TLDR: An interview with affiliate spammers on Snapchat takes the reader on an enjoyable journey: from the engine room of social media spammers to the sunny side of ad fraud revenue (ad fraud) to the seat cushions m tax office. One of the meatiest interviews on the subject completely lays bare the mechanics of the digital advertising matrix - and makes .companion think seriously about its own business model. "You wouldn't believe how stupid they are".
Manuel and Sven (names changed) want to remain anonymous. They profit from errors in the system - both technically and intellectually among users. They earn (almost) fully automated every day up to 800 US dollars with Snapchat. Their trick is to create as many fake accounts as possible and enrich content with links that bring in money. In an interview with BASIC thinking, the two talk openly about their dubious business model, its opportunities and limitations, prospects and risks.
What content do you send via Snapchat?
We post everything from rabbits to tits, mostly selfie-type pictures, but no nipples.
So no pornography?
No, never. That's just too hot for us. If only because the "models" are often very young, or at least look that way.
Where does the content, i.e. the images, come from?
Most of it from Reddit, but also from other platforms like Imgur, Tumbler or 4Chan. We have an archive with around 50,000 images. There used to be a lot more, but then we radically sorted them out so as not to get close to porn.
How often do you expand your content database?
Not at all. We work with the stock. Snapchat is - at least theoretically - a volatile medium. That makes comparisons difficult - both for users and for observers. There are no observers on Snapchat because everything happens in closed circles. That plays into our cards, of course. On Twitter, for example, it's completely different. Anyone can easily see what an account has posted in the past.
How often do your fake accounts post?
About every 30 minutes. Of course, there is a routine that varies the timing at random.
Are there other interactions, chat bots for example?
No, we post, the others get to read. That's all. Sure we could chat with them, the US teenagers wouldn't notice for weeks - if ever. But we have found out that this doesn't bring us much more. So the effort doesn't pay off. We'd rather stick to our linear model.
Do you consider yourselves spammers?
No. This is not spam. What we do is not evil, but it's not quite right either. Morally, well...
How many accounts do you run in parallel?
There used to be a lot more, Snapchat was more lax, you could grow accounts with 50,000 friends and more in a very short time, you can't do that anymore.
And now?
Now we go up to about 5,000 friends and friend much slower than before. Above 5,000, Snapchat quickly shuts down.
Why don't you have more accounts than these 600?
Because we no longer have known users to friend them with. In the past, the whole friends list was included, but we can't do that anymore. We have a database of 6,000,000 usernames, about 850,000 of which have been active in the last three months. With 600 accounts with 5,000 contacts, that's 3,000,000 contacts, of course there are overlaps.
How long does it take to completely set up a new account like this?
About a month. We used to be able to ramp up accounts to 30,000 contacts and more in two to three days. We can't do that anymore, and we've also become more cautious.
Don't real accounts realize that you are running fake profiles?
You wouldn't believe how stupid they are. That's the scary part. They actually think we're human. But all you have to do is look at it for a day and you'll know. We send out a chick selfie, no-nipple policy of course, and get 20 dick pics back.
What is Snapchat doing about models like yours?
What we do is against their terms of use. But they're not really that serious. Otherwise, we'd probably be out of the picture pretty quickly. They just keep shutting down our accounts because they notice their behavior.
How many then fall victim to this?
When the janitor was there, there were sometimes 50 accounts missing, but there have never been more than 80 at a time.
Could Snapchat find you based on your accounts?
Extremely unlikely. We work with over 100 different proxies.
How does that work technically?
After all, Snapchat doesn't exist on the web. So if we want to drive 600 accounts, we need 600 phones. Of course, we don't have 600 devices lying around here, and we don't commission click farms in India or China. That's not even necessary. We simulate the phones.
Is that costly?
Not at all. The only hurdle we have to overcome is the first handshake with Google to get a token from them. We actually buy PVAs, or Phone Verified Accounts, which now cost around $40 for 100 on the gray market.
What do you do with these accounts?
After all, we only need them to show Google that we have a cell phone. We don't even change the password, all this is actually technically very simple.
That means anyone with a bit of technical expertise could replicate it?
Yes and no. In fact, our business is also a kind of arms race. Of course, Google and Snapchat don't like what we do, so every now and then they introduce new security measures that we then have to circumvent again.
An example?
If Google wants to use a phone number to verify the account, we register a phone number somewhere in the world. Today, you can order a phone number worldwide for a dollar and have it ring on your notebook. But what's really amazing is that the initial encryption for the first data exchange with Android dates back to the 1980s. That's why we use Google's original Java library, which is so wonderfully imperfect.
Let's get down to business. You earn money with it.
Yeah, sure, up to $800 a day. Not bad for a fully automated business, right?
Really fully automated?
No, not quite. All we still do by hand is solve Snapchat captchas. One of us does 30 a day and that's it.
A simple but effective business model, then?
Yes, absolutely. And best of all, there are no customers to complain. A wonderfully quiet life.
How did your business get started on Snapchat?
We had the idea and tested it: So we took a laptop, ran a PHP script, and had made five dollars the next day. What works once, works 100 times, works 1,000 times. That's why we systematically pulled it up.
What exactly do you do for a living?
With affiliate links. We write a call to action and a shortened URL on the images, that's all. Then it says something like "Win an iPhone 6" or "Download an e-book for free". Whatever goes are dating platforms, Alibaba, and messaging tools. The teenagers copy the URLs, clickable link is not possible and every time we earn a little bit from it. We are modern farmers - we milk the cattle in the meadow as long as we can. Only the slaughter is not done by us, but by Snapchat.
Do you track the success of different images, themes and link types?
We could do that, but it would be too much work. We can do it that way, too.
How many posts have affiliate links?
About one in five.
How high is the conversion there?
Bad. Very bad. I don't want to say it exactly, but it doesn't matter. This is economy of scale. The masses are behind it. Their number is large - and so is their stupidity.
Do you operate a registered business?
Of course, we have a proper limited company and pay taxes on all our income. We get remittances and sometimes even checks from all over the world from affiliate guys. That in turn is a real problem for us.
Why?
Because of the tax office. They then want to know which legal entity is sending money, what their VAT ID is and all such things - and rightly so. But then we have someone who is based in the Netherlands, but runs his business via the Virgin Islands. Explain that to a German tax official in 50 individual cases. We are still lucky that we have a tax office that at least admits that they don't understand. Then we can at least explain it to them. But basically, this teaches us that Germany is a disaster as a location for a digital business. All the bureaucratic requirements can drive you crazy. In other countries, young entrepreneurs with digital business models have it so much easier.
For example?
We are happy to pay taxes because we recognize the benefits in this country. But when debts or advance payments are drawn immediately, but repayments take months, it can really take it out of you. As a company, you have to be in good health, otherwise you won't survive some of the tax office's capers for long.
How long will this business model continue to work?
Until Snapchat really doesn't want us to. Then they shut us down. I think next year it will be over.
Are you afraid of legal consequences?
No. We used to worry a bit about possible porn content. But since we weeded out risky content, not anymore. The hypocritical Americans have the biggest porn industry in the world. They don't really care what's on Snapchat, as long as the Daily Active users are right.
What will you do when Snapchat is over?
We are developing new concepts in parallel, but we don't want to say anything about them yet. We're just pretty screwed up when it comes to growth curves and earnings. Maybe we'll do something with cryptocurrencies. Everything is changing at breakneck speed. I always laugh when people tell me that they don't want to know anything about all the changes. It's like you stop swimming in the middle of the river.
Thank you for the interview.