What does astroturfing mean?
Astroturfing is the deceptive practice of manufacturing the appearance of grassroots public support for a cause, product, or political position. The name derives from AstroTurf, the brand of artificial grass, and captures the idea neatly: like synthetic turf laid over soil, the campaign looks organic but is actually artificial. Astroturfing can take many forms, including paid online reviews posted under false identities, form letters sent to newspapers by hired writers, front organizations created to disguise corporate or political sponsorship, and coordinated social-media activity by bots or paid influencers. The practice is widely condemned as manipulative because it exploits the credibility that genuine citizen movements enjoy, misleading both the public and policymakers about the true level of support behind an initiative. Regulators in several countries have penalized companies for astroturfing reviews, and the word has become standard vocabulary in journalism, marketing ethics, and political commentary since it emerged in the United States in the 1980s.
nounThe practice of creating an impression of widespread grassroots support for a cause, product, or policy, when in fact the campaign is orchestrated by a single organization or interest group. It typically involves fake reviews, paid commentators, or front organizations designed to look like spontaneous public opinion.
- Organized attempts to simulate popular grassroots support for a product, cause, or policy, typically through fake reviews, paid commentators, or front groups.
"The company was fined after regulators discovered that its flood of glowing online reviews was nothing more than astroturfing."
"Regulators fined the firm after discovering that thousands of five-star reviews were part of a coordinated astroturfing effort."
"Political bloggers accused the lobby group of astroturfing when identical letters appeared in dozens of local newspapers under different names."
Named after AstroTurf — the fake grass — because it's support that looks real but is entirely synthetic.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of astroturfing
The word combines 'AstroTurf' — a trademark for artificial grass first installed in the Houston Astrodome in the 1960s — with the suffix '-ing', playing on the established term 'grassroots'. It is generally credited to US Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who used it around 1985 to describe manufactured public opinion in insurance-related correspondence. From American political jargon it spread into wider usage with the growth of online marketing and social media.
Related word forms
How astroturfing is actually used
Almost always pejorative; the term is used to expose or condemn inauthentic campaigns rather than to describe them neutrally. Common in discussions of politics, marketing, and social media manipulation.
Easily confused with astroturfing
A grassroots movement arises genuinely and spontaneously from ordinary people, whereas astroturfing merely imitates that spontaneity while being secretly funded and directed from above.