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		<title>ProZ.com Translation Forums</title>
		<link>http://www.proz.com/forums/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2026 02:48:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2026 02:48:02 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<managingEditor>support@proz.com (ProZ.com Support)</managingEditor>
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			<title>Small website milestone: 10 Google Search clicks in 28 days | Google Search Clicks, but No Clients Yet</title>
			<author>Hipyan Nopri</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3123452#3123452</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2026 23:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Small website milestone: 10 Google Search clicks in 28 days&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Hipyan Nopri&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Google Search Clicks, but No Clients Yet&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Has your own website helped you find direct clients? I’d be interested to hear what made a difference. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also have a website that I built from scratch with the help of AI:  [url removed] &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since launching it in August, I&#039;ve had 553 impressions and 15 clicks from Google Search, with an average CTR of 2.7% and an average position of 8.2, according to Google Search Console.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Shortly after launching the site, I also tried running a Google Ads campaign, just as an experiment. It brought in plenty of visitors, but the result was a big fat zero. Not a single translation order, or even an inquiry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I agree that even a handful of organic clicks can be encouraging. Still, my experience with Google Ads has made me realize that attracting visitors and turning them into actual clients are two very different things.</description>
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			<title>Small website milestone: 10 Google Search clicks in 28 days | Meanwhile...</title>
			<author>Joakim Braun</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3123451#3123451</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2026 22:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Small website milestone: 10 Google Search clicks in 28 days&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Joakim Braun&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Meanwhile...&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;...Gemini ingests your website, serves it up for free as Google AI content and eats those clicks.</description>
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			<title>Small website milestone: 10 Google Search clicks in 28 days</title>
			<author>Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3123443#3123443</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2026 15:36:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Small website milestone: 10 Google Search clicks in 28 days&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;On 16 October, I celebrated five clicks from Google Search to my website. On 5 November, Google’s notification showed ten clicks in the previous 28 days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A tiny number, certainly—and clicks aren’t enquiries. But it’s encouraging to see the work I’m putting into the site beginning to bring some visibility.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s only a small sign, but it encourages me to think SEO isn’t completely dead—and that working on your own website can still be worthwhile.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have several translation clients I’ve worked with for more than 15 years. One new enquiry could be the beginning of another relationship like that. So even a handful of clicks can make my day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Has your own website helped you find direct clients? I’d be interested to hear what made a difference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</description>
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			<title>A new CRM for freelance translators | A Promising All-in-One Tool for Freelance Translators</title>
			<author>Hipyan Nopri</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3122330#3122330</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; A new CRM for freelance translators&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Hipyan Nopri&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; A Promising All-in-One Tool for Freelance Translators&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Thank you for introducing Gestrics, Eduardo. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It looks thoughtfully designed to support the many needs of freelance translators, from managing clients and projects to invoicing and tracking payments. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The CAT analysis import and one-time payment model are especially appealing. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wish you every success with the launch and hope Gestrics continues to grow in response to translators’ needs.</description>
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			<title>A new CRM for freelance translators</title>
			<author>Eduardo Furrazola Valladares</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3122317#3122317</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; A new CRM for freelance translators&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Eduardo Furrazola Valladares&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Hi colleagues,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve released Gestrics, a desktop CRM built specifically for freelance translators.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It covers the full cycle:&lt;br /&gt;- Client &amp; outreach management&lt;br /&gt;- Projects (with CAT analysis import from Trados, memoQ, Wordfast)&lt;br /&gt;- Invoicing with tax profiles for 75 countries&lt;br /&gt;- Payment tracking&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key points:&lt;br /&gt;• Fully local (no cloud, no account)&lt;br /&gt;• One-time payment (no subscription)&lt;br /&gt;• Available for Windows and macOS&lt;br /&gt;• Interface in English and Spanish&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;14-day free trial (no credit card required).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’d really appreciate feedback from working translators.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Link:  [url removed] &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will be happy to answer any questions here.&lt;br /&gt;Thanks in advance for your time!</description>
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			<title>Free marketing sessions for language professionals at International Translation Day event | @Angela</title>
			<author>Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3119578#3119578</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Free marketing sessions for language professionals at International Translation Day event&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; @Angela&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Something’s wrong when even the Proz team, upon posting a new thread, find that it appears as a duplicate… :sad:</description>
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			<title>Free marketing sessions for language professionals at International Translation Day event</title>
			<author>Angela Luana Zalazar Aguirre</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3119548#3119548</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Free marketing sessions for language professionals at International Translation Day event&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Angela Luana Zalazar Aguirre&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;This year’s International Translation Day program includes some fantastic sessions designed to help language professionals strengthen their marketing and client acquisition strategies:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;✍️ Write to win clients: Content marketing strategies every freelance translator should know  &lt;br /&gt;Presented by Sherif Abuzid&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In this session, you will be able to discover simple, practical techniques to create content that builds trust, demonstrates expertise, and keeps attracting clients long after it’s published.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;💼 Show up, stand out: LinkedIn content that actually attracts clients  &lt;br /&gt;Presented by Virginia Katsimpiri&lt;br /&gt;In this session, you can learn how to transform your LinkedIn profile into a prospecting asset and apply a repeatable content framework that gets you seen by the right people.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;✨ Both sessions are free to attend as part of International Translation Day 2026 (Sept 29–30).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;👉 If you’d like to explore these and many other sessions, you can check out the full program here:  [url removed] &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&#039;d love to see you there — and hear your thoughts on how marketing can help you thrive in the industry. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope to see you there!</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | AI agents in client workflows — a growing challenge for translators</title>
			<author>Rodolfo Abachi</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3110713#3110713</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 13:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Rodolfo Abachi&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; AI agents in client workflows — a growing challenge for translators&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;This is an increasingly common and frustrating experience. What you&#039;re describing — where established, well-rated agencies suddenly seem to be behaving erratically or communicating in bizarre, loop-like ways — aligns very well with the hypothesis that AI agents have been inserted into their project management workflows.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The challenge for us as translators is that the Blue Board rating now has a significant lag: the positive reviews were accumulated when the agency had human PMs, but the current experience is entirely different. This undermines the core value of the BB as a due diligence tool.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think the best approach for now is to combine BB scores with more recent signals: look at the date of the most recent reviews, try to find forum discussions about specific agencies, and if something feels off in the communication, trust your instincts. A brief phone or video call to verify you&#039;re dealing with a human remains the most reliable filter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you ProZ staff for being attentive to this issue — some kind of verification or &#039;last human interaction&#039; flag on BB profiles could be genuinely useful.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | NDA harvesting</title>
			<author>kd42</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109958#3109958</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 May 2026 11:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; kd42&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; NDA harvesting&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;I signed their NDAs, completed their forms, got their confirmations of receipt, but then at some point in the chain of e-mail exchanges, I received – from at least two apparently distinct agencies – what looked like an automated reply informing me they were happy to proceed, please sign our attached NDA, etc.[/quote] &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In recent months I noticed that some agencies, all of them highly reputable, started outsourcing recruitment to India, from my own experience I suspect that the recruiters are paid &quot;per signed NDA&quot; or something. I remember the same situation in the USSR, at the early nineties, with hundreds of &quot;legal&quot; firms drafting insane contracts and having them signed by, say a US company and a factory from Kiev, because the signed contract was the basis for payment. It feels the same now, I stopped replying emails from Extra Global Language companies based in USA and UK, signed by Priya Sharma or Ananya Patel. </description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Automatic account creation</title>
			<author>Andrea Capuselli</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109780#3109780</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Andrea Capuselli&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Automatic account creation&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Hi again, Annamaria,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That’s a very fair question! In theory, as with any online platform, it is possible for automated systems to attempt to create accounts and submit content. However, in practice, this is not something that can be done easily or at scale without being detected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On ProZ, we have safeguards in place around account creation and ongoing monitoring that help us detect unusual patterns (for example, clusters of similar accounts or suspicious activity). Could an isolated case slip through? It’s always a possibility on any platform that relies on user-generated content. But systematic or large-scale abuse, such as networks of AI-generated profiles leaving coordinated feedback, would typically leave detectable patterns and is something we actively watch for. There have certainly been attempts at manipulating the Blue Board by creating accounts for that purpose, both manually and using automated methods, and the ones that didn&#039;t get immediately flagged by the system were detected by staff and moderators shortly after. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One important point to keep in mind is how the ProZ feedback system is designed. In order to keep feedback fair and actionable for both sides, entries (both from freelancers to companies and from companies to freelancers) are limited to cases where a project was actually carried out. This means that experiences related to onboarding, testing, or initial exchanges that did not lead to a collaboration are not reflected there. This is an intentional safeguard we are not planning to change, as it helps ensure that feedback is based on real working relationships. At the same time, it does mean that the Blue Board is best used as one piece of the overall picture, and feedback shared on other platforms can be helpful to complement it —GlassDoor, or places like the &quot;Translators and Interpreters&quot; group on Facebook, are two good places to seek additional opinions! </description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Automatic profiles?</title>
			<author>Annamaria Amik</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109778#3109778</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Annamaria Amik&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Automatic profiles?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Andrea Capuselli wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In those cases, one practical approach that can sometimes help is to switch channels and reach out directly to a human contact.&lt;br /&gt; [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks for the practical advice and also for the attention to this issue.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[quote]Andrea Capuselli wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regarding the Blue Board, I’d like to reassure you that entries cannot be generated automatically. Feedback is submitted by users, and each entry is reviewed by our team before it becomes public. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Does that mean that an AI agent cannot automatically create profiles (&#039;users&#039;) that can then submit positive entries on the Blue Board?</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Reviewing Blue Board records (and seeking alternative communication channels)</title>
			<author>Andrea Capuselli</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109777#3109777</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Andrea Capuselli&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Reviewing Blue Board records (and seeking alternative communication channels)&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Hi, everyone! Thank you for sharing your experiences. I think it’s very important for these patterns to be discussed openly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This repetitive or confusing communication that some of you describe could indeed be the result of automation or internal workflow issues on the outsourcer’s side. I understand the advice to disregard these companies as likely to be bad clients and cut contact, but sometimes they seem to be offering interesting work, and we don’t want to miss out on a good opportunity. In those cases, one practical approach that can sometimes help is to switch channels and reach out directly to a human contact. For example, sending an on-site message via ProZ, or reaching out via LinkedIn to a project manager or vendor manager. A short, polite follow-up along the lines of “We were in touch via email about so and so, and I just wanted to follow up.” can sometimes help break out of automated loops and bring your message back to a real person’s attention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regarding the Blue Board, I’d like to reassure you that entries cannot be generated automatically. Feedback is submitted by users, and each entry is reviewed by our team before it becomes public. While no system is completely immune to abuse, we do actively monitor for irregularities and remove or investigate anything that looks suspicious. That said, if you ever come across a record that doesn’t seem right, you are always welcome to report it to us via ProZ.com/help so we can look into it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As always, the Blue Board is intended to be one tool among several when evaluating potential clients. Your own experience, judgment, and communication with the outsourcer remain key factors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I appreciate you raising these concerns! Again, if you ever think a given Blue Board record or a company’s activity seems off, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us in the support team. We’re always happy to take a second look. </description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | No wonder</title>
			<author>Evgeny Sidorenko</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109774#3109774</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Evgeny Sidorenko&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; No wonder&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;The ever lazy so-called HR managers have now stopped doing absolutely anything, and CV&#039;s are processed and rejected/selected by AI bots. It is happening in recruiting across all industries. &lt;br /&gt;I wonder how Walter Sobchak would have responded to an AI bot: &quot;This bot&#039;s stonewalling me.. Got a language problem, dude... Where&#039;s my crowbar? This is what happens when you start using AI where you shouldn&#039;t!&quot;</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Yes but</title>
			<author>Lingua 5B</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109694#3109694</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Lingua 5B&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Yes but&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But if they send me a robot message, shouldn’t I sent them a robot back? Doesn’t make any sense to send a human reply to a robot. I won’t be sending a high-tier and high-effort reply to a low-tier and low-effort message. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&#039;m afraid that would be just making a statement to no effect. You can&#039;t beat a machine by responding in kind, it would mean trying to beat it by sheer force and it has a lot bigger computing force than a human. These companies amass a big pool of cheap translators, probably for &quot;huge&quot; (media) projects that have no quality check in place. Once we&#039;ve seen how they work, we should just avoid them. They are usually the ones that post jobs for many language pairs at once. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, but I meant more in a general sense for various services as customers or users, why should I reply in a human way to a robot?</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Can&#039;t beat a machine</title>
			<author>Annamaria Amik</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109691#3109691</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Annamaria Amik&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Can&#039;t beat a machine&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But if they send me a robot message, shouldn’t I sent them a robot back? Doesn’t make any sense to send a human reply to a robot. I won’t be sending a high-tier and high-effort reply to a low-tier and low-effort message. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&#039;m afraid that would be just making a statement to no effect. You can&#039;t beat a machine by responding in kind, it would mean trying to beat it by sheer force and it has a lot bigger computing force than a human. These companies amass a big pool of cheap translators, probably for &quot;huge&quot; (media) projects that have no quality check in place. Once we&#039;ve seen how they work, we should just avoid them. They are usually the ones that post jobs for many language pairs at once.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Yes, and also</title>
			<author>Lingua 5B</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109688#3109688</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Lingua 5B&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Yes, and also&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Peter Motte wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is rather disconcerting that this issue happened with not one, but at least three agencies that have many positive entries on BB made by apparent translators over the years, not just recently.[/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&#039;ve also noticed that applications have been handled by AI, resulting in amongst others, repeated questions. Most of the time those companies don&#039;t offer me a lot of jobs. That type of work done by AI is symptomatic for the fact that the company just doesn&#039;t care. They just put a robot somewhere and think that thing will work for them and they will become rich by not working at all. That kind of companies don&#039;t look very trustworthy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;On a more general note, all virtual contact is now becoming suspicious, with no guarantee that there are humans behind it. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, true. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But if they send me a robot message, shouldn’t I sent them a robot back? Doesn’t make any sense to send a human reply to a robot. I won’t be sending a high-tier and high-effort reply to a low-tier and low-effort message.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | HR replaced by AI</title>
			<author>Peter Motte</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109663#3109663</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Peter Motte&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; HR replaced by AI&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is rather disconcerting that this issue happened with not one, but at least three agencies that have many positive entries on BB made by apparent translators over the years, not just recently.[/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&#039;ve also noticed that applications have been handled by AI, resulting in amongst others, repeated questions. Most of the time those companies don&#039;t offer me a lot of jobs. That type of work done by AI is symptomatic for the fact that the company just doesn&#039;t care. They just put a robot somewhere and think that thing will work for them and they will become rich by not working at all. That kind of companies don&#039;t look very trustworthy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;On a more general note, all virtual contact is now becoming suspicious, with no guarantee that there are humans behind it. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, true.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Same here with a telephone company</title>
			<author>Peter Motte</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109660#3109660</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Peter Motte&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Same here with a telephone company&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My hospital’s appointment scheduling service is now handled by an AI agent, with terrible results. What used to take just a minute or two now takes much longer because I have to repeat everything, and sometimes the “agent” doesn’t understand me.  [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had the same problems today with the AI of a &quot;helpdesk&quot; of a telephone company. It didn&#039;t help a bit, of course. It didn&#039;t even understand &quot;yes&quot;.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Must be AI</title>
			<author>Peter Motte</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109657#3109657</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Peter Motte&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Must be AI&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Gabriela Zielinska wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have encountered similar issues recently. This may be an issue with AI agents, but in one case I discovered that one of those agencies has been mixing up/misplacing translator names, their language pairs, and their e-mails in their database, resulting in the behaviour you mentioned, sending me jobs for an incorrect language pair, or not sending any jobs in a project. In this case, I know I was not the only one affected. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looks very much as if they&#039;re introducing AI and just don&#039;t know how to handle it (or the AI doesn&#039;t know how to handle the job)</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Best judgment in an AI-managed world</title>
			<author>Annamaria Amik</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109643#3109643</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Annamaria Amik&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Best judgment in an AI-managed world&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was not referring to BB. Only to the type of bug you mentioned in emails - where they keep coming back like a robot repeating the same thing making you feel like you are talking to a wall - that’s highly likely some type of AI. Don’t know about BB, but BB can also have fake or misleading human reviews. I advise you to use your experience and best judgment rather than relying on BB. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course it is AI. But checking the BB &lt;i&gt;used&lt;/i&gt; to be part of an experienced translator&#039;s best judgment just a few years ago. It is rather disconcerting that this issue happened with not one, but at least three agencies that have many positive entries on BB made by apparent translators over the years, not just recently. I now wonder what&#039;s the point of keeping ProZ membership if the BB access it provides is practically useless.&lt;br /&gt;On a more general note, all virtual contact is now becoming suspicious, with no guarantee that there are humans behind it.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Re. BB</title>
			<author>Lingua 5B</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109642#3109642</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Lingua 5B&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Re. BB&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Annamaria Amik wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am no longer active in the market, but what you described seems like they are using an AI agent for email exchanges. Those types of bugs are very common when an AI acts like an email customer service manager or, in this case, a project manager. Of course you are baffled and confused, you are interacting with a machine. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That makes sense. I&#039;m normally very aware of that possibility, but their high rating was misleading. In this case, I can only assume that they built their BB page also using AI agents, not real translators.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Does ProZ apply any protection to make sure its translator database is not populated by AI agents? [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was not referring to BB. Only to the type of bug you mentioned in emails - where they keep coming back like a robot repeating the same thing making you feel like you are talking to a wall - that’s highly likely some type of AI. Don’t know about BB, but BB can also have fake or misleading human reviews. I advise you to use your experience and best judgment rather than relying on BB.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Similar experience in another area...</title>
			<author>Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109633#3109633</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Similar experience in another area...&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;It must really be an AI agent up to its tricks! I’ve got the same problem in another area. My hospital’s appointment scheduling service is now handled by an AI agent, with terrible results. What used to take just a minute or two now takes much longer because I have to repeat everything, and sometimes the “agent” doesn’t understand me. On top of that, every now and then I get a text message saying my appointment has been canceled, and about half an hour later another text saying it’s confirmed! AI was supposed to make things better, wasn’t it?</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Similar experiences</title>
			<author>Gabriela Zielinska</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109627#3109627</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Gabriela Zielinska&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Similar experiences&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I have encountered similar issues recently. This may be an issue with AI agents, but in one case I discovered that one of those agencies has been mixing up/misplacing translator names, their language pairs, and their e-mails in their database, resulting in the behaviour you mentioned, sending me jobs for an incorrect language pair, or not sending any jobs in a project. In this case, I know I was not the only one affected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Best of luck for you finding better organized clients!</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | Feedback on BB from AI agents?</title>
			<author>Annamaria Amik</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109613#3109613</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Annamaria Amik&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Feedback on BB from AI agents?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am no longer active in the market, but what you described seems like they are using an AI agent for email exchanges. Those types of bugs are very common when an AI acts like an email customer service manager or, in this case, a project manager. Of course you are baffled and confused, you are interacting with a machine. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That makes sense. I&#039;m normally very aware of that possibility, but their high rating was misleading. In this case, I can only assume that they built their BB page also using AI agents, not real translators.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Does ProZ apply any protection to make sure its translator database is not populated by AI agents?</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world? | No longer active in jobs</title>
			<author>Lingua 5B</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109606#3109606</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Lingua 5B&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; No longer active in jobs&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I am no longer active in the market, but what you described seems like they are using an AI agent for email exchanges. Those types of bugs are very common when an AI acts like an email customer service manager or, in this case, a project manager. Of course you are baffled and confused, you are interacting with a machine.</description>
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			<title>Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?</title>
			<author>Annamaria Amik</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3109589#3109589</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; Top-rated scam agencies or an emerging Kafka world?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Annamaria Amik&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Dear colleagues,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After 20+ years in the translation business, I still find myself completely baffled by the recent trends I see on the job board, at least in my language pairs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I applied to some jobs posted by agencies that garnered a lot of highly positive feedback on the BB over the years. The jobs were similar, mostly the evaluation or revision of AI-generated content. I signed their NDAs, completed their forms, got their confirmations of receipt, but then at some point in the chain of e-mail exchanges, I received – from at least two apparently distinct agencies – what looked like an automated reply informing me they were happy to proceed, please sign our attached NDA, etc. When I confirmed I had already sent all that, and inquired whether they had received it, they apologized, invoking technical issues, or just stopped answering, or reiterated the polite onboarding messages they had sent before.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I understand that handling large multi-language projects with many applications can pose a challenge, but in the last few months, the job board increasingly looks like a Kafka world.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Has anyone experienced something similar?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Annamária</description>
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			<title>A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous | Good to know</title>
			<author>kd42</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3107423#3107423</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; kd42&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Good to know&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]Michele Fauble wrote:[quote]kd42 wrote:&lt;br /&gt;They used COMA instead of COMMA.&lt;br /&gt;You both missed it too. [/quote]No, we didn’t miss it. We got your point. We just presented a different one.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[Edited at 2026-03-27 20:47 GMT] [/quote] Thanks for the clarification. Nice to know, turns out I was too slow, hehe.</description>
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			<title>A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous | Benny Hill</title>
			<author>Edward Potter</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3107389#3107389</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 21:57:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Edward Potter&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Benny Hill&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;I remember the Benny Hill skit where a woman wistfully says to a man, &quot;What is this thing called love?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;</description>
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			<title>A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous | Spelling and punctuation </title>
			<author>Michele Fauble</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3107386#3107386</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; Michele Fauble&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; Spelling and punctuation &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[quote]kd42 wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They used COMA instead of COMMA.&lt;br /&gt;You both missed it too. [/quote]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No, we didn’t miss it. We got your point. We just presented a different one.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;[Edited at 2026-03-27 20:47 GMT]</description>
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			<title>A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous | My point is different</title>
			<author>kd42</author>
			<category>Marketing for language professionals</category>
			<link>http://www.proz.com/post/3107378#3107378</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 18:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
			<description>&lt;b&gt;Forum:&lt;/b&gt; Marketing for language professionals&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Topic:&lt;/b&gt; A typo in a humorous promo banner which makes it even more humorous&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Poster:&lt;/b&gt; kd42&lt;br/&gt;&lt;b&gt;Post title:&lt;/b&gt; My point is different&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;They used COMA instead of COMMA.&lt;br /&gt;You both missed it too.</description>
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