Korean ad agency Fllu is at the center of a controversial promotion in which developers were offered money to mention Samsung’s upcoming app challenge on developer website Stack Overflow. According to The Verge, Samsung claims the ad agency was acting on its own and asserts it was not aware of the cash for content scheme. Samsung condemned the actions and immediately canceled the promotion. “We remain committed to engaging in transparent and honest communications with consumers,” says Samsung.
The story was brought to light by developer Delyan Kratunov, who exchanged messages with John Yoon, CCO for Fllu. Kratunov details how Yoon offered him $500 if he asked four “casual and organic” questions on Stack Overflow about Samsung’s Smart App challenge in the course of a month. Commonly known as astroturfing, this practice pawns off paid content under the guise of legitimate questions or comments on message boards, commenting systems and the like.
James Yoo, COO of Fllu, apologized to the developer saying its tactics were “misguided, unethical, and wrong.” After initially denying it was working for Samsung, the ad agency later confirmed to The Verge that it was hired to promote the Smart App Challenge by a firm that works for Samsung.
[Via The Verge and Delyan Kratunov]