Possible search engine manipulation:
If you google 'mark rolton brw' (I did because I wanted to see if BRW has ever mentioned him etc, in regards to his wealth. They havn't from what I can see.
...
Could have been a plan to manipulate everything you find about Mark. He isn't mentioned among those billionaires by any real news source, yet this site could make people think that he has been, or that he has been mentioned by BRW.
Search engine manipulation is used in cases where people want to 'push down' any non-positive information about themselves, by making it so keywords relating to them will show good things for the first few pages for instance (not many people get to the 3rd results page).
Anyway, just want that info out there. I can't prove he/his people are manipulating results, though it does seem dodgy.
... and people wonder why we are so suspicious of new posters ramping up or defending a guru with their "stories" of success? It is exactly this type of manipulation that causes our spruiker radar to go off!
We now have concrete evidence that Mark Rolton's organisation does indeed participate in search engine manipulation, and in "sock puppetry" (having someone else speak "on your behalf") on these forums.
A representative of
Infolink IT posted on the forum (under the name of Paul Klerck), explaining the relationship between these websites and Massland Property Development - they are a search engine optimisation company and Massland are their clients:
Paul Klerk (sic) is not the individual owner of the aforementioned websites, he is the owner of an influential Gold Coast internet marketing firm that focuses on positive online marketing for many local clients including some promotion for property development of Massland Property Options.
What's more, I found that staff from this company had registered at least four separate user names on Somersoft with the express purpose of promoting Massland through the use of sock puppetry (and deception):
April 12, 2010 - user "Alan Friske":
I am a person that can assure you that Mark Rolton is the real deal and Massland more than deliver on their promise of success, I am living proof.
If you are wanting to get into property options and investing Mark is a great Mentor he knows his stuff. Mark has shown me so many fail safe ways to make money through his knowledge in the Australian property marketing market.
September 10, 2010 - user "Sadey":
So I went to mark roltons free seminar last week in brisbane. Got me pretty excited about my properties and meeting others in my boat. I thought he was pretty enthusiastic guy who seemed to know a lot about what he was saying. has anyone else heard him speak?
thinking a lot about what he said, seems to offer a lot in return for your efforts. but im not so sure about taking it futher. suggestions?
June 17, 2011 - user "NicLH":
Firstly let me point out the obvious before I am heralded as a spammer, that yes, this is my debut post. I was introduced to this site by a friend who insisted I check out the power of opinion within the online property world, particularly regarding Massland.
I am an affiliate of Mark Rolton and the Massland team, having worked with them within the property market for some time. Like many contributors on this extremely informative and beneficial forum, I am here only to make a positive contribution by clearing the air of some misunderstandings.
June 20, 2011 - user "NicLH":
not a client, simply an interested close friend with an understanding of the facts and a bit of spare time. I hope my 'relationship' provides some comfort, I'm not convinced how my elaboration will help, but I am happy to oblige.
Now, I am not actually accusing the staff from Infolink IT of posting lies - I have no way of verifying whether their claims are incorrect, and they may well be accurate in the words that were actually posted. That is not the point.
The point is that they did not disclose that they were being paid (directly or indirectly) by their client Massland or Mark Rolton to promote the company and their products/services. To me, that is deceptive behaviour - and we do not tolerate that on this site. We have seen a clear and deliberate manipulation of the information available online and an acknowledgement that this is what is happening.
I think users on Somersoft are quite within their rights to be suspicious of new users posting in threads like this when we see this happening.
Ironically, if a PR person from Massland (or even Infolink IT themselves) posted up front with full disclosure of who they are and what they do, and simply posted answering questions or addressing criticisms about the seminars, then I would be quite happy to have let them stand.
We are always prepared to give companies a "right of reply" on the forums (provided they don't start spamming or promoting their products), and some have done this extremely well and turned very negative views around into quite positive ones. It's called "engaging with the community".
It does make one wonder about the integrity of companies who, instead of engaging with critics, try and manipulate them via deceptive practices.
