Advertisers posing as genuine posters

[Angua]

Just a quick query (I'm full of those today!!) but it's just something I was curious about.

How do you, as administrators/moderators, tell whether a newbie is a genuine poster or a company posing as such to gain advertising?

It seems obvious when someone's only made a few posts and most of those have been to recommend one particular company but they may just be a big fan! I wondered how you ascertain their validity?

I have to say that when I do see companies trying this on, it puts me right off using them. If they think underhand practices are okay in advertising, what's to stop them using such practices with you as a customer! Perhaps I'm being naive.[msneek]

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

It's a tricky one Sarah and I won't go into too much detail - suffice to say the forum logs quite a lot of detail about a new user and we can use this to check who they are if they are acting suspiciously.

To be honest anyone really advertising usually does so in the first few posts they make so it's very easy to spot.

[Angua]

Thank you for your efforts in keeping these companies out of the forum, in any event. You must have the patience of Job!![}]