Nvidia viral marketing with AEG exposed !!! *UPDATED* *Poll Added*

[M0RPH]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

M0RPH and turltle could be twins, of course he is defending him.

He's defending the same behavior that he displays. :roll:

Right... but you're the model forum citizen. *enormous eye roll*

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: crazydingo

Originally posted by: Wreckage
This is less about video cards than it is about one political party hyping up a scandal from another political party. :thumbsdown:

Yes, the consumers' party vs evil corps party.

I would say calling ATI "evil" is a bit out of line.

Wreckage, your limited grasp of things has you thinking this is "ATI vs. Nvidia" but this discussion is not about favoring any particular videocard brand.

The reason some are upset is that a corporation has employees here, on this forum, that are intentionally running down their competitors and promoting their own products at the same time. I imagine this could result in a lawsuit between the corporations that would reduce the effectiveness/desirability of this form of advertising. It may even violate federal antitrust statutes but this is for the lawyers to figure out.

You can continue to play this like it's a fanboy thing but some of us can see the larger picture and it has nothing to do with brand loyalty.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: M0RPH

Originally posted by: rise4310
wow, you're messed up man. i don't think i've seen anyone on either side of the fence support that troll.

Let's see... Turtle... annoying guy who liked to praise ATI and bash Nvidia, ususally for unfounded reasons.

Now Rollo... frequently annoying guy who liked to praise Nvidia and bash ATI, frequqntly for unfounded reasons. Found to be influenced by an Nvidia-sponsored guerilla marketing campaign, lied and decieved everyone in the forum about it.

Turtle... banned for life. Rollo... still around and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Fair?

Yes. I would keep Rollo around just for his ability to sniff out Turtle.

Edit Oh, and that person also fouled up other forums too with stupid Intel fanboy carp and really stupid stuff. Unlike Rollo, there is no one on his side.

 

[aznrice54]

My thoughts:

Geez. When I started reading here a while ago and was repulsed by some of the flamewars, I thought it was just hardcore fanboyism. But this just disgusting.

Looking beyond the individual members though, I find Nvidia's actions despicable too. Before I never favored one company over the other (see the sig, I hate fanboys), but now...

All I have to say is, nice job, Nvidia (and you agents, not naming anybody). Real smooth.

 

[cirrhosis]

It's not just nVidia. This whole forum has degenerated. I used to enjoy reading the posts here but it seems like most of the posters I used to admire have resorted to fanboy insults. If people are going to banned, then just start from scratch. I don't care who's in the right and who's in the wrong. This whole ATI-nVidia flamewar has left a bitter taste imo, of the sort I used to find on Rage and HA. I'll find a different forum for Video discussion and stick to ATOT in the meantime.

 

[ronnn]

Have lost track of all this. Has there been any resolution or just business as usual?

 

[Janooo]

There were about 25-30 posts per hour on Tuesday. Now it's 1-3 posts.
It's going downhill.

 

[5150Joker]

Bump..this should be stickied.

 

[nitromullet]

I don't necessarily think this should be stickied, but I would like to see a thread like this:

A poll that asks simply, does the comminity approve of having AEG agents on these forums with a simple 'yes' or 'no' for the options. The thread would have to be only limited to votes, and not allow any posts to keep it simple and concise (we don't need anymore 30+ page threads on this). I think that AT, the forum members, and AEG/NV/ATI all could benefit from knowing how the target audience feels about this kind of marketing. Maybe AT can just make a poll in the sidebar... I really hope that the mods, and even Anand himself, are concerned about this. All the flaming aside, there is still a nice sense of community on these forums, and I hope that AT takes seriously any potential threats to this.

 

[nts]

There was a poll in a previous thread and people were pretty opposed IIRC.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: ronnn
Have lost track of all this. Has there been any resolution or just business as usual?

Just like everywhere else no one cares, because it's no big deal.

A couple of one sided individuals have been trying (unsuccessfully) to blow this out of proportion.

Even someone who has no interest in video cards can read through this thread and see that's it's mostly just BS.

If Rollo and a handful of anti-nvidia zealots were not on this forum this thread would not have gone past 2 pages.

 

[Ornery]

Blow it out your ass, lugnut. I've got zero interest in video cards, but have family and friends who require them for "gaming". After reading all this crap, I will NOT be recommending Nvidia on principle alone. Fvck 'em! :|

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

I think that AT, the forum members, and AEG/NV/ATI all could benefit from knowing how the target audience feels about this kind of marketing. Maybe AT can just make a poll in the sidebar... I really hope that the mods, and even Anand himself, are concerned about this. All the flaming aside, there is still a nice sense of community on these forums, and I hope that AT takes seriously any potential threats to this.

What would this accomplish? Do we need separate yes/no buttons for relatively benign 'beta feedback' type marketing done by AEG, as well as outright paid spam shilling?

I think the level of awareness of 'viral marketers' has been raised to a new level in all just about every online community as a result of this. It would be nice to have newcomers made aware that the person giving advice may be a member of a marketing organization in the guise of a 'beta feedback' program or worse, but I'm not sure a poll will accomplish that much.

The community here has made it very clear that they don't care to be stealth-marketed to. I don't think we need to explicitly ask community members if they want shills hidden among normal members.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: ronnn
Have lost track of all this. Has there been any resolution or just business as usual?

Just like everywhere else no one cares, because it's no big deal.

A couple of one sided individuals have been trying (unsuccessfully) to blow this out of proportion.

Even someone who has no interest in video cards can read through this thread and see that's it's mostly just BS.

If Rollo and a handful of anti-nvidia zealots were not on this forum this thread would not have gone past 2 pages.

The 2,200+ views of this thread refute your take on this. I'd like to think that people do care that they are being manipulated, and the evidence shows that they do.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Wreckage

Originally posted by: ronnn
Have lost track of all this. Has there been any resolution or just business as usual?

Just like everywhere else no one cares, because it's no big deal.

A couple of one sided individuals have been trying (unsuccessfully) to blow this out of proportion.

Even someone who has no interest in video cards can read through this thread and see that's it's mostly just BS.

If Rollo and a handful of anti-nvidia zealots were not on this forum this thread would not have gone past 2 pages.

i see you are attempting to become the new FUD-master . . . well you are awful in that capacity:

Look Here from F.I.

The next person to start a thread in FI about the AEG issue will be banned from the forums until it's resolution. We are working on the situation.

Please be patient.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: v8envy

Originally posted by: nitromullet

I think that AT, the forum members, and AEG/NV/ATI all could benefit from knowing how the target audience feels about this kind of marketing. Maybe AT can just make a poll in the sidebar... I really hope that the mods, and even Anand himself, are concerned about this. All the flaming aside, there is still a nice sense of community on these forums, and I hope that AT takes seriously any potential threats to this.

What would this accomplish? Do we need separate yes/no buttons for relatively benign 'beta feedback' type marketing done by AEG, as well as outright paid spam shilling?

I think the level of awareness of 'viral marketers' has been raised to a new level in all just about every online community as a result of this. It would be nice to have newcomers made aware that the person giving advice may be a member of a marketing organization in the guise of a 'beta feedback' program or worse, but I'm not sure a poll will accomplish that much.

The community here has made it very clear that they don't care to be stealth-marketed to. I don't think we need to explicitly ask community members if they want shills hidden among normal members.

Well, numbers talk... If the results of the poll showed that 90% of you approved, I'd respect that, shut up, and probably leave AT forums. At least, however, I would be able to make an informed decision. As it stands now, we have some saying no one cares and a lot of others saying that they do. NV was quoted on AEG's site as saying that the program has been very successful, so they will most likely continue the practice. I would think that if they were aware that the majority of people disapproved of the practice they might re-think that position. Obviously public opinion and this very forum does matter to them, or they wouldn't have planted a mole here. They also apparently want feedback... why don't we give it to them in a nice easy to digest format?

I spent over $1800 on video hardware since this past summer (of my own money), which is probably more than the average PC costs... Who do you think all my friends and family ask what to buy when they purchase a PC or parts...? You would think that they might be curious as to what motivates me to purchase/recommend and what turns me off... Just a thought.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: v8envy

Originally posted by: nitromullet

I think that AT, the forum members, and AEG/NV/ATI all could benefit from knowing how the target audience feels about this kind of marketing. Maybe AT can just make a poll in the sidebar... I really hope that the mods, and even Anand himself, are concerned about this. All the flaming aside, there is still a nice sense of community on these forums, and I hope that AT takes seriously any potential threats to this.

What would this accomplish? Do we need separate yes/no buttons for relatively benign 'beta feedback' type marketing done by AEG, as well as outright paid spam shilling?

I think the level of awareness of 'viral marketers' has been raised to a new level in all just about every online community as a result of this. It would be nice to have newcomers made aware that the person giving advice may be a member of a marketing organization in the guise of a 'beta feedback' program or worse, but I'm not sure a poll will accomplish that much.

The community here has made it very clear that they don't care to be stealth-marketed to. I don't think we need to explicitly ask community members if they want shills hidden among normal members.

Well, numbers talk... If the results of the poll showed that 90% of you approved, I'd respect that, shut up, and probably leave AT forums. At least, however, I would be able to make an informed decision. As it stands now, we have some saying no one cares and a lot of others saying that they do. NV was quoted on AEG's site as saying that the program has been very successful, so they will most likely continue the practice. I would think that if they were aware that the majority of people disapproved of the practice they might re-think that position. Obviously public opinion and this very forum does matter to them, or they wouldn't have planted a mole here. They also apparently want feedback... why don't we give it to them?

i already posted a poll a couple of months back - it was like 3 to 1 against Viral Marketing.

then as now, you can well imagine AEG/nVidia has their agents with multiple accounts "approving" of viral marketing. From the looks of the threads it is more like 6 or 7 to 1 against.


edit: here . . . POLL ADDED: AEG and NVIDIA's "Viral"'outreach programme' targets Forums


. . . and v8envy, your PM function is 'off'

 

[nitromullet]

Apop, I see that, but the point is the tread you linked to was locked because of the comments made... I would like to see a poll that has some lengevity and doesn't contain posts that will influence the outcome.

Also, at that time it was only speculation/accusation that there actually were AEG agents on AT, but now we have confirmation. It's a but "closer to home" now.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Apop, I see that, but the point is the tread you linked to was locked because of the comments made... I would like to see a poll that has some lengevity and doesn't contain posts that will influence the outcome.

it was locked because tRollo and his cohorts flamed it repeatedly . . .

and i think any poll will suffer from people just making new accounts to vote . . . there aren't any safeguards against that . . . and i also imagine Rollo has some alternate accounts he set up a couple of years ago just for such a day when he is banned . . . he is pretty clever

if you read carefully thru the threads and you can see easily the poster's feelings about it [eXclude the posters that just registered - "long time lurker -ist time poster", BS].

by my rough estimate, it is over 6 "against" viral marketing to 1 "for".

 

[5150Joker]

AEG/nVidia viral marketers and their lackeys need to be banned ASAP. If they're not banned, they need to be called out anytime they try to troll

 

[rise]

the problem with a poll like that is "do you think this type of viral marketing is OK" means nothing. i'm not going back to read through what "this type" was defined as, if anything. its just that viral marketing encompasses an awful lot of methods and most people are envisioning the most offensive as "this type" with no facts to prove it.

not that i blame them as they all associate aeg/nv with rollo.

edit- here was some viral marketing that nobody cared about.

 

[v8envy]

See, that poll apop quoted is exactly why I didn't think one was useful. Add up the 'unsure' and 'yeah, go ahead and sign me up for the offers', and it was 100 against, 50 for.

You know what? 33,000 views of the thread on b3d, over 2k here. Overwhelming outpouring of rage at having marketing agents masquerading as regulars on both forums. More like 90:1 against installing shills if you read the posts.

It's like reading user video game review on gamespot. The posts are all like, 'OMFG this game raped, killed and then ate my dog' and then the piechart reads 90% 'awesome', 5% 'great', 2% 'would buy again' etc. The percentage of posts utterly fail to match the aggregated ratings, especially in the less known/popular titles. Could be because only the most angered bother to write a full review, but more likely because it's simpler to assign 'go here and click the 'it rules' button' to your web marketer's army of monkeys.

Viral marketing loses much of its effectiveness once the marks know they may be subject to it. I'm sure AEG themselves could supply you with the percentage of the target resistent-to-mainstream-advertising audience that thinks being deceived by placebo enthusiasts is a wonderful thing. I'm going to guess that number approaches 0 as target audience approaches sobriety.

p.s. PM disabled, how about that. No wonder AEG hasn't come charging in to offer me that 30 incher.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: v8envy
p.s. PM disabled, how about that. No wonder AEG hasn't come charging in to offer me that 30 incher.

Did that just say what I think it did?

 

[rise]

Overwhelming outpouring of rage at having marketing agents masquerading as regulars on both forums. More like 90:1 against installing shills if you read the posts.

its not even close to that at b3d. most seemed fine with it and the detractors mostly seemed to wish it had been more open.

oh wait, you said installing shills, not what the program has been over there. i guess if you put it to them that way, everyone would be against it. but it doesn't appear to be like that at b3d.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
AEG/nVidia viral marketers and their lackeys need to be banned ASAP.

Just why is that 5150? You thought I was a pretty great guy for months and months, said yourself just a couple days ago you have a couple 100 PMs with me, and now I need to be "banned ASAP"?

What's up with that? Fair weather friend?

I haven't changed one bit, and now you're on several boards demanding I be banned?

Strange behavior on your part. What does a college student care whether I can post on a message board?

People do things for a reason, and I don't think concern for the integrity of posters is yours. You've gone to a lot of trouble in this crusade, and let's face it: I was a nV fan posting the same type of stuff long before I ever knew anyone there or at AEG.

The fact of the matter is we're not required to fill out applications to post here. I also posted the same type of stuff here well over two years before I'd ever heard of AEG, and years before that on other forums.

Anybody with an internet connection can post here as long as they don't violate TOS.

Ever heard the saying "The devil you know is better than the devil you don't"?

I put my cards on the table and didn't have to. Whatever I post here now, people know I may have got that card I'm posting about free or discounted from nVidia, and use that as part of your evaluation of what I say. (I'd say that puts my credibility high on info I say is from nVidia, and the benchmarks anyone can verify with their own hardware or by comparing to other sites)

You can't really say that about anyone else here can you? I can guarantee there are people other than me who've been given free products on every forum on the net.

People need to think for themselves, do research on opinions they read, not just run screaming into the night,"We need to protect ourselves from this!"

At the end of the day, if I'm banned, big deal, I don't post here anymore.

The one person you know has contacts for insider info at nVidia is gone. Be interesting to see if someone who has not come forward will take the time post in this forum and get info for you, as doing so is the equivalent of coming forward?

And of course there's the whole problem of:
"OK Now Rollo is gone. Now we're free of outside influence in the forum........errrr.....we think?"

If they're not banned, they need to be called out anytime they try to troll

Shouldn't anyone be called out any time they troll? What's changed there?