LinkedIn has outlined new and more targeted measures to combat fake engagement, as the platform intensifies efforts to curb engagement pods and automated activity that distort content visibility in the feed. The update follows sustained user complaints about a growing volume of non-genuine interactions, particularly comments generated through third-party automation tools.
Concerns around artificial engagement are not new. As early as July last year, users began flagging a noticeable rise in fake engagement across LinkedIn, prompting the platform to acknowledge the issue publicly. At the center of the problem are engagement pods, coordinated groups of users who systematically like, comment on, and amplify each other’s posts to game reach and visibility.
Data previously shared with industry observers suggested that thousands of posts per day were being artificially boosted through pod activity, pushing genuinely relevant content further down the feed due to misleading signals of popularity.
LinkedIn said at the time that it was taking the issue seriously and began exploring ways to disrupt pods, which are often organized on external platforms. An initial enforcement update followed in November. Now, the company says it is going further.
In a fresh update, Gyanda Sachdeva, Vice President of Product Management at LinkedIn, said the platform will begin taking direct action against automated comments posted via scripts, browser plugins or third-party tools without human review. According to Sachdeva, these comments frequently flood discussions with low-quality responses, degrading the overall user experience.
Under the new approach, when LinkedIn detects automated comments, they will be removed from the “Most Relevant” comments view, which is the default display users see on posts. While users can still switch to “Most Recent,” deprioritizing these comments sharply reduces their visibility and impact. Sachdeva added that LinkedIn may also prevent automated comments from being shown beyond the commenter’s immediate network, further limiting their reach.
More significantly, LinkedIn has warned that repeated use of automated commenting tools could lead to account restrictions, signaling a shift from passive suppression to active enforcement.
LinkedIn is rolling out new measures to tackle third-party pod activity, focusing on enhanced detection that can prevent automated systems from directly posting to the app. This is just one of several strategies the platform is implementing to fight against spammers and scammers. The process involves using indicators, like the origin of a post, to filter out any suspicious activity. It also looks like LinkedIn is now going towards an built-in mechanism to assess the trustworthiness of automated posts from third-party applications.
LinkedIn has acknowledged that combating these issues is tough since they often originate outside the app. However, the platform is stepping up its efforts and looking to introduce more measures to lessen the impact of pod posts.
