This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into WP:PAID. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative. |
This list is not intended to be used as a directory of paid editing services. Paying an undisclosed service to edit Wikipedia is prohibited under WP:PAID and can lead to content being removed from articles or damage to your reputation. |
This is a list of companies involved in paid editing, both disclosed and undisclosed, and some of their blocked accounts.
It also describes some of the ways in which these companies work. It is to help with the detection and follow up of future issues, and to help educate those who may have been approached by such organizations to write an article for them.
For background, see also the Wikimedia Foundation statement on paid editing and outing (2017).
ABTACH Ltd is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. They were community banned in July 2020 (see RfC closure). They offer logo design, trademark listing, book ghost writing, animation, and Wikipedia page creation services. They operate many websites disguising as different companies. In our community they are more commonly known as WikiProfessionals Inc, which was the name under which they were community banned ( diff). They currently use Wiki Specialist LLC and other names listed below. Americanwikispecialist.com is suspected to use a ransomware technique where they delete pages if payments are refused.
They run email spam campaigns under various names, including Wiki Professionals. Page creation and monitoring to "make sure that nobody wrongly edits any of the information about your brand on your Wikipedia page". Pretends to be from Wikipedia. They are buying ads via Facebook and have used one likely undisclosed sponsored article (archived here January 14, 2020) on a website.
As of 2023, they buy Google Ads through a front named Max Mind Tech LLC (for wiki domains: allamericanwriter.com, thewikipublishers.com, thewikieditors.com, thewikispecialists.com, and thewikistudio.com) and Vertical Minds LLC (for wiki domains: thewikispecialists.co, thewikiwizards.com, and usawikispecialists.com). When operating under the name of "thewikipedians.com", they tried to scam users and impersonate admins: Scam reported to Reddit and ANI; Special:Diff/1164507156.
Abtach uses several US company fronts as merchants for payments, including TEXONA MARKETING LLC [3] (as of 2023).
They also operate a VPN service, FastestVPN, which they occasionally use for their own undisclosed paid editing.
Wikiproficiency
at Simple English WikipediaOther related websites and useful information
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Offers to make third-party sources for the articles they create.
brafton.com, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/50mMidas/Archive and Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Tester85.
One of the principals of Brass Check is Ryan Holiday who has written about how to infiltrate Wikipedia for Fortune in 2012 and his involvement with Brass Check in New York Observer in 2017. Claimed Brass Check client articles - see COIN permlink.
Cameron Free Marketing is a small marketing company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company does not directly offer Wikipedia editing services, but significant overlaps exist between the off-wiki company's clients and topics edited by the User:Cameronfree sockfarm (case at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Cameronfree) strongly implies a paid editing campaign was being undertaken from late 2018 to early 2019. Cameron Free Marketing's areas of interest (both in terms of off and on Wiki marketing) seems to be focused around topics related to Florida—the state where the company is based—with special emphasis being centered around Boca Raton. Other editing focuses include smaller companies related to the arts or clothing. Suspected clients include;
DigiWiser Ltd is a UK-domiciled marketing company that operates multiple domains, including zenbookwriting.com and zenbookwritings.com where they offer Wikipedia editing services [27].
As of February 2024, they are buying Google Ads as DigiWiser Ltd [28].
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Digitonics is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach. Its properties were divided across various companies, including #Sybex Lab, #Z-Technetics and #Innovatech LTD.
Logitonics (pvt.) Ltd. is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was co-founded in 2019 by Usman Rogatia who also founded Quad Tech [53]. Its modus operandi is similar to #Digitonics and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing.
As of July 2023, it is advertising on Google Ads under a personal account, managed by the chief operating officer.
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Quad Tech (pvt.) Ltd. is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Digitonics and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. It was co-founded in 2020 by Ibad Alvi [62]. Usman Rogatia is the CEO of Quad Tech who also co-founded #Logitonics [63] [64].
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Sybex Lab is a company based in Karachi, Pakistan, similar to #Abatch. It was founded by former #Digitonics managers. Most recent SPI case is Girmv. Some previously disclosed accounts were blocked at CharmenderDeol SPI.
As of January 2024, they advertise on Google under the name of PICIS Clinical Solutions, Inc., AKP SOLUTIONS USA LLC, and have at least one current covert advertising placement online [67].
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Sky Soft Tech (pvt.) Ltd. is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Digitonics and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. It was in 2021. Ghayas Ghazali is the CEO of Sky Tech since 2021 [101].
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Z-Technetics is a defunct marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was not a registered entity per SECP records and was likely operating as a proxy of Digitonics. Goes by various names such as Wiki Creators LLC, Estech Digital, Techture or Quad Tech Pvt Ltd. Some of these are actual companies in the United States or Karachi, Pakistan. Impersonates Wikipedia administrators in off-wiki communications. Deceives customers in relation to paid contributions policies.
Some of their websites shared infrastructure with #Digitonics. One of their websites, "Techture.co", has the same name that some scam victims claimed were the same merchant name used by #Sybex Lab ( [105], [106])
Innovatech LTD is a spam company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It operates under various names. It has shared infrastructure with #Digitonics and #Sybex Lab.
Salsoft Technologies (Pvt) Ltd is a company based in Karachi, Pakistan. An article was written about them at Android Police [107]. Advertises using multiple domains as AvenueSocial, Inc [108]. Business model very similar to Abtach. Scam reported at help desk. Probably the same as Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/MilesJ22.
As of 2024, they buy Google Ads through a front named iTechDevice [109] (for wiki domain(s): 360wikiwriters.com), Morewish Digital LLC [110] (for wiki domain(s): wikiexpertsinc.com), and Dynamic Digital Solutions, LLC [111] (for wiki domain(s): premiumwikieditors.com). It shares PICIS Clinical Solutions as a Google advertiser with #Sybex Lab.
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Meta Frolic Labs Pvt. Ltd is a business separated from Salsoft in 2023 by Omair Ahmed. It's similar to Salsoft and is offering Wikipedia-related services.
For $1,200 "Our Wikipedia writers help you create a Wikipedia page for your brand and make it stick and survive the review process."
Edventure General Trading LLC is a marketing agency based in the United Arab Emirates ( [157]).
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Was found paying User:MrMarkBGregory to add "spam links" to Wikipedia. These payments were disclosed but this is not allowed.
See Jun 28, 17 emails. [161]
Actively emailing people as of Dec 2017. Stating that they have created 400+ articles and have admins working for them. Says articles on a topic need to be two months apart. They follow the deletion boards to find potential customers. It appears they include creating sources as part of the fee.
Still trying to recruit editors as of April 2019 ( [162])
See COIN archive
Reputation management
"Wikipedia Management service: Wikipedia consistently ranks highly in the search engines' results. It is often viewed as a third-party objective authority, and as such, the content it contains about a person or brand has a direct impact on their reputation. Managing and improving your personal or brand Wikipedia page ensures that you are putting your best foot forward."
Important to note that this company was a WMF vendor and has some private data, details at phab:T192893 and phab:T193052.
"Hats-Off Helps You Manage Your Image on Wikipedia" "Wikipedia has become an alternative marketing tool for businesses as well as people. It helps in increasing your visibility on search engines, markets your products and services as well as help with eCommerce promotion."
A CU confirmed sock displayed a link to
edenwritings
Munich based.
Offers "Off-Page SEO" and lists Wikipedia as an example of a wiki in their off-page SEO navigation menu, alongside other social media.
Publicly belongs to Hanna Buryak (Munich) who also offers services through UpWork [164]
Working on Spasmodic dysphonia
Index of Sciences LTD is a predatory publisher who also publishes paid Wikipedia biographies for academics. They run massive spam campaigns offering their services.
Approved disclosure of information obtained through VRT:
See Entrepreneur July 2017
Blocked for native advertisement despite disclosures.
KCOMM is a California-based digital marketing company that offers Wikipedia page creation for clients, most of which are related to the real estate industry. Several editors likely affiliated with the company were blocked in early 2019 per Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Juliusvergara. As of February 2019, editors affiliated with the firm (via substantial off-wiki evidence) have declined to disclose any paid status, and the same editors have also resorted to sockpuppetry to create articles. Past creations likely done by KCOMM included;
Talk page July 18, 2017
"We produce biographical books, websites and Wikipedia entries for individuals and organisations."
Promises not to divulge clients.
Advertising pr/marketing/branding/image services, claims to be "senior Wikipedia admin"
De facto banned but has new advert for services as of 1/19/2024
“ | The Mather Group carefully rewrote [[[Maggie Hallahan]]'s] page and coded it in the special wiki language. We republished it, and when we did so added citations to it and linked from other articles that mentioned the author back to the main page. This made the Wiki page stronger as it wasn’t an “orphan” any longer. Most importantly we continued to defend it from being deleted as we monitored it. | ” |
They use the following fake claims;
aka net-wash.com
Reported in fr.wiki investigation. Unknown if active on en.wiki.
Company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Runs many fronts (see reverse DNS archive: [171]) from the same server with different phone numbers and company addresses. Advertised on Google as Olive Digital (Pvt.) Limited [172]. Also goes by ePlanet Communications Ltd. The company is also mentioned in a WIPO case filed against them by Wikimedia Foundation.
Claim to disclose all edits "stating who we are, who has hired us, and what types of changes we are proposing for the article"
ProVio Tech is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded in 2022 by Haider Ali. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. The company spams potential clients through LinkedIn accounts, as reported by a client [178]. As of January 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under a personal account, managed by the Head of Unit.
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Reported in fr.wiki investigation. Unknown if active on en.wiki.
Digital media/PR ( Red Ventures)
"Removify now offers a professional Wikipedia Page Creation service. With our help, you can drastically improve public perception of your brand."
Reptech Solutions Pvt Ltd is a company based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is active as an agency on freelancing platforms such as Freelancer.com and Upwork.
Reported in fr.wiki investigation. Active en.wiki.
If you want to delete a user immediately and definitely, Wikipedia does not allow it. Therefore, the best option is to contact ReputationUP.
"[T]he only natural way to counter negative articles is by editing them and offering a counter narrative"
Put simply, we place information online and use this content to create and manage pages on your behalf. But it’s not a simple task – a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure the right content is available on the right platforms, creating content that will not only enhance your brand, but will lead to changes to your Wikipedia page that stick. Thanks to our network of contacts and team of specialists from the fields of journalism, web design, data management, IT, SEO experts and more, we put together a plan of action to create and promote positive content while reducing the significance of everything else. As the biggest aggregator of this data, the result is a Wikipedia page that is more reflective of your personal brand. This is at the heart of what we do. This can be part of a fixed term project, or we can manage your page on an ongoing basis, keeping a careful eye out for inaccuracies.
Specialize in digital marketing for nonprofits.
See evidence
Unlicensed use of Commons images. Offers tutorial on replacing dead links with SEO links. Unclear if they will do this for clients.
Registrant Country: CZ, details masked
SMS Marketing Agency is a marketing agency based in Karachi, Pakistan. As of February 2024, it is advertising on Google Search ( [185]).
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"Our team is composed of experienced professionals who are all committed to promoting and safeguarding our clients' brands... This is a potent backlinking opportunity that a lot of your competitors aren't taking advantage of."
"Wiki articles can be edited by virtually anyone, it’s safe to assume that no one is invulnerable. That could easily change, as you can use our Wikipedia Article Monitoring Services"
Offers several Upwork profiles in corp "client reviews" page.
Wikipedia Tip Sheet & Editing Your Wikipedia Edits (puzzle globe infringement)
Claims to be former Wikipedia administrator
Claims to have put multiple clients' articles on WP main page through DYK.
Said in interview "I have placed articles in the press on behalf of clients. If you don’t have press, I can get you press – because I work in PR. I can set up an interview with a newspaper, and then write the Wikipedia article. If I have to get you two insertions, then the Wiki article it’s 75,000 Philippine pesos for the whole lot."
De facto community banned (indeffed via consensus @ COIN).
De facto community banned; see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mako976.
Alta Justus ( digitalalta)
Advertises itself as "India's leading Mumbai-based Wikipedia provider agency." Claims it caters to Bollywood celebrities and entrepreneurs. COIN report and SPI report.
May be a connection to "Just Right Studioz" (Mumbai).
Not standard UK or US English, no contact info, obscured domain registration
"We have been successfully contributing to Wikipedia since 2013, publishing over 1000 articles and making thousands of edits."
Wikiagency Ltd is a UK-domiciled company based in Lahore, Pakistan. The company was registered in November 2023 by Umair Ahmad.
As of February 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under 7 Star Marketing Inc.
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Website (employees 3)
Other domains:
WikiNative is a company based in Shrewsbury, England. It was founded by James Lawrie. He was previously active on Upwork.
It is another marketing company likely based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. As of January 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under MarketingNotch.
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Mentioned on Reddit
Website[dead link] Estimated number of employees (3) [209]
Belongs to this sock family [210] -> blocked in 2012 Also appear to work as wikipediasolutions Now using the website HireWikiWriters
2018 WIPO action by WMF listed (Redacted) as owner of domain Wikipediawriters.com [211], same name (Canadian) is associated with WikipediaWriters by Financial Times [212]. As of January 2020, WMF owns the domain.
wikipublishersonline.com appears in Google targeted search ads for Wiki page creation. Asserts page creation "by a Wikipedia professional". Shares a US toll-free phone number with "Pro Creative Writers" of San Francisco but writing style does not appear to be idiomatic American English.
Pro Creative Writers displays has displayed infringing puzzle globe. $1,200 to $3,500 article creation offers.
More sites:
See Ticket:2022112210006104 and Ticket:2023060710000987.
Wizards of Wiki was founded in 2011 by Mark Bray. It is based in London, England. Uses Google Ads for advertisement.
Pittsburgh
Services include "Posting your finalized draft live on Wikipedia; Monitoring your article and updating as needed"
Puzzle globe infringement (removed). Texas based.
Talks about getting press for non-notables.
Google targeted search ad: "Hire Professional Wikipedia Writer to create Best Wikipedia Page.100% Money back Guarantee"
Ticket# 10759339
Zibble Tech is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan with registered entities in the UK and USA. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. As of January 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under Branding Studio Incorporated LLC [215].
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Various domains yet to be attributed:
These companies used to do disclosed paid editing but have been blocked.
Manchester (UK) based company offering writing services, including Wikipedia article creation. The one editor affiliated with the company, User:Stone cold Staffordshire, fully complied with WP:PAID and properly disclosed, but was blocked in May 2019 for advertising and promotion on Wikipedia.
Details - Publicis PR company and US subsidiaries at COIN.
Most paid editors who disclose their conflicts of interest do not get blocked.
In 2012, Wikipedians formed a group called the Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement (CREWE), and the UK's Chartered Institute of Public Relations published a guideline for best practices in engaging with Wikipedia.
In 2014, members of CREWE published an open letter on-wiki committing to upholding those guidelines. Non-profit PR industry groups and academics associated with this effort, and potential contacts:
Signatories to the open letter (and later representatives of those groups):
CREWE editors
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Other agencies that are confirmed participants (listed on the letter, as of 6/2019; some accts never edited):
Inactive members
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EthicalWiki editors
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L Strategies
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Lumino editors
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HoT Tomato editors
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WhiteHatWiki editors
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OKA editors
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Founder (and primary donor):
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StellaResults editors
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To the point collaborative editors
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Blocked users from here.
The Big Green Tree was a marketing company based in India.
This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into WP:PAID. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative. |
This list is not intended to be used as a directory of paid editing services. Paying an undisclosed service to edit Wikipedia is prohibited under WP:PAID and can lead to content being removed from articles or damage to your reputation. |
This is a list of companies involved in paid editing, both disclosed and undisclosed, and some of their blocked accounts.
It also describes some of the ways in which these companies work. It is to help with the detection and follow up of future issues, and to help educate those who may have been approached by such organizations to write an article for them.
For background, see also the Wikimedia Foundation statement on paid editing and outing (2017).
ABTACH Ltd is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. They were community banned in July 2020 (see RfC closure). They offer logo design, trademark listing, book ghost writing, animation, and Wikipedia page creation services. They operate many websites disguising as different companies. In our community they are more commonly known as WikiProfessionals Inc, which was the name under which they were community banned ( diff). They currently use Wiki Specialist LLC and other names listed below. Americanwikispecialist.com is suspected to use a ransomware technique where they delete pages if payments are refused.
They run email spam campaigns under various names, including Wiki Professionals. Page creation and monitoring to "make sure that nobody wrongly edits any of the information about your brand on your Wikipedia page". Pretends to be from Wikipedia. They are buying ads via Facebook and have used one likely undisclosed sponsored article (archived here January 14, 2020) on a website.
As of 2023, they buy Google Ads through a front named Max Mind Tech LLC (for wiki domains: allamericanwriter.com, thewikipublishers.com, thewikieditors.com, thewikispecialists.com, and thewikistudio.com) and Vertical Minds LLC (for wiki domains: thewikispecialists.co, thewikiwizards.com, and usawikispecialists.com). When operating under the name of "thewikipedians.com", they tried to scam users and impersonate admins: Scam reported to Reddit and ANI; Special:Diff/1164507156.
Abtach uses several US company fronts as merchants for payments, including TEXONA MARKETING LLC [3] (as of 2023).
They also operate a VPN service, FastestVPN, which they occasionally use for their own undisclosed paid editing.
Wikiproficiency
at Simple English WikipediaOther related websites and useful information
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Offers to make third-party sources for the articles they create.
brafton.com, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/50mMidas/Archive and Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Tester85.
One of the principals of Brass Check is Ryan Holiday who has written about how to infiltrate Wikipedia for Fortune in 2012 and his involvement with Brass Check in New York Observer in 2017. Claimed Brass Check client articles - see COIN permlink.
Cameron Free Marketing is a small marketing company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The company does not directly offer Wikipedia editing services, but significant overlaps exist between the off-wiki company's clients and topics edited by the User:Cameronfree sockfarm (case at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Cameronfree) strongly implies a paid editing campaign was being undertaken from late 2018 to early 2019. Cameron Free Marketing's areas of interest (both in terms of off and on Wiki marketing) seems to be focused around topics related to Florida—the state where the company is based—with special emphasis being centered around Boca Raton. Other editing focuses include smaller companies related to the arts or clothing. Suspected clients include;
DigiWiser Ltd is a UK-domiciled marketing company that operates multiple domains, including zenbookwriting.com and zenbookwritings.com where they offer Wikipedia editing services [27].
As of February 2024, they are buying Google Ads as DigiWiser Ltd [28].
Other related websites and useful information
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Digitonics is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach. Its properties were divided across various companies, including #Sybex Lab, #Z-Technetics and #Innovatech LTD.
Logitonics (pvt.) Ltd. is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was co-founded in 2019 by Usman Rogatia who also founded Quad Tech [53]. Its modus operandi is similar to #Digitonics and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing.
As of July 2023, it is advertising on Google Ads under a personal account, managed by the chief operating officer.
Other related websites and useful information
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Quad Tech (pvt.) Ltd. is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Digitonics and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. It was co-founded in 2020 by Ibad Alvi [62]. Usman Rogatia is the CEO of Quad Tech who also co-founded #Logitonics [63] [64].
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Sybex Lab is a company based in Karachi, Pakistan, similar to #Abatch. It was founded by former #Digitonics managers. Most recent SPI case is Girmv. Some previously disclosed accounts were blocked at CharmenderDeol SPI.
As of January 2024, they advertise on Google under the name of PICIS Clinical Solutions, Inc., AKP SOLUTIONS USA LLC, and have at least one current covert advertising placement online [67].
Other related websites and useful information
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Sky Soft Tech (pvt.) Ltd. is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Digitonics and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. It was in 2021. Ghayas Ghazali is the CEO of Sky Tech since 2021 [101].
Other related websites and useful information
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Z-Technetics is a defunct marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was not a registered entity per SECP records and was likely operating as a proxy of Digitonics. Goes by various names such as Wiki Creators LLC, Estech Digital, Techture or Quad Tech Pvt Ltd. Some of these are actual companies in the United States or Karachi, Pakistan. Impersonates Wikipedia administrators in off-wiki communications. Deceives customers in relation to paid contributions policies.
Some of their websites shared infrastructure with #Digitonics. One of their websites, "Techture.co", has the same name that some scam victims claimed were the same merchant name used by #Sybex Lab ( [105], [106])
Innovatech LTD is a spam company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It operates under various names. It has shared infrastructure with #Digitonics and #Sybex Lab.
Salsoft Technologies (Pvt) Ltd is a company based in Karachi, Pakistan. An article was written about them at Android Police [107]. Advertises using multiple domains as AvenueSocial, Inc [108]. Business model very similar to Abtach. Scam reported at help desk. Probably the same as Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/MilesJ22.
As of 2024, they buy Google Ads through a front named iTechDevice [109] (for wiki domain(s): 360wikiwriters.com), Morewish Digital LLC [110] (for wiki domain(s): wikiexpertsinc.com), and Dynamic Digital Solutions, LLC [111] (for wiki domain(s): premiumwikieditors.com). It shares PICIS Clinical Solutions as a Google advertiser with #Sybex Lab.
Other related websites and useful information
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Meta Frolic Labs Pvt. Ltd is a business separated from Salsoft in 2023 by Omair Ahmed. It's similar to Salsoft and is offering Wikipedia-related services.
For $1,200 "Our Wikipedia writers help you create a Wikipedia page for your brand and make it stick and survive the review process."
Edventure General Trading LLC is a marketing agency based in the United Arab Emirates ( [157]).
Other related websites and useful information
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Was found paying User:MrMarkBGregory to add "spam links" to Wikipedia. These payments were disclosed but this is not allowed.
See Jun 28, 17 emails. [161]
Actively emailing people as of Dec 2017. Stating that they have created 400+ articles and have admins working for them. Says articles on a topic need to be two months apart. They follow the deletion boards to find potential customers. It appears they include creating sources as part of the fee.
Still trying to recruit editors as of April 2019 ( [162])
See COIN archive
Reputation management
"Wikipedia Management service: Wikipedia consistently ranks highly in the search engines' results. It is often viewed as a third-party objective authority, and as such, the content it contains about a person or brand has a direct impact on their reputation. Managing and improving your personal or brand Wikipedia page ensures that you are putting your best foot forward."
Important to note that this company was a WMF vendor and has some private data, details at phab:T192893 and phab:T193052.
"Hats-Off Helps You Manage Your Image on Wikipedia" "Wikipedia has become an alternative marketing tool for businesses as well as people. It helps in increasing your visibility on search engines, markets your products and services as well as help with eCommerce promotion."
A CU confirmed sock displayed a link to
edenwritings
Munich based.
Offers "Off-Page SEO" and lists Wikipedia as an example of a wiki in their off-page SEO navigation menu, alongside other social media.
Publicly belongs to Hanna Buryak (Munich) who also offers services through UpWork [164]
Working on Spasmodic dysphonia
Index of Sciences LTD is a predatory publisher who also publishes paid Wikipedia biographies for academics. They run massive spam campaigns offering their services.
Approved disclosure of information obtained through VRT:
See Entrepreneur July 2017
Blocked for native advertisement despite disclosures.
KCOMM is a California-based digital marketing company that offers Wikipedia page creation for clients, most of which are related to the real estate industry. Several editors likely affiliated with the company were blocked in early 2019 per Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Juliusvergara. As of February 2019, editors affiliated with the firm (via substantial off-wiki evidence) have declined to disclose any paid status, and the same editors have also resorted to sockpuppetry to create articles. Past creations likely done by KCOMM included;
Talk page July 18, 2017
"We produce biographical books, websites and Wikipedia entries for individuals and organisations."
Promises not to divulge clients.
Advertising pr/marketing/branding/image services, claims to be "senior Wikipedia admin"
De facto banned but has new advert for services as of 1/19/2024
“ | The Mather Group carefully rewrote [[[Maggie Hallahan]]'s] page and coded it in the special wiki language. We republished it, and when we did so added citations to it and linked from other articles that mentioned the author back to the main page. This made the Wiki page stronger as it wasn’t an “orphan” any longer. Most importantly we continued to defend it from being deleted as we monitored it. | ” |
They use the following fake claims;
aka net-wash.com
Reported in fr.wiki investigation. Unknown if active on en.wiki.
Company based in Karachi, Pakistan. Runs many fronts (see reverse DNS archive: [171]) from the same server with different phone numbers and company addresses. Advertised on Google as Olive Digital (Pvt.) Limited [172]. Also goes by ePlanet Communications Ltd. The company is also mentioned in a WIPO case filed against them by Wikimedia Foundation.
Claim to disclose all edits "stating who we are, who has hired us, and what types of changes we are proposing for the article"
ProVio Tech is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded in 2022 by Haider Ali. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. The company spams potential clients through LinkedIn accounts, as reported by a client [178]. As of January 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under a personal account, managed by the Head of Unit.
Other related websites and useful information
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Reported in fr.wiki investigation. Unknown if active on en.wiki.
Digital media/PR ( Red Ventures)
"Removify now offers a professional Wikipedia Page Creation service. With our help, you can drastically improve public perception of your brand."
Reptech Solutions Pvt Ltd is a company based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is active as an agency on freelancing platforms such as Freelancer.com and Upwork.
Reported in fr.wiki investigation. Active en.wiki.
If you want to delete a user immediately and definitely, Wikipedia does not allow it. Therefore, the best option is to contact ReputationUP.
"[T]he only natural way to counter negative articles is by editing them and offering a counter narrative"
Put simply, we place information online and use this content to create and manage pages on your behalf. But it’s not a simple task – a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure the right content is available on the right platforms, creating content that will not only enhance your brand, but will lead to changes to your Wikipedia page that stick. Thanks to our network of contacts and team of specialists from the fields of journalism, web design, data management, IT, SEO experts and more, we put together a plan of action to create and promote positive content while reducing the significance of everything else. As the biggest aggregator of this data, the result is a Wikipedia page that is more reflective of your personal brand. This is at the heart of what we do. This can be part of a fixed term project, or we can manage your page on an ongoing basis, keeping a careful eye out for inaccuracies.
Specialize in digital marketing for nonprofits.
See evidence
Unlicensed use of Commons images. Offers tutorial on replacing dead links with SEO links. Unclear if they will do this for clients.
Registrant Country: CZ, details masked
SMS Marketing Agency is a marketing agency based in Karachi, Pakistan. As of February 2024, it is advertising on Google Search ( [185]).
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"Our team is composed of experienced professionals who are all committed to promoting and safeguarding our clients' brands... This is a potent backlinking opportunity that a lot of your competitors aren't taking advantage of."
"Wiki articles can be edited by virtually anyone, it’s safe to assume that no one is invulnerable. That could easily change, as you can use our Wikipedia Article Monitoring Services"
Offers several Upwork profiles in corp "client reviews" page.
Wikipedia Tip Sheet & Editing Your Wikipedia Edits (puzzle globe infringement)
Claims to be former Wikipedia administrator
Claims to have put multiple clients' articles on WP main page through DYK.
Said in interview "I have placed articles in the press on behalf of clients. If you don’t have press, I can get you press – because I work in PR. I can set up an interview with a newspaper, and then write the Wikipedia article. If I have to get you two insertions, then the Wiki article it’s 75,000 Philippine pesos for the whole lot."
De facto community banned (indeffed via consensus @ COIN).
De facto community banned; see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mako976.
Alta Justus ( digitalalta)
Advertises itself as "India's leading Mumbai-based Wikipedia provider agency." Claims it caters to Bollywood celebrities and entrepreneurs. COIN report and SPI report.
May be a connection to "Just Right Studioz" (Mumbai).
Not standard UK or US English, no contact info, obscured domain registration
"We have been successfully contributing to Wikipedia since 2013, publishing over 1000 articles and making thousands of edits."
Wikiagency Ltd is a UK-domiciled company based in Lahore, Pakistan. The company was registered in November 2023 by Umair Ahmad.
As of February 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under 7 Star Marketing Inc.
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Website (employees 3)
Other domains:
WikiNative is a company based in Shrewsbury, England. It was founded by James Lawrie. He was previously active on Upwork.
It is another marketing company likely based in Karachi, Pakistan. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. As of January 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under MarketingNotch.
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Mentioned on Reddit
Website[dead link] Estimated number of employees (3) [209]
Belongs to this sock family [210] -> blocked in 2012 Also appear to work as wikipediasolutions Now using the website HireWikiWriters
2018 WIPO action by WMF listed (Redacted) as owner of domain Wikipediawriters.com [211], same name (Canadian) is associated with WikipediaWriters by Financial Times [212]. As of January 2020, WMF owns the domain.
wikipublishersonline.com appears in Google targeted search ads for Wiki page creation. Asserts page creation "by a Wikipedia professional". Shares a US toll-free phone number with "Pro Creative Writers" of San Francisco but writing style does not appear to be idiomatic American English.
Pro Creative Writers displays has displayed infringing puzzle globe. $1,200 to $3,500 article creation offers.
More sites:
See Ticket:2022112210006104 and Ticket:2023060710000987.
Wizards of Wiki was founded in 2011 by Mark Bray. It is based in London, England. Uses Google Ads for advertisement.
Pittsburgh
Services include "Posting your finalized draft live on Wikipedia; Monitoring your article and updating as needed"
Puzzle globe infringement (removed). Texas based.
Talks about getting press for non-notables.
Google targeted search ad: "Hire Professional Wikipedia Writer to create Best Wikipedia Page.100% Money back Guarantee"
Ticket# 10759339
Zibble Tech is a marketing company based in Karachi, Pakistan with registered entities in the UK and USA. Its modus operandi is similar to #Abtach and offers services such as logo design, web development, ghostwriting, and Wikipedia editing. As of January 2024, it is advertising on Google Ads under Branding Studio Incorporated LLC [215].
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Various domains yet to be attributed:
These companies used to do disclosed paid editing but have been blocked.
Manchester (UK) based company offering writing services, including Wikipedia article creation. The one editor affiliated with the company, User:Stone cold Staffordshire, fully complied with WP:PAID and properly disclosed, but was blocked in May 2019 for advertising and promotion on Wikipedia.
Details - Publicis PR company and US subsidiaries at COIN.
Most paid editors who disclose their conflicts of interest do not get blocked.
In 2012, Wikipedians formed a group called the Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement (CREWE), and the UK's Chartered Institute of Public Relations published a guideline for best practices in engaging with Wikipedia.
In 2014, members of CREWE published an open letter on-wiki committing to upholding those guidelines. Non-profit PR industry groups and academics associated with this effort, and potential contacts:
Signatories to the open letter (and later representatives of those groups):
CREWE editors
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Other agencies that are confirmed participants (listed on the letter, as of 6/2019; some accts never edited):
Inactive members
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Beutler Ink editors
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EthicalWiki editors
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L Strategies
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Lumino editors
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HoT Tomato editors
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WhiteHatWiki editors
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OKA editors
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Founder (and primary donor):
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StellaResults editors
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To the point collaborative editors
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Blocked users from here.
The Big Green Tree was a marketing company based in India.