[Image]

• 1. If the comment starts ‘I love your blog…’ then goes on to extol the wonders of the product that has been posted. It’s a PR agency.
• 2. If the comment starts ‘I’m not an expert but…’ and then praises the product in question. It’s an in-house company marketing shill.
• 3. If the comment starts ‘I bought one of these a few months ago, and it’s a great/fabulous/amazing/whatever….’. It’s an outsourced company paid to astroturf the client’s product anywhere they can.
• 4. If the comment starts ‘I love this product, where can I buy one…?’. It’s the daughter of one of the product retailers doing a favour for her father.
• 5. If the comment includes the sentence, ‘I prefer the Acme product (www.productaddress.com) because it has a bigger…’. It’s the daughter of a rival product retailer doing a favour for her father.
• 6. If the comment starts, ‘I think you’ll find…’. It’s the ex founder of the company trying to get his own back on the VC company that shafted him.
• 7. If the comment begins, ‘I am loving this but product…’. It’s a very cheap outsourced agency from the Far East shilling the company’s product.
• 8. If the comment begins, ‘There’s a much better free version at…’. It’s a real reader trying to help other readers out.