Weblog Database

I cant figure this one out - I need the DP gurus to help me.



We run a forum, we have a competitor - another similar forum. They are bigger and older than us, we are busier and newer than them. Post counts are 50k apart and closing. There is rivalry!



A few days ago, they started faking their "members online" stats by doing this:



In the code, there are values that read like so:



Users online in the last <get value><get figure>



The site draws those values from the database and settings - they cannot easily be faked. It gets a minute value from your settings, and an online number from the database.



They recently faked theirs by doing this:



Users online in the last 30 minutes <get figure>



You can see that the "30 minutes" figure is not drawn from the settings, it is just written. This means members see what they believe to be 30 minutes and the value drawn from the database is maybe 4 days.



The result is they now show "total online ever" figures of about 1500. They are showing "online" figures of over 1000 too. This is fantasy and all faked as described.



The question is why?



Is this some kind of optimization ruse?

Is it some kind of black hat thing?

Is Google reading "member numbers online" now or something?



I am stumped.



Why does a big successful forum blatantly start to fake their member online figures this way? The guy is a very experienced webmaster, he has a reason for this activity. He understands boards, he understands Google, he understands the whole picture. And he has a reason for what he is doing.



I just want to know why.



Any thoughts?