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Comment by thisisdallas | Hacker News Reader

I know the gaming world is making a big mess about this but as others have mentioned, it's nothing other than marketing. Doing promotions like this for Machinima partners/affiliates is nothing new. I also don't see how it differs from publishers sending free games to people to review on YouTube.

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Maybe read the linked article to get some food for thought:

"These kinds of payments aren't inherently suspect in and of themselves. If the video makers disclosed that Microsoft was paying extra for these videos, and if they were allowed to say whatever they wanted in those videos, then the whole thing could be seen as merely an unorthodox way to increase exposure for the Xbox One on YouTube.

That's not the case, however. According to a leaked copy of the full legal agreement behind the promotion, video creators "may not say anything negative or disparaging about Machinima, Xbox One, or any of its Games" and must keep the details of the promotional agreement confidential in order to qualify for payment. In other words, to get the money, video makers have to speak positively (or at least neutrally) about the Xbox One, and they can't say they're being paid to do so."

That's not uncommon with marketing agreements at all.

You see no problem with a secret marketing agreement? (A bunch of years ago, astroturfing used to be shocking news.)

Maybe it's not uncommon, but it is against FTC guidelines. (I claim that because it's in the article too)

I don't know if being "against FTC guidelines" is equivalent to "illegal" or not. But let's hope so.

I did read the article. I am not saying I agree with the practice or I see no negative aspects to the practice. I'm just surprised at the recent uproar over this when Microsoft is by no means the first company to do this. Sure their agreement states you can't say anything negative about the X1 but how is that different from publishers sending free games for people to review? Do you not think those people realize negative comments will most likely persuade publishers to stop sending them free games?

Why would I pay someone to trash talk my product or recommend another product? Coke would never have their polar bears drinking a Pepsi. Even Chevy ads don't talk about Cadillac.

I'm not sure whether you're joking or serious. Of course, a company won't praise a competitor in their ads. However, the money Microsoft hands out is for videos that are not presented as advertising at all. Instead they want regular users to do "stealth advertisement", when it is NOT clear to the viewer that those guys were paid by Microsoft. I would have no problem with Microsoft paying for ads that are clearly identified as such. You know, the stuff you see on the web or on TV.

The part I was highlighting is that Microsoft has a clause saying if you receive money from Microsoft, you can't talk bad about them. That's pretty natural, they don't want to pay detractors to keep disparaging them.

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