I was casually browsing IMDb last month when I saw a name I didn’t recognise listed as the top cast alongside Ranbir Kapoor in the upcoming movie, Animal. It was clearly a case of IMDb vandalism. Any website that allows its users to add or edit content is vulnerable to this.
It was amusing at first, but a Google search confirmed that his wasn’t an isolated case. Many have figured out how to manufacture their online clout via the non-sweat route. At first I came across dozens. Then, as I better understood their methods, I found hundreds. Interestingly, over 95% of the profiles were from small town India. Is it because they don’t have as many resources as those in metros and are trying to get visibility and followers on social media platforms this way? The answer is not yet clear.
Gaming IMDb is only a tiny part of what is being done today. These ‘creators’ have added their profiles and biographies on many self-editing websites. They target websites that have high SEO ranking but lax or no content verification systems in place, such as IssueWire, FilmFreeway, and WikiAlpha, and feed misinformation. This tricks the Google search algorithm into believing these citations are legitimate proof of their notability — thus helping them get knowledge panels that, in turn, assist them in getting verified on other platforms (say, Spotify).
