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A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. more...

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The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase said goods or services or support the political group's ideological claims. Shills are often employed by confidence artists.

The earliest use of the word 'shill' actually dates back to Elizabethan England, when theatre owners, producers and playwrights (Shakespeare included) would pay a 'shilling' to a theatre goer who would applaud and cheer loudly at the end of a performance. Since applause, like yawning, is somewhat contagious, this would help ensure the success of a production.

In the UK the term plant is used.

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.

'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.

Shills in gambling

Both the illegal and legal gambling industries often use shills to make winning at games appear more likely than it actually is. For example, illegal Three-card Monte peddlers are notorious employers of shills. These shills also often aid in cheating, disrupting the game if the mark is likely to win.

In a legal casino, however, a shill is sometimes a gambler who plays using the casino's money in order to keep games (especially poker) going when there are not enough players. (This is different from a proposition player who is paid a salary by the casino for the same purpose, but bets with their own money.)

Shills on the internet

In online discussion media, satisfied consumers, or “innocent” parties with specific opinions in order to further the interests of an organization in which they have an interest, such as a commercial vendor or special-interest group. Websites may also be set up for the same purpose. For example, an employee of a company that produces a specific product may praise the product anonymously in a discussion forum or group in order to generate interest in that product, service, or group.

Read more at Wikipedia.org