CRM developer pulls astroturfing job listing

Jordan Golson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:29:09 -0700

Small business CRM software developer WORKetc recently posted a job listing for someone to "participate in software and small business discussions." Translation: the company wants to astroturf message boards and forums touting the company's products.

We are looking for someone who can work with us on a daily basis to comment on relevant blogs and participate in forums related to small business and software.

Astroturfing is the practice of using fake names to emulate a grassroots campaign or suggest that an everyman approves of a product or company. Most companies try to keep astroturfing campaigns quiet because, when discovered, the public tends to disapprove of such practices. WORKetc doesn't just post a full job listing describing what it wants its newest employee to do, the listing even suggests possible comments:

Your comments need to reflect that you understand our software tools. A bad comment would be "WORKetc is a great tool". A good comment is "WORKetc really helped us create more accurate invoices". A better comment would be "At our business we managed to produce more accurate invoices using the WORKetc billing software. This not only bought us in more money, but our customers appreciated the extra details".

The listing has been removed. I guess WORKetc filled the position -- or discovered how amazingly dumb it is to advertise for an astroturfing job.

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