There's about a hundred new posts on reddit every day that im sure are also paid for from this same pile of cash.

It feels like it really started in earnest around october.

Provided the sponsored content is labelled "sponsored content" this is above board.

If it's not labelled it's in violation of FTC regulations, for both the companies and the individuals.

[ That said... I'm surprised at this example on LinkedIn that was linked to by the Washington Post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/meganlieu_claudepartner-activ... - the only hint it's sponsored content is the #ClaudePartner hashtag at the end, is that enough? Oh wait! There's text under the profile that says "Brand partnership" which I missed, I guess that's the LinkedIn standard for this? Feels a bit weak to me! https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1627083 ]