Have tech review sites just become Amazon shills?

[shaunakde]

Take a look at any "list of X products under Y" -and all you get are garbage lists with products that have the highest Amazon Affiliate margins and misinformation.

 

I Google-ed best "noise cancelling headphones under $200" and even "audio savvy" publications are literally spweing garbage put together from marketing pages and Amazon reviews (or have some text written by content farms in developing nations where each page must be completed every 30 mins.)

 

Many of these lists also feature products that have been replaced by newer models ( and sellers need to dump fast). Its so disappointing to think how many people trust these sites and end up buying older versions of products.

 

One publication (sound guys) goes on to call "Noise Gard" (from Shennhiser) and ANC technology [its not, it's a volume limiter to make you not go deaf].

 

I'm sick and tired of the media completely becoming Amazon shills and I don't think there is any honesty left. 

 

PS: the only decent list I found from the top 20 Google presented to me was Tech Radar: https://www.techradar.com/deals/cheap-noise-canceling-headphone-deals

 

Take a look at any of the other Google top results and compare it to this list. And you will see what I'm talking about. 

[gloop]

That’s why I mainly use either of his forum or Reddit. There are a few YT channels that I would trust but most I agree have become focused on Amazon Afifiliate clocks and such. 

[BobVonBob]

Lists thrown together in an hour get the same click through rates as lists with days of research and testing behind them. Obviously nearly everyone chooses the easy way out.

[Spotty]

"Best <popular item> under <price>" is a common search term that a lot are using to get easy clicks. I would try avoid using such search terms. Instead look at what is available in your budget and then after you have narrowed down your options search "<product name> review" for a few of the products you're interested in. You'll get better quality search results, though you still need to do your due diligence and look at reviews from trustworthy sources. Look for review outlets that actually have the product they are reviewing. If they're just showing stock photos from the website and don't have any photos/video they've taken themselves then it's a good indication that they haven't actually tested the product.

 

You also don't need to click the amazon affiliate links from the articles/reviews. Open a new browser window and just search for that item, and also check stores other than amazon as other stores might have it available for cheaper.

[PlayStation 2]

As per usual:

Gotta get the ad revenue

[Radium_Angel]

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

You also don't need to click the amazon affiliate links from the articles/reviews.

Careful, that's gonna get you in trouble with LTT!