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

[ArchAngel777]

Darn it Pete! You didn't even rebuke me :-(

Great post, BTW!

 

[DoobieOnline]

I don't know how I missed all of this until now, but I just started reading up on it a few minutes ago. Very interesting to say the least!

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: xtknight

Originally posted by: rbV5

I'm just sick of people being flamed because they stated their opinion on something

You mean like they don't have an opinion if they don't own the gear (put your money where your mouth is, fox and grapes) or your education is insufficient to "afford" good gear, or your parents did a poor job of raising you.......

yea me too xtknight, me too.

I realize you were trying to be sarcastic (you assumed I am trying to defend Rollo?), but yes I am sick of that stuff too, precisely. It is nothing related to video cards (issue at hand) no matter who posts it, Rollo or any other person. There are plenty of others here doing off-topic things like that too. However usually he says that stuff when people provoke him to do so. The people who continually provoke him because they have something against him are definitely not helping the matter at all. The best advice IMO is to just ignore people with whom you get in fights all the time with and there won't be any problem.

look guys we were "set up" by nVidia/AEG . . . they have very carefully tailored their Viral Marketing Programme to EACH forum.

For B3D, there are 3 known marketers that 'fit in' with their more thoughtful, insightful - and yes 'edited' - discussions.

OTOH, 'We' have their leader, Rollo - a very clever marketer whos personality "fits in" with our more boisterous - but "free" - discussions.

Make no mistake - Rollo is trained well - he knows how to take advantage of human nature and uses all the tools of his trade to PROVOKE flames and INCITE the equivalent of a "riot" - if a thread doesn't go his way.

We are dealing with a professionl campaign - these guys got good TRAINING. . . one no doubt that nVidia has invested big bucks into - "free" gifts and incentives to "manipulate" our forum may just be a small part of it.

And - according to Rollo - there are TWO others that have not come forward. . . . probably on ATF.

Although he is brilliant, Rollo has personally caused much PR damage to nVidia . . . he will do his best to attempt to rectify it . . . even if it means "sacrificing himself" for his beloved company. . . .

i have zero doubt that he'll be back . . . one way or another.

edited for gramma

 

[rbV5]

However usually he says that stuff when people provoke him to do so.

Maybe in your mind he does, but I see it differently. He had a hidden agenda, which has now been exposed, which clearly makes his dogged defence of all things Nvidia far more explainable now.

His lack of remorse, justifying his actions, threats of legal action against AT and his pitiful camapaigning for a mod position are in itself enough for me to want this poison retired from our forum.

I'm sorry, but thats just the way I see it.

 

[Hacp]

To those who say that he should be able to post his opinions....

Well someone who took his advice before probably thought that he was a well meaning enthusiast.

Now they know that he works for the company he reccomends and gets a commision for it. The people that he "helped" were probably tricked, and wasted alot of money probably purchasing the wrong hardware.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: Rollo
I am done with this thread

And I am done with the Video forum as long as known members of viral-marketing groups are allowed to post here. Hell, I already rarely visit this forum due to all the arguments between fanboys, but I will now be blocking the forum altogether.

Peace.

<< Nvidia fanboy who dislikes this viral-marketing practice, but likely will continue to buy Nvidia's products for the forseeable future.

 

[Creig]

As Pete and others have stated so eloquently (and some not so eloquently), Rollo has been a constant disruption to these forums with his half-truthes, calculated insults and overwhelming ego ever since he arrived.

He puts down others for not having hardware as nice as his, yet neglects to mention he gets his for free. He claims to wish people wouldn't flame each other, yet contantly flames others with not-so innocent remarks. He twists facts and comments to fit his own personal agenda, creates threads deliberately intended to stir up controversy, and then sits back claiming innocense all the while reveling in the carnage that inevitably ensues. More of Rollo's threads (or threads he's participated in) have been locked than those of any other member by a considerable margin. Given the comment from the Moderator who gave Rollo his initial two week vacation, I would also hazard a guess that no other member has had as many complaints lodged against him by fellow members either. And some other members, realizing that Rollo was going unpenalized for the vast majority of his actions, have taken to emulating him which has increased the chaos tenfold.

People have been asking for more stringent Moderator policing of the Video Forum for years now. It has become painfully obvious that a great deal of the flaming that occurs here would be eliminated by the permanent ban of just one individual named Rollo. First by eliminating the main instigator of such flaming, and secondly by sending a message to those who would emulate him that such behavior is no longer tolerated.

I kept a close watch on the pulse of the Video Forums during Rollo's two week vacation and, not surprisingly, the overall blood pressure here dropped by about 20 points. There were the inevitable few here and there who continued (mostly griping about Rollo's ban) but the Video Forum was almost instantly transformed back into a useful, coherent community once again. Alas, it also just as quickly degenerated when Rollo returned.

I am convinced that by banning Rollo, the Video Forums will heal itself and make Moderation of it no more difficult that that of any other forum (with the possible exception of P&N, of course).

 

[geo1]

Originally posted by: apoppin

And - according to Rollo - there are TWO others that have not come forward. . . . probably on ATF.

Well, I think it fair to say you've been Rollo's leading critic on this topic (or at least very near it), so perhaps you can help me out on this. Given your well well-known opinion of Rollo's credibility, goals, tactics, and honesty. . .and then given the blatantly obvious self-serving context in which he made that "two more" statement. . .can you help me understand why you appear to accept that as fact? I don't know one way or the other, btw, but I'm very surprised to see you accepting Rollo's unsupported word for it. Is there some other convincing support for that claim I'm unaware of?

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: geo1
[
Well, I think it fair to say you've been Rollo's leading critic on this topic (or at least very near it), so perhaps you can help me out on this. Given your well well-known opinion of Rollo's credibility, goals, tactics, and honesty. . .and then given the blatantly obvious self-serving context in which he made that "two more" statement. . .can you help me understand why you appear to accept that as fact? I don't know one way or the other, btw, but I'm very surprised to see you accepting Rollo's unsupported word for it. Is there some other convincing support for that claim I'm unaware of?

b3d's forum. One of the other more respected and liked members of AEG's program volunteered that the cc: line of their group is 'one line.'

So while the number may not be exactly two more, that's the right order of magnitude. At least until there's evidence to suspect otherwise.

 

[RichUK]

I haven?t read most of this, due to the 1000+ replies lol. But has anyone **Rollo** admitted to be part of (AEG or the like) yet?

 

[atybimf]

Wowzers, this is a big thread.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: RichUK
I haven?t read most of this, due to the 1000+ replies lol. But has anyone **Rollo** admitted to be part of (AEG or the like) yet?

Yes he has, and he's changed his sig to show his status as an AEG focus group member.

There are also 3 very visable B3D members who have come-out publically.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: geo1

Originally posted by: apoppin

And - according to Rollo - there are TWO others that have not come forward. . . . probably on ATF.

Well, I think it fair to say you've been Rollo's leading critic on this topic (or at least very near it), so perhaps you can help me out on this. Given your well well-known opinion of Rollo's credibility, goals, tactics, and honesty. . .and then given the blatantly obvious self-serving context in which he made that "two more" statement. . .can you help me understand why you appear to accept that as fact? I don't know one way or the other, btw, but I'm very surprised to see you accepting Rollo's unsupported word for it. Is there some other convincing support for that claim I'm unaware of?

Ok, lets analyze his post in FI:

Some of you are starting some pretty widespread hysteria about the possibility of "many undercover AEG agents among us, the forums have been subverted"

I know of TWO other people in the focus group than the four of us who have decided we don't care for the allegations and misinformation any more.

The focus group was never about overloading forums with PR generated by many "undercover agents", it's about end user experience and opinion for nVidia.

I imagine they hope we'll post good things about the products they've made available to us, but they didnt ask us to. They for sure didn't pay us, and there are no "employers".

I don't even know if the cards are ours to keep, we were only told some would be "made available" to us to try out.

Some will say "How can we trust you now when you lied before?" but the fact of the matter is I have little reason to lie now. My time here may well be short, my signature pretty much puts my affiliation out there.

he's proud of his 'support goup' . . . the total success at your forum and even his partial success here . . . even though he personally let nVidia down, he still stands behind his Viral Marketing ["i'll just go elsewhere"] as they do.

and since his entire thread is Damage Control for nVidia, he is MINIMIZING his goup's impact on our forum. From Rollo's thread, i would really suspect more than 2.

 

[JimmyH]

I decided to head over to Beyond3d Forum and lurk. First off, Kudos to AT for allowing this discussion go on WITHOUT censorship. :thumbsup: The Beyond3d Forum thread made me appreciate the freedom of speech allowed at AT. Thanks to Geo and Pete for exposing viral marketing. The propaganda / PR spin going on there is quite good. The following is probably the juiciest aspect of that thead

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vysez
Moderator at Beyond3d

Guerrilla Marketing members can be seens as nuisance to a community since they're nothing but a disguised form of spam (That do not even brings revenues to the forum owner, if I may add).

/End Quote

A reasonable person might infer from the following statement:

They define guerilla marketing as spam and VIRAL marketing as good because they give REVENUE to host forum owner.

All of it begs the question that I would like anybody to attempt to answer. By attempt, I mean speculate as I suspect we?ll never be privy to the answer.


Did AEG invite AT to host viral marketers' content (ie Rollo and undisclosed posters)?

 

[Acanthus]

I love how far this has spun out of control.

Again, guys, AEG members are not required to talk up nvidia.

They recieve the hardware, they talk about the hardware, positive or negative and give nvidia and the communities they inhabit feedback about the product.

As a bonus they are allowed to keep said product in exchange for their experienced feedback.

I have read AEGs website, and ive read the posts by people in the program, there is NOTHING that says they have to all "act like rollo" and be insane rabid fanbois who attack everyone at their whim upon disagreeing with the "nvidia is god" mentality.

 

[nib95]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
I love how far this has spun out of control.

Again, guys, AEG members are not required to talk up nvidia.

They recieve the hardware, they talk about the hardware, positive or negative and give nvidia and the communities they inhabit feedback about the product.

As a bonus they are allowed to keep said product in exchange for their experienced feedback.

I have read AEGs website, and ive read the posts by people in the program, there is NOTHING that says they have to all "act like rollo" and be insane rabid fanbois who attack everyone at their whim upon disagreeing with the "nvidia is god" mentality.

Yea right, they get given products in exchange for "experienced feedback". Lol that made me laugh out loud. Experienced how? Rollo never even owned the GTX 512mb before he was given it. His experience with the card was as good as yours or mine.
Are Nvidia going to give 'us' free cards too?

Dont be silly.

And dont use thier 'public' website as a scource of referance.
I'm sure what they tell them personally differs from what they host publicly on the site.

 

[SickBeast]

*edit* I'm gonna keep this to PM's for the time being. I have a theory.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
I love how far this has spun out of control.

Again, guys, AEG members are not required to talk up nvidia.

They recieve the hardware, they talk about the hardware, positive or negative and give nvidia and the communities they inhabit feedback about the product.

As a bonus they are allowed to keep said product in exchange for their experienced feedback.

I have read AEGs website, and ive read the posts by people in the program, there is NOTHING that says they have to all "act like rollo" and be insane rabid fanbois who attack everyone at their whim upon disagreeing with the "nvidia is god" mentality.

So since you have been to the AEG website, could you please point out where they claim to be involved in hardware evaluation? Because I must've missed that page. Every statement there tells all about how they can increase sales, spread viral assets far and wide (yay!), coordinate PR tours, amplify buzz, elevate mindshare (whatever the heck THAT is) and "increase exposure and increase positive buzz for our clients and their products".

But no mention of hardware evaluation.



Anywhere.



There's no question that nVidia DID contract with AEG. But the AEG's main purpose is "helping your company succeed and exceed its sales targets." Therefore the AEG sought out and hired people such as Rollo to aid them in their goal. After all, you don't call an electrical engineer to redo the plumbing in your house. You don't call a doctor if your car won't start. You call the person best suited to your immediate needs. So they chose Rollo to help increase nVidia sales here at AnandTech by glorifying nVidia and belittling ATI. Which he has done nonstop for years.

Now that his involvement in AEG's hidden nVidia marketing pitch has been revealed it is time for him to go. Not only for the continual disruption his presence has caused over the years, not only for driving away valuable members with his incessant flaming, but for knowingly violating the AnandTech Forums Terms of Service by being a paid nVidia advertiser within these forums.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
I love how far this has spun out of control.

Again, guys, AEG members are not required to talk up nvidia.

They recieve the hardware, they talk about the hardware, positive or negative and give nvidia and the communities they inhabit feedback about the product.

As a bonus they are allowed to keep said product in exchange for their experienced feedback.

I have read AEGs website, and ive read the posts by people in the program, there is NOTHING that says they have to all "act like rollo" and be insane rabid fanbois who attack everyone at their whim upon disagreeing with the "nvidia is god" mentality.

they are a Focus Group - in contact with each other and AEG - that is given shared strategy by their leader, Rollo. Each is well-suited for his forum. . . . except Rollo was sloppy and his cover got blown or was ordered to be uncovered.

either you know more about AEG then you are telling or you are just regurgitating Rollo's Spin.

 

[crazydingo]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: crazydingo

Originally posted by: Creig

Originally posted by: Rollo
For AT to make a quick blanket statement "We ban all nVidia user group members from our forums because we question the ethics of the group" likely isn't going to happen.

forums.nvidia.com is an nVidia user group, AEG is a PR Marketing firm. There's a BIIIIGGGGG difference between the two.

lol, Rollo's trying very hard to spin this like Nvidia's going to be upset if these members get kicked out of AT forums. Its not Nvidia's headache if AT decides to out you guys Rollo, its AEGs. You know where your bone comes from ...

As usual, you make no sense whatsoever.

I already posted in this thread that nVidia likely does not care about me at all, that my point was about business courtesy and showing disapproval for your business partner's business practices.

What you are saying is that Nvidia doesnt gives 2 shits about you yet somehow they may get upset if you get banned? lol :laugh:

Originally posted by: Rollo
You should change your name to "crazyspeakdingo"

Thanks for proving my point.

 

[apoppin]

you know, i got to thinking . . . i could be 100% wrong and nVidia/AEG's Viral Marketing "management" of our forum just might really be much more "innocent" than most of us are saying.

Well, there is one way to be sure . . . let's have an official from nVidia maybe together with AEG post on open forum - heavily moderated to cut out the flames - so they can answer our direct questions.

We have always asked for transparency and this is an excellent 'start' for nVidia - as their reputation has ALREADY been damaged with some insinuations probably getting out of control.

geeze it all over hte 'net:

Shilling for Chips: The Response

WordSpreadsQuickly.com
Shilling for Chips: The Response

You know your company is having a bad day when negative posts about your firm start appearing on Memeorandum.com?s TOP ITEMS list.

In this case, the company is Nvidia, a graphics chip manufacturer for multiple PC platforms, the Playstation 3, and portable devices, that allegedly hired a viral marketing firm AEG to seed a few online communities using employees to lurk on community boards over long periods of time to build up trust and then shill products.

To make matters worse, the public relations director at Nvidia, Derek Perez, tried to divert negative attention by telling the good folks over at Consumerist that they didn?t do their research. Dumb move Nvidia. Read the WOMMA ethics guidelines. Better yet ? try using them next time.

As might be expected, a bunch of voices have jumped in on this one?

Consumerist
Christopher Carfi - SocialCustomer.com
Steve Hall - Adrants.com
Media Guerrilla

TAGS: Shills, Nvidia, WOMMA Ethics, Viral Marketing, seeding

 

[Creig]

apoppin, that wouldn't work. Both nVidia and AEG have a desire to downplay this incident and there's no way we could be sure that the information they would be providing would be in any way accurate.

 

[crazydingo]

Well they made their first move .. already attacked the messenger (consumerist) instead of tackling the message.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Creig
apoppin, that wouldn't work. Both nVidia and AEG have a desire to downplay this incident and there's no way we could be sure that the information they would be providing would be in any way accurate.

i don't think their damage control is working very well . . .

because people are thinking the worst

they could sure at least try to set the record straight . . .

 

[apoppin]

The WOMMA Code of Ethics
Word of Mouth Marketing Association

The WOMMA Code of Ethics
WOMMA published its draft Ethics Code for the word of mouth marketing industry on February 9, 2005.

This is a first step in the complicated process of building an industry based on consumer respect and fundamental ethical principles.

The essence of the WOMMA Code comes down to the Honesty ROI:

* Honesty of Relationship: You say who you're speaking for
* Honesty of Opinion: You say what you believe
* Honesty of Identity: You never obscure your identity

nVidia has failed to meet this standard . . . i'd say they ought to set the record straight or it will get worse.