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On April 16 2013 16:23 Shady Sands wrote:
This makes Chinese state media's recent bashing of Apple all the more interesting as well. Were they bought off by Samsung too?
Are you suggesting that a company from South Korea bought off Chinese state media? That seems like a massive leap from Samsung paying people to post anonymous comments criticising a rival. It is hardly the first time that somebody or a company has done that, but buying Chinese state media seems a whole new level. It seems more likely to me that the Chinese state has its own reasons for bashing Apple.
Also, I am confused by the title. What does "astroturf" mean in this context? To me it is a type of artificial grass... :p
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On April 16 2013 16:35 jinorazi wrote:Show nested quote +On April 16 2013 16:32 phodacbiet wrote:
Ah remember the good ol' days when sales depended on how good the product is instead of using slanders to put down competitions? what time was that lol or was that sarcasm XD
It was sarcasm haha. Companies probably were even worse back then compared to now.
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Reminds me of that former EA employee who was hired to "troll forums and websites to create viral marketing effects and deflect bad press from the inner circles of gaming."
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On April 16 2013 16:35 Melliflue wrote:Show nested quote +On April 16 2013 16:23 Shady Sands wrote:
This makes Chinese state media's recent bashing of Apple all the more interesting as well. Were they bought off by Samsung too? Are you suggesting that a company from South Korea bought off Chinese state media? That seems like a massive leap from Samsung paying people to post anonymous comments criticising a rival. It is hardly the first time that somebody or a company has done that, but buying Chinese state media seems a whole new level. It seems more likely to me that the Chinese state has its own reasons for bashing Apple. Also, I am confused by the title. What does "astroturf" mean in this context? To me it is a type of artificial grass... :p
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
Astroturfing refers to political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are designed to mask the sponsors of the message to give the appearance of coming from a disinterested, grassroots participant. Astroturfing is intended to give the statements the credibility of an independent entity by withholding information about the source's financial connection. The term is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.
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On April 16 2013 16:32 phodacbiet wrote:
Ah remember the good ol' days when sales depended on how good the product is instead of using slanders to put down competitions?
At least in France there's a law against comparative publicity (essentially putting down a specific competing product to make your own product look good). The problem is that this is hard to enforce on the internet, so everything is fair game. For example, students are paid during election time to drown comment sections of popular news sites with disparaging/praising of a particular candidate. It's very cheap and very effective compared to the traditional methods.
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On April 16 2013 16:35 Melliflue wrote:Show nested quote +On April 16 2013 16:23 Shady Sands wrote:
This makes Chinese state media's recent bashing of Apple all the more interesting as well. Were they bought off by Samsung too? Are you suggesting that a company from South Korea bought off Chinese state media? That seems like a massive leap from Samsung paying people to post anonymous comments criticising a rival. It is hardly the first time that somebody or a company has done that, but buying Chinese state media seems a whole new level. It seems more likely to me that the Chinese state has its own reasons for bashing Apple. Also, I am confused by the title. What does "astroturf" mean in this context? To me it is a type of artificial grass... :p
Astroturfing
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On April 16 2013 16:39 sob3k wrote:Show nested quote +On April 16 2013 16:35 Melliflue wrote:On April 16 2013 16:23 Shady Sands wrote:
This makes Chinese state media's recent bashing of Apple all the more interesting as well. Were they bought off by Samsung too? Are you suggesting that a company from South Korea bought off Chinese state media? That seems like a massive leap from Samsung paying people to post anonymous comments criticising a rival. It is hardly the first time that somebody or a company has done that, but buying Chinese state media seems a whole new level. It seems more likely to me that the Chinese state has its own reasons for bashing Apple. Also, I am confused by the title. What does "astroturf" mean in this context? To me it is a type of artificial grass... :p Astroturfing
Actually, Chinese state media are fairly easy to buy off
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=400783
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United Kingdom3685 Posts
Samsung pays Stork's salary. They can do whatever they want and I will still love them :D
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On April 16 2013 16:43 Sayle wrote:
Samsung pays Stork's salary. They can do whatever they want and I will still love them :D
It looks like their KeSPA marketing plan worked for you :D
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On April 16 2013 16:44 Shady Sands wrote:Show nested quote +On April 16 2013 16:43 Sayle wrote:
Samsung pays Stork's salary. They can do whatever they want and I will still love them :D It looks like their KeSPA marketing plan worked for you :D
And they didn't even have to pay him directly! Man, what an effective strategy.
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read about it before, I hope I don't offend any Taiwanese by saying this but I find it a bit fishy:
Taiwan is EXTREMELY sensitive for HTC and samsung competition. Some politicians' choice of phone get flamed on media news if it isn't a HTC and sometimes they would even get asked why not using a HTC phone to support Taiwan industry on camera news.
HTC is under high competitive pressure, especially from Samsung. It isn't doing as well as before anymore, the chinese market didn't like HTC while the oversea is getting smashed by Samsung and Apple.
And to users who aren't aware, Taiwan has a separate political system than the Chinese one
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Where do I get a job in the flaming products online industry? I do that for free everyday.
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On April 16 2013 16:49 ETisME wrote:
read about it before, I hope I don't offend any Taiwanese by saying this but I find it a bit fishy:
Taiwan is EXTREMELY sensitive for HTC and samsung competition. Some politicians' choice of phone get flamed on media news if it isn't a HTC and sometimes they would even get asked why not using a HTC phone to support Taiwan industry on camera news.
HTC is under high competitive pressure, especially from Samsung. It isn't doing as well as before anymore, the chinese market didn't like HTC while the oversea is getting smashed by Samsung and Apple.
And to users who aren't aware, Taiwan has a separate political system than the Chinese one
That's Taiwan's own damn fault, just look at all the Taiwanese vendors like ASUS, HTC, Gigabyte, same old make cheap alternatives, race to the bottom, flood the market with 10000 products with random product names, shitty generic line ups with no continuity, confuse all consumers, zero innovation or invest into their marketing.
Such a shame as the new HTC phones are great products.
Is it any wonder they are getting owned by organised competitions?
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EPT
