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  "documentTitle": "GSX Techedu (GSX)",
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  "authorName": "Carson Block",
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  "presentationDate": "2020-05-18 00:00:00",
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  "notes": "Includes a description of a 'brushing' model involving round-tripping RMB 1,000,000 for ad placements.",
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      "text": "This way GSX does not lose money. It just takes the RMB 1,000,000 and round trips it; we use ad placements in exchange for this brushing [bots or fake student users].",
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      "text": "Gaotu100.com is very similar in design and functionality with Genshuixue and shares domain names and resources with Genshuixue. After setting up an account and purchasing classes, it is possible to see some data flowing in the browser much like is the case with Genshuixue. However, Gaotu's data does not immediately show references to the class, so an additional step is required. If using an iPhone, it is necessary to install the Gaotu100.com app on the phone and configure the device to send data through an intercepting HTTP proxy. This method enabled our data analyst to watch the messages between the phone and the GSX servers, see what data was passed back and forth, and determine the path to the class archives. After locating the class archives, the files for each of our purchased classes were downloaded and examined.",
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      "text": "Analyzing Gaotu100.com and Genshuixue.com required two different approaches. We provide a more detailed description of the steps in Appendix 1.",
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      "text": "The Genshuixue.com platform has both a website and a desktop application that students can use. Once a user signs up and logs in, the user opens Google Chrome Developer tools, turns on the Network tab, switches to XHR and sees data being passed between the browser and the Genshuixe.com website. Inside of this data there is a wealth of information including archives of every class session purchased, which is what we used to perform our analysis of bot activity on both platforms.",
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      "text": "the teachers... for example, as before I provide RMB 1,000,000, and then contract with them [to exchange] for ads, and you must take that RMB 1,000,000 and return it to me as purchases. Why would they want to do that? It's because you help me do this thing...",
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      "text": "This way GSX does not lose money. It just takes the RMB 1,000,000 and round trips it; we use ad placements in exchange for this brushing [bots or fake student users]. — Anonymous source/Muddy Waters",
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      "text": "6 The archives are in a zip file. The file format is GZIP-compressed TAR archive (.tar.gz) otherwise known as a tarball.\n7 The data contained more than just this. This is a partial list of the most useful fields presented for the users.",
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