Study summary · research use only
The study of doping market: How to produce intelligence from Internet forums
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
This study (species not applicable; an Internet forum content-analysis study) investigated online discussion of doping substances and suppliers across community forums, aiming to characterize product and supplier information for monitoring the online doping market. Thirteen community forums were examined, with one million topics extracted using source code scrapers and classified through semi-automatic semantic analysis; product, substance, and supplier rankings were tracked over time, and supplier promotion methods were evaluated. The abstract reports anabolic androgenic steroids were the most discussed product type, that popular products remained stable over time alongside emergence of newer products such as the peptide CJC-1295, and that 327 suppliers were detected, mostly using dedicated websites or direct e-mail sales. The authors describe the methodology as able to detect products, suppliers, and their trends over time.
Abstract
Despite the predominant role played by Internet in the distribution of doping substances, little is currently known about the online offer of doping products. Therefore, the study focuses on the detection of doping substances and suppliers discussed in Internet forums. It aims at having a comprehensive understanding of products and sellers to lead an operational monitoring of the online doping market. Thirteen community forums on the Internet were investigated and one million topics were extracted with source code scrappers. Then, a semantic analysis was conducted with a semi-automatic process to classify the relevant words according to doping matters. Additionally, the ranking of doping products, active substances and suppliers in regards to the number of contributors to the forums were established and analyzed over time. Finally, promotion methods of suppliers were evaluated. The results show that anabolic androgenic steroids, used to enhance body image and performance, are the most discussed type of products. A temporal analysis illustrates the stability of the most popular products as well as the emergence of new products such as peptides (e.g. CJC-1295). 327 suppliers were detected, mostly with dedicated websites or direct sales by e-mail as selling methods. Globally, the implemented methodology shows its ability to detect products and suppliers as well as to follow their temporal trends. The intelligence will serve the definition of online monitoring strategies (e.g. the selection of appropriate keywords). Additionally, it also allows the adjustment of customs inspection strategies and anti-doping analysis by monitoring the popular and emerging substances.
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