SEE THE TRAP. AVOID THE TRAP.
Hey there, this month we’re highlighting the three telltale signs of a fake product recommendation on Reddit 🟡 🟠 🔴 and I’ll share some actionable tips to help you separate the good from the bad.
Let’s get to it.
1 OF 3 → HOW THEY TRY TO DUPE YOU
Questions about products that usually lead with ‘Best X’
Fake Reddit posts about products presented as questions
One quick way to spot a potentially fake Reddit thread about a product is to look for questions presented as, ‘Best [Product] on the market?’
Takeaway: When doing your research about a product on Reddit, stay away from posts that look like a question and then go on to list a bunch of items with links to Amazon.
“In 2024, Reddit and Google cut a deal that allowed Google to display Reddit threads in search results more efficiently.
That is why, no matter what you search, you are likely to always find an entire section of results dedicated to Reddit discussions – and this is particularly true for product reviews.
Google has now created a shortcut for anyone wanting to rank on the first page of search results for virtually any keyword, and spammers are using this hack to put their affiliate links in front of millions of people.
This explains why there are so many Redditors with a post history full of “questions” about products.
Don’t be fooled by these product recommendations.”
2 OF 3 → HOW THEY TRY TO DUPE YOU
Product-focused subreddits with few subscribers and little to no interactions
One subreddit, one redditor, multiple posts
Beware of Reddit communities focused on products where every thread is posted by the same user, and there is little to no engagement from other users.
Takeaway: Whenever you land on Reddit when researching a product on Google, take a moment to find out more about the person behind the thread. Spam accounts usually use the same spammy tactics across multiple subreddits.
“Reddit now allows users to hide their activity, and spammers tend to enable this option. However, even in those cases, you should still be able to see a list of subreddits they moderate - it turns out that spammy ‘Redditors’ like to spam at scale.”
3 OF 3 → HOW THEY TRY TO DUPE YOU
Edits where Reddit users amend old posts to update people on the product they bought
Don’t be duped by ‘helpful’ edits to old threads
It’s not uncommon for Reddit users to amend their threads to clarify their posts or update the community on actions they’ve taken. However, this has also become a common tactic used by spammers to insert their affiliate links into Reddit posts that are ranking highly in Google search results.
Takeaway: Watch out for product recommendations presented at the very top of question-based threads on Reddit. These are ‘updates’ or ‘edits’ where the OP (Original Poster) amends their post to ‘thank everyone’ and share the product they ended up buying ‘after going through all the comments.’ More often than not, these are covert ads linking out to products with a URL that contains an affiliate tag - when you buy the product, they get paid.
“Please, don’t blindly trust product recommendations you read on Reddit.
A recent investigation from 404media uncovered a practice known as ‘stealth marketing,’ where companies poison Reddit threads with AI-generated replies designed to promote their products.
And it gets worse…
It has gotten so bad that huge subreddits such as r/DebtFree (1.7M members), r/Banking (124K members), r/software (285K members), r/Mattress (114K members) and r/Supplements (441K members) have been allegedly infiltrated by affiliate spammers.”
Stay safe, and don’t be duped!
~ Danny
P.S. This is a new iteration of our newsletter, where we move away from HouseFresh-related news to more practical advice for consumers. If this is not your cup of tea, feel free to unsubscribe and we won’t send future issues your way. No hard feelings.
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