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Ask HN: Is the “G2 Crowd” business software review website a scam?

7 points by elbigbad ↗ HN
They seem to be legitimate based off of a search. I initially clicked based a Facebook ad from them promising a $5 Starbucks gift card to take a survey based on what business software I use.

I took the survey and listed out the software I use and connected my LinkedIn and stuff like that. They then promised more gift cards if I individually wrote reviews for the software I listed (or other software, I believe).

I figured I would see if I received the initial $5 gift card before devoting any more time to writing actual, well thought out reviews. So I opted to wait.

Then I received an email weeks later:

"Thank you for telling us about the software you use at work.

Unfortunately, we were unable to confirm the validity of the information you provided during our moderation process, and therefore cannot accept your submission.

We manually check each submission and user profile to ensure the responses are authentic, first-hand feedback on software used by real business professionals. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding."

So that leads me to believe it's a scam of some sort. Possibly a data mining operation or something (I did connect my LinkedIn). If nothing else, I think it's bad business practice to entice someone with something to do work for you, or take surveys, and then back out.

Has anyone else had experience with this site?

7 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 27.9 ms ] thread
camp987
I have personally worked with the founders of this website, as well as performed reviews on the site. It is most definitely not a scam.

The email you received tells me that they probably were not able to confirm that you are in fact a user of the software that you reviewed.

wingerlang
Since your account is new and this is your only comment, it seems fishy.
elbigbad
I agree with this. The account is brand new and has exactly one post, popping in to defend G2 Crowd.
shivakaush
yea big scam. plus they harvest email without permission.
codeinchaos
We run an open, technology focused Slack community at (https://TechMasters.chat / 1000+ members) and recently we got "attacked" by G2Crowd, they had some intern join the group (registration is open) and then went through the profiles of each member, copying the emails then proceeded to email them unsolicited offers for reviews and feedback in exchange for gift cards.

luckily, we're based in Canada, where anti-spam laws (CASL) apply.

we proceeded to contact them in social media / email to ask them to cease this activity and delete the collected emails.

they fought back at first, claiming it was legit and only would put emails under do-not-contact list, we did not accept that, again citing CASL laws, their actions were in clear violations. they stopped responding to our emails.

We have proceeded with a legal consult and have further contacted their legal representative for further action.

G2Crowd has been extremely un-cooperative, and seem to clearly lack understanding of laws and legalities outside of the US.

(edit: corrected some typos)

adgezaza
100% scam. I'm surprised they've been able to get away with this for so long. Voting this up!
occam65
Yeah, I once got an email from them. Because I use email aliases (<email+website@provider.com>) I knew exactly where they farmed it from, because they sent it with the + intact.

Definitely didn't provide consent to communication.