Can Influencer Outreach & SEO Result in Stock Manipulation and Insider Trading
Are influentials guilted into accepting a seeded message or conversation starter for a brand by a friend? I know that a number of those I have spoken to recently feel that they are being spammed with requests that are not targeted or relevant to that influential blogger or their audience. And when they do choose to share a message (together with a potentially large number of other influential bloggers), some expressed that they can’t do it regularly as they do not want to be seen as a shill or adding to the noise/spam.
What about transparency? Honesty? Truth? Are they truthfully and honestly adding value to their community? How about when people are asked to favorite a post on Digg, delicious, reddit, stumbleupon and others? Is that shilling? What if influencer outreach or SEO/SEM efforts cause so much buzz that they influence sales and a stock price?
Stay with me here – When the campaigns ends and the spigot for generating buzz is turned off. If sales and stock prices drop off - here’s a wild thought. If you own stock in the companies whose products you are “promoting” and you trade in those stocks around the time of the outreach or the campaign conclusion, are you potentially guilty of insider trading?
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