This 10,000-Phone Click Farm Is Why Some Facebook Pages Get So Many Likes
Racks on racks on racks of phones.
By John Lim — 16 May 2017, 01:27 PM
Turns out if you want to run a business where you rate a bunch of apps and write fake reviews, you can't just spoof having a bunch of phones - you actually need the phones
A video of a "click farm" based in China has emerged online and it's pretty... disturbing.
The footage shows rows of rows of phones lined up on shelves to give ratings and "Likes" to pages on multiple social media websites.
A "click farm" is a business that pays employees to click on website elements to artificially boost the status of a client's website or a product
Everyday business operations involve and not limited to: liking and commenting on social media, making fake ratings for mobile apps on the App Store and Google Play, and even leaving fake product ratings on websites like Amazon.
According to the Russian reporter who filmed the set-up, the operation consisted of around 10,000 handsets
It's not uncommon for companies and celebrities to pay thousands to get their apps and pages more likes by using the services these places offer, the Daily Mail reports.
The more "Likes" and good reviews a page gets, the more popular it'll become. These liking-machines are a way of making sure something goes viral and gets seen by a massive audience.
Aside from the phones, there are a number of workers in the room operating on computers
According to the Daily Mail, much of the current digital manipulation is carried out in China and Russia, with influences being felt worldwide.
Social media websites like Facebook and Instagram have been involved in an on-going battle with bots
Most recently, popular image-sharing app Instagram has shut down a bot called Instagress, which generates likes and comments on accounts through bots.