I apologize if this is old news, but I just noticed it. It looks like Kagi has added Fediverse Forums as a default Web search option.
this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2025
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I'm not sure they do at all. There are just a bunch of Kagi users here.
I mean the idea is to appear organic, it's not very effective advertising otherwise. It's free real estate there is no reason they would not be doing it.
Should I ask them about being paid? I've been doing it for free all this time.
Not trying to say there is no organic discussion, but I would be shocked if they were ignoring this avenue for getting the word out. It's basically free advertising and advertising is generally expensive.
If they aren't paying anyone is it advertising? I'm not sure what you're actually talking about anymore. Maybe I never did
Well sure it is. I mean nonpaid advertising is the best kind for everyone since it's likely to actually be honest and actually listened to but it's not always easy to tell from some comments what their true motivations are. Thus the existence of astroturfing.
Kagi probably has a social media manager or hires a marketing agency (as most companies do) and their time would be well spent posting on Lemmy (and other sites) about Kagi but in as organically of a way as possible since we're all pretty ad averse here. I mean, it's possible Kagi specifically isn't doing it, but it is a matter of when, not if, companies start doing that here.
So yah, the social media manager or marketing agency is getting paid. People organically posting because they genuinely like the service, aren't. The former would be advertising. The later not.
Can you point to any accounts you think are doing Kagi astroturfing. IE being paid to advertise with. Because now it just sounds like you're speculating.
? It's a well established strategy. I'm not speculating, this is how social media marketing works. You can find all sorts of resources on how marketers strategize about these things.
https://old.reddit.com/r/SocialMediaMarketing/comments/1edu8u6/commenting_as_a_social_media_strategy/
This has gotten quite pedantic but being paid is not a requirement, just is most often how it's done:
Advertising (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advertising) 1: the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements
I'm not trying to tell you how to post, genuine recommendations are the only form of advertising I respect. But it is advertising and companies have every incentive to astroturf that.
You're speculating that Kagi is actually astroturfing on Lemmy. That's why I asked for an account you believe to be doing it on Kagi's behalf.