"Pay to Play" Content a Reality in Social Mass Media: Yahoo, Motley Fool, etc.

Early in my dividend investor journey, I started questioning the purity of content online. The bait--then switch to a comparison stock/etf which leads to creating fear and comparison, and to a "better" position as a hero, led me to look deeper.

I'm no stranger to "advetorial" in traditional publishing (and the need to ad a tiny disclaimer). There is no such obligation online to maintain reputation or integrity as with a news entity. The fallacy is that all content is community driven. The reality is the Vanguards and brokerages now have content generators on staff, who monitor discussions closely. Calling them "schills" is understandable, but that implies they are individuals who are personally biased and passionate. They are not. It is an organized marketing effort or PR effort and everyone needs to open their eyes.

What was once an effort to influence within previously trusted, independent news voices, has now migrated to community content platforms such as Reddit. Yahoo is PROMOTING r/dividends. See here:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dividend-investor-doubled-passive-income-160040011.html

While readers are abandoning yahoo and others, harvesting television content by referring to a discussion on Reddit, is becoming routine!

A Personal Example: January 2024, I set income goals and started reallocating for dividend income. As a newbie, I ruthlessly compared income per quarter to some Vanguard funds. I kept seeing the same investments held up within some platforms, but not mentioned on others. I got interested in an investment based upon the dividend (relative to Vanguard) and also because management was buying back shares. Right after that legit article was published, the investment started getting trashed in multiple outlets (but the dividend maintained). Committed, I bought more as the price fell. I did start to get nervous, and realized I could discover how much on the market was owned by institutional investors and brokerages. 50% of the investment was owned by Vanguard. Do you think the yield or return was anywhere near what Vanguard was paying on the fund that held it?? No way. I continued to buy ""this dog". Now the price has recovered and I'm not buying, but glowing praise about how you should "get in now" is everywhere.

Buyer and reader beware.

Thank you to the Admins and Moderators here for preserving this sub's integrity.