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View Full Version : AdvantagePB gets banned from PbNation. Please Read.



ProX9
07-17-2005, 09:49 PM
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=1104355


PbNation Members and Guests,

We have recently been made aware of a number of potentially false and misleading posts created on PbNation regarding the products produced and sold by AdvantagePB. The posts in question were all generated from user accounts known to be registered by the owners and associates of AdvantagePB.

These related accounts created posts which included positive feedback and product information, as well as negative comments regarding competing products. These posts are not from independent third parties but are posts created by accounts registered to the owners and associates of AdvantagePB, the supplier of the product being discussed in the threads. All of the messages created were intended to benefit AdvantagePB and its products and in some cases posts were created to leave negative impressions about competing products.

The scale of the corporate spam and feedback fraud discovered was unprecedented in the history of PbNation. It involved multiple accounts with a variety of aliases pretending to order or pre-order products, review products and leave comments regarding “great customer service.” Fortunately this scam was uncovered by the PbNation staff and within hours of its discovery all AdvantagePB accounts were permanently banned.

PbNation LLC considers such posting to be corporate spam and feedback fraud and extremely harmful to the paintball and PbNation community. These kinds of activities will not be tolerated on PbNation.

Any vendor or individual participating in this type of misleading posting behavior will be immediately banned, have their company web site added to the swear filter, be prohibited from advertising and/or selling their products on PbNation.

It’s unfortunate that any vendor would use these unethical and dishonest tactics to promote their products. PbNation will continue to do what we can to provide a level playing field for the paintball community to engage in fair and honest discussions regarding all aspects of paintball.

Sincerely
The Team at PbNation.com

Almeister
07-17-2005, 09:56 PM
Nice. :clap:

Blazestorm
07-17-2005, 09:59 PM
Haha, quite funny. I believe Manike noticed the similarities in their IP's and such.

Never saw Advantage as a real company...

Lohman446
07-17-2005, 10:04 PM
I thought Advantage advertised (and paid for advertising) on PB Nation... if this is so kudos to them for being upstanding...

If however, the cancelled there advertising and then this happened, well one has to question it.

I'm going to think its number one, and its a great movement by the nation (whatever you think of there content) to operate in a manner not swayed by there advertisers. Good job :clap:

Blazestorm
07-17-2005, 10:08 PM
No, manike actually caught these guys. They stopped the advertisement after.

Lenny
07-17-2005, 10:19 PM
Wow, PBN users can be jerks, but I never thought fraud... I guess I'm not on there enough to really know, though... Oh well... Kudos, PBN, for making your forum page a little better! (Now if we could get them to stop bashing me about prefering my 68 Mag over a Timmy...)

Lohman446
07-17-2005, 10:20 PM
No, manike actually caught these guys. They stopped the advertisement after.

Kudos.. I don't like PB nation but there is no questioning the integrity of this move, especially if Manike was behind it

MonsterMag
07-17-2005, 10:25 PM
I cant wait to get Virtue in my new dm4 :spit_take

http://www.pbnation.com/banlogdisplay.php?

Lohman446
07-17-2005, 10:42 PM
Hmm.. assuming advantage PB writes computer code, I hope there is no backlash for this upstanding act

MonsterMag
07-17-2005, 10:44 PM
Hmm.. assuming advantage PB writes computer code, I hope there is no backlash for this upstanding act
Yeah advantage PB might atempt to crash pbn :rofl:

magman007
07-18-2005, 01:38 AM
advantage doesnt do a damn thing, they out source all of their code. There goes their market!

i hated the cheating bastards any way, i dont see how people trusted a company that chaged people upwards of 200 dollars for a cheater chip.

good riddance.

Will and Tag are the true innovators of code in paintball, honorable mentions go to Egi and Rocky Knuth for the nox board.

magman007
07-18-2005, 01:40 AM
also, i forgot to mention, in their beginnings, advantage would spam members of pbn via email to try and sell their product.

shartley
07-18-2005, 05:54 AM
I think this type of activity, openly by competing businesses or by using cover accounts, should be prohibited on all forums.

manike
07-18-2005, 08:43 AM
I thought Advantage advertised (and paid for advertising) on PB Nation... if this is so kudos to them for being upstanding...

If however, the cancelled there advertising and then this happened, well one has to question it.

I'm going to think its number one, and its a great movement by the nation (whatever you think of there content) to operate in a manner not swayed by there advertisers. Good job :clap:

Advantage did pay to advertise on PBN. PBN took this decision to cut AdvantagePB out anyway and they will lose a significant sum because of it.

It makes me proud to be involved with the people that run PBN when they can take such action and make such decisions even at financial loss to themselves.

The number of false accounts was astounding, and the way the false accounts attacked other manufacturers such as Tadao and TAG made me sick once we started investigating it in depth. :cuss:

I don't think false accounts giving positive feedback and attacking competition should be allowed on any forums. I hope forums such as this and PBReview etc. Look a little deeper into some of their posters now.

MedicDVG
07-18-2005, 09:23 AM
Isn't new.. This is the same tactic used by the good 'ole 3a paintball folks when they got banned from PBreview and Ebay... now they have a new name, but same old same old...

Glad they got cauhgt... Fraud sucks.

BigEvil
07-18-2005, 09:25 AM
Good Job Manike... keep us posted.

JoshK
07-18-2005, 10:22 AM
Isn't new.. This is the same tactic used by the good 'ole 3a paintball folks when they got banned from PBreview and Ebay... now they have a new name, but same old same old...

Glad they got cauhgt... Fraud sucks.

I thought 3a still sells on Ebay?

CoolHand
07-18-2005, 02:09 PM
also, i forgot to mention, in their beginnings, advantage would spam members of pbn via email to try and sell their product.

Yup, I still get a big spam "News Letter" from them every couple of weeks.

Its sad to see what people will resort to . . . . . . . . . on internet forums no less.

For their overall jackassery, there isn't a :rolleyes: emoticon big enough . . . . . . . wait:

http://www.logicpaintball.com/rollbarf.gif

Thanks go Mango for creating that once upon a time.