Since July 8, the Instagram account of Premier Padel is experiencing surprising growth. Data shows an increase more than a million subscribers compared to the month of June.

300.000 subscribers per day, possible?

Currently, Premier Padel has 1,48 million followers, with an engagement rate of just 0,39% and an average of 5,75k likes per post. However, the audience score is mediocre, rated 2,8 out of 10, which suggests an anomaly.

Analysis of followers shows that only 28% of them are actual subscribers, while 72% are said to be inactive, raising questions about the nature of this rapid growth.

The daily evolution of subscribers highlights a drastic increase in followers from mid-July, with peaks of up to 300k new subscribers per day. This sudden growth, without a clear explanation by a marketing campaign or a major event, arouses suspicion.

Note that we nevertheless had 4 major events on Premier Padel since last June: the P2 in Bordeaux, the Major in Rome, Genova P2 and Malaga P1. But in our opinion, these events do not justify this explosion of subscribers.

Instagram account growth Premier Padel -©Not Just Analytics

3000 subscribers who disappear in 24 hours

On July 25, 2024, the Instagram page of Premier Padel had 825 subscribers. Three days later, on July 291, that number had jumped to 28 subscribers. As we know, Instagram is currently running a campaign to eliminate fake accounts, which can lead to a decrease in followers for those who have them among their followers. Indeed, on July 1, Premier Padel lost almost 3 subscribers in 000 hours, dropping to 24 subscribers.

controversy premier padel instagram cheat

Two hypotheses are necessary

Premier Padel reportedly bought subscribers to boost its apparent growth. This practice, while controversial and potentially harmful in the long term, is used by some to artificially increase their popularity. It's hard to believe that this action was put in place by Premier Padel. Indeed, a page like Premier Padel would have a lot to lose by doing so, especially since this practice is too easily recognizable.

The method to fool the public is to increase the number of subscribers subtly, without being too rapid. This is a textbook case, much more difficult to detect, and Padel Magazine strongly condemns.

We think that Premier Padel could be very simply victim in reality of an ill-intentioned person (or group) behind this artificial increase in subscribers, with the aim of harming the account in question by decreasing its engagement statistics. Indeed, a massive influx of fake accounts can reduce the overall engagement rate, creating a grotesque illusion of popularity, visible to all, to undermine the credibility of the account.


Immediate consequences

The page's engagement rate completely dropped as a result, falling well below the expected standard for an account with such a large number of followers. This could indicate that the majority of new subscribers are inactive or are not genuine users.

Matthias Héjja-Brichard

Fan of padel, I offer you my expertise and my passion. See you soon on the slopes!

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