DD Support Board and Research Team

[gitreal]

Can anyone point the way to a past post, or maybe put together a new one that talks about how compensation for promotions work? And by promotions, I mean the blogs, newsletters, emails, etc. that are part of the organized pumping for a stock. I saw a link on this board yesterday to this:
http://stockpromoters.com/View-Stock-Promotions-By-Symbol.aspx

After punching in a few of my favorite mining scams (HMNC, SRCH, EXTO, GDSM, etc.), I see that they are all listed, but the information varies. Some list significant dollar amounts for individual promotions (HMNC for instance, had quite a few expensive touts last year), some list no paid promotions but lots of "free" ones (GDSM). Is there really such a thing as a "free" promotion, or is there always some third party payment or just plain unreported, under the table payment (stock or cash)?

Also, curious how this information is compiled, and who it is reported to? And, why does the information for HMNC stop in 2011 - were there really no pumps in 2012 (which might explain the share price drop from $3 to 14 cents)?

Thanks in advance....