With that said, there are people who try to game HN for whatever reason. Maybe FAANG is doing it? Why just Google?
This question reminds me of a game of Maffia or Werewolf, the following is a bit of a stretch but: if you play that game a lot you might have some intuition about it. At least it might be a new fun game you could try!
Disclaimer: I work at Google but do not post on behalf of my company.
Edit: Removed facetious comment about potentially enjoying being on HN as part of my job.
There is a difference between an advertisement that is labeled as one and a disingenuous post on a site like this one where that type of activity is nonexistent.
While you might derive some short-term pleasure from the challenge of infiltrating people’s trust boundaries, it can’t be something to be proud of.
I greatly enjoy and value the discussion here. Being a part of the community in an open and clear role would be compelling, and I absolutely agree that subterfuge hurts the community.