A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage other potential customers unaware of the set-up to purchase said goods or services.
'Shill' can also be used pejoratively to describe a critic who appears either all-too-eager to heap glowing praise upon mediocre offerings, or who acts as an apologist for glaring flaws. In this sense, they would be an implicit 'shill' for the industry at large, as their income is tied to its prosperity.
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TT forum examples
Shill posts are occasionally attempted in the TT chat forum. They're usually recognised for what they are pretty quickly, however. Some examples of shilling or suspected shilling:
- Hairy Mary's Bar in Berlin
- Hamburg Newcomer's Guide
- Rusticana - best ribs in Munich
- Many of the posts by forum member "Grinner" are, or were, borderline shilling. He'd recommend that people contact "Bavaria Satellite" to install their satellite TV systems, without revealing that he is Bavaria Satellite. Although it is common knowledge amongst regular TT readers, newcomers to the site will not realise this.
Plant
In the UK the term plant is used, being identical with the North American 'shill' in most instances, from having someone planted in the audience or in a crowd. This may be to avoid confusion between the British monetary unit of the shilling and the gerund form of the word "shill". However plant does not carry as strong a negative connotation as 'shill'
Legality
Shilling is illegal in many circumstances and in many jurisdictions because of the frequently fraudulent and damaging character of their actions. However, if a shill does not place uninformed parties at a risk of loss, but merely generates “buzz,� the shill's actions may be legal. For example, a person planted in an audience to laugh and applaud when appropriate, see "claque", or to participate in on-stage activities as a "random member of the audience", is a type of legal shill.
Etymology
The word "shill" is probably related to "shilliber", or alternatively "shillaber", a word of obscure early-20th century origin with the same meaning. One possible explanation for the origin of the word is the English name "Shillibeer". George Shillibeer was an entrepreneur who developed the first commercial bus service in the UK. Shillibeer was believed to employ confederates who could help him solicit more customers for his bus line.