i know a few very large startups that used it to fake their way into an exit

unethical yes but really raises the question as to what we see is real or not

Money is real. DAU that don't pay subscriptions, or don't lead to paid conversions on hosted ads, are worthless.

"Raises the question of what we see is real"

No they really don't, dishonest founders do that.

You're one with the lower case shibboleth so I have no doubt you surround yourself with dishonest founders, but faking users is pretty damn low on the usecases for residential proxies.

I said they're unethical because they tend to be hidden in innocuous seeming apps or sprung on unwitting individuals via clickwraps on their smart devices.