While Belkin President Mark Reynoso claims that a scheme to pay Internet users to write favorable reviews of their products on sites like Amazon was an aberration, Gizmodo reports that the practice was part of the the electronics maker’s general culture.
As first noted by Arlen Parsa, Belkin used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to enlist users to write positive reviews, suggesting, helpfully, that the offer was open anyone willing to “write as if you own the product and are using it,” and provide a product the highest possible rating.
Gizmodo now has confirmation that the practice was just the tip of the iceberg. A Belkin employee alleges that fake demo products have been employed in the past, along with fake certification stickers from companies like Apple.
With the Internet making our online presence increasingly transparent, you’d think a company faking their news would know better.
