Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Airomo

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Speedy delete g5, part of the Morning277 sockfarm. NawlinWiki (talk) 16:19, 20 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Airomo[edit]

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This article about a PR firm, and the sources it uses, appear to themselves have been created as part of a PR campaign. Google News shows two results for the company's name:

http://www.ivcpost.com/articles/12717/20130731/app-market-faces-problems-generating-profit.htm - I'm not familiar with this site; it may be an independent source, as it explicitly claims at http://www.ivcpost.com/about-us/ . The story is dated 31 July 2013.

http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/app-market-problems-for-building-profit-0568588 - This is dated 30 July 2013, with Lauren Bringle on the byline. Her stories are listed at http://www.business2community.com/author/lauren-bringle where I see she also wrote a story [1] about Rivalus. I think Rivalus was promoted (just before its merger was announced) by the same PR firm behind the Airomo article.

Now for the sources already in the article: California Business Journal, Vatalyst, and CNN iReport are among the eight sites I listed at

Wikipedia:Long-term_abuse/Morning277#Habitual_behavior as frequently used by the PR firm I believe created this article; there is a distinct possibility that the first two sites may even be operated by the PR firm itself. The story on CaBusinessJournal.org is dated 12 July 2013. Despite the name, it appears California Business Journal may have nothing to do with bizjournals.com. Below the story is the list of "most popular" stories on the site. Shortly after many of these stories appeared, so did a corresponding Wikipedia article; I've added links:

*American Writers and Artists Inc. Creates Opportunities for Freelance Writers
Social Networking Giant Zorpia Has Firm Grip On China, India

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson Speaks About His Journey Alongside Amvona

Online Gambling Website Casino.org Keeps Others In Check With Honest Reviews

Fundology Connects Businesses And Investors Through Innovative Investment Network

Growing Company NeighborCity Matches Home-Buyers With Agents

European Binary Investment Company Banc De Binary Flourishes

Networking Site Kaleio Innovates

Trustworthy Online Health Information dailyRX's Trademark

Booming Entertainment Industry Supplied By Growing Agency One Source Talent

Engage:BDR Develops Extensive Online Marketing Solutions

I believe that all the linked Wikipedia articles were created or updated by Morning277 or its subcontractors.

The Vatalyst article is also dated 12 July 2013. I notice another story, [2] which quotes the Orchid Recovery Center for Women telling us that some teenagers use drugs illegally. Now look at this story [3] on Business2Community, where the Orchid Recovery Center reminds us that cocaine may have harmful side-effects. The byline? Lauren Bringle again.

There's also a story from CNN iReport, dated 12 July 2013 with the byline NewsPost a.k.a. Ray Taylor [4]. A Taylor story is cited in the Wikipedia articles Banc De Binary (which we saw in the California Business Journal's "most popular" list). Another lends its weight to David Stewart (alternative medicine), which is also bolstered by Vatalyst, Investment Underground, and an Andrew Moran piece in Digital Journal.

Zachary Creach wrote about Airomo in TechSling; his story is dated 16 July 2013. Another of Mr. Creach's stories [5] is about TravelShark. I didn't notice whether the TravelShark article cited Creach, but it did cite one or more of the sources I listed in the Morning277 long-term abuse report.

Rounding out the list we have "Fixing the Broken App Ecosystem" by Kaz Frankiewicz. Refreshingly, the byline lets us know that Frankiewicz is with a company called Austin Marketing. The piece is dated 11 July 2013. The URL is not provided because the site has been blacklisted from Wikipedia; the site's "about" page, www.examiner.com/about , shows that content is provided by freelance writers, with little editorial oversight. Frankiewicz also posted a story about the Orchid Recovery Center called "The Benefits of Rehabilitation Programs for Women", and one called "Sports Nutrition Provider RIVALUS Acquired by Nutrivo".

I've detailed how the coverage I found for this company has only been in questionable sources, and how many of those sources cover the same subjects, with Wikipedia articles appearing shortly thereafter; please also note the time-frame: the first story appeared this 11 July, and the Wikipedia article was begun on 10 August. —rybec 21:43, 19 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Business-related deletion discussions. Northamerica1000^(talk) 22:03, 19 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of California-related deletion discussions. Northamerica1000^(talk) 22:04, 19 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Delete The subject of this article does not seem to meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines. More disturbingly, and as already mentioned, it relies on references to what is quickly appearing to be a series of websites masking promotional intentions with a semblance of legitimacy: Vatalyst, California Business Journal, etc. CNN iReport is a venue in which anyone can write an article about anything and have it appear at first glance to be a CNN article— although CNN tries to make clear that it does not vet anything that appears on its iReport pages and does not give editorial oversight to its content. The recently deleted articles on Search Engine People (discussion here) and Bulb America (discussion here, and which I foolishly opposed) used many of these same kinds of suspicious sources, as does the recently created article on IDrive Inc. which may also warrant a deletion nomination at some point. I have tried contacting Vatalyst directly to inquire about how it selects subject matter for its articles, but have gotten no response (it has been almost two weeks). Is there a clever term yet for these types of pseudo-journalistic brood parasite "cowbirds" laying their eggs in other birds' nests and having their young reared by them? I am not sure that metaphor is quite accurate, but it feels close. KDS4444^Talk 14:30, 20 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.