In recent years, several instances of political actors creating fake
grassroots activity on the Internet have been uncovered. We propose to call
such fake online grassroots activity *digital astroturfing*. In this paper,
we lay out a conceptual map of the phenomenon of digital astroturfing. To
that end, we first define digital astroturfing as a form of *manufactured*,
*deceptive* and *strategic* top-down activity on the Internet initiated by
political actors that mimics bottom-up activity by autonomous individuals.
Next, we explore a *typology of digital astroturfing* according to the
dimensions of the target of digital astroturfing, the political actors who
engage in digital astroturfing and the goals of the digital astroturfing
activity. Following the discussion of our proposed typology, we introduce
the concept of *digital astroturfing repertoires*, the possible
combinations of tools, venues and actions used for digital astroturfing
efforts. Finally, we discuss how to prevent or curb digital astroturfing by
implementing certain restrictive or incentivizing *countermeasures*. The
main use of this conceptual study is to serve as a basis for future
empirical work. Even though empirical research on digital astroturfing is
inherently difficult since digital astroturfing is a clandestine activity,
it is not impossible. We suggest some viable research strategies.