Disgraced tech reviewers?

[MobiFix]

First of: This post is NOT a jab at Linus, Luke nor the members of their staff, as I believe all of those guys are straight shooters.

 

Anyway, I was in an argument with a chap here not long ago, and he basically told me that tech reviewers are considered journalists, and i both disagree'd and agree'd, all at once, and he went on to claim that no tech reviewer would sign away any commentary they might have on any product in favor of gettng an early review unit..

 

And that's where I disagree, the problem is in part for Me that I know people have fudged up in the past, and made asses of themselves where it's been proven they've been paid by a manufacturer, or offered early review units in favor of glowing reviews.. Once such, rather recent example was the guy who swore up and down that he wasn't an apple fanboy as he received an Apple Watch a week or 2 to review ahead of it's launch date..

 

It's pretty obvious (At least to Me) that some reviewers who do get early access to things are sometimes bound by what they can say, as in, if they don't give a glowing enough review then they lose favour with the company and are essentially blacklisted.. S o what I'm looking for is concrete examples of people this has happened to before.. So, who knows of people who's been paid foff essentially that has been or currently are a big name?

 

I for one would go as far as to say that MKBHD now is on the "early apple reviewer" club.. and I'm gravely worried how that'll color his review of the phone.

[Teemslo]

The one that sticks out in my mind recently is the scandal over Microsoft paying YouTubers to promote Xbox One prior to launch. The ones that did so are in quite abit of hot water with the FTC at the moment for failing to disclose to the consumer that it was paid advertisement of the product and they where under contract not to speak out poorly against the unit. 

[Midnitewarrior4]

wel i know jayztwocents seems to be quite honest and says that he will review a product and tell us if its bad or good and doesnt care about if the company will stop sending him stuff, he wants to tell the truth and companies like him because of that and can learn thier mistakes and fix them and learn more about what people are looking for in a product

[ttam]

These guys receive the items way before release so they have time to use it, test it, get used to it and make a video so come release day... they have a video ready to people to watch that would be interested.. Not because they are a "fan boy and getting favors" and ofcourse the companies are expecting a good review

 

If they were giving away reviews based on the the review samples they get.. they wouldn't have a fan base because people would call them fake.

 

My company gets review samples A LOT from these companies and never once was I told hey give us a good review or you don't get anything anymore.

[Guest Kloaked]

I don't know of any who are for sure paid off, but I do know a few who are complete idiots.

 

As far as Marques goes with his reviews, like I said somewhere else (more or less): he'll mention the bad things about what he reviews, but nearly every single time that he points out a downside, he makes out like it can be fixed in a patch or some kind of update which almost never happens, especially on the Android side.

 

Then there's Linus. You can say what you want about him, but he got mad props from me whenever he did the Surface Pro 3 review; fucking ripped Microsoft a new one, like he should be doing in my opinion.

[KemoKa]

There are tech reviewers who bow and scrape to companies so that they can get review samples, but LTT, Tek Syndicate and others make it very clear that they do not tolerate bribes or samples in return for glowing reviews. They're honest, which is why Linus is never afraid to call companies out on faults in a product. LTT being the size that they are, if a company refuses them a product because they won't give a positive review, LTT can simply buy one of the products and review it anyway. Their margin will be smaller, but the review will still be out.

[PlayStation 2]

I don't know of any who are for sure paid off, but I do know a few who are complete idiots.

 

As far as Marques goes with his reviews, like I said somewhere else (more or less): he'll mention the bad things about what he reviews, but nearly every single time that he points out a downside, he makes out like it can be fixed in a patch or some kind of update which almost never happens, especially on the Android side.

 

Then there's Linus. You can say what you want about him, but he got mad props from me whenever he did the Surface Pro 3 review; fucking ripped Microsoft a new one, like he should be doing in my opinion.

link to surface video so i can laugh my ass off

[Guest Kloaked]

link to surface video so i can laugh my ass off

 

[MobiFix]

There are tech reviewers who bow and scrape to companies so that they can get review samples, but LTT, Tek Syndicate and others make it very clear that they do not tolerate bribes or samples in return for glowing reviews. They're honest, which is why Linus is never afraid to call companies out on faults in a product. LTT being the size that they are, if a company refuses them a product because they won't give a positive review, LTT can simply buy one of the products and review it anyway. Their margin will be smaller, but the review will still be out.

I think it's pretty hilarious how with LTT even if something is deemed as utter crap by Linus he said that even so the product would sell far better non the less due to the increased exposure, so negative or bad review doesn't matter .. the item will sell more, so it's always a financial gain for the brand..

[MobiFix]

These guys receive the items way before release so they have time to use it, test it, get used to it and make a video so come release day... they have a video ready to people to watch that would be interested.. Not because they are a "fan boy and getting favors" and ofcourse the companies are expecting a good review

 

If they were giving away reviews based on the the review samples they get.. they wouldn't have a fan base because people would call them fake.

 

My company gets review samples A LOT from these companies and never once was I told hey give us a good review or you don't get anything anymore.

I'm jjust a little dismayed over some reviewers going pro-brand instead of pro-fan lately.. Youtube's turning into Amazon, where pretty much 80% of all 5-star reviews start with "I got a free review sample of this product, but naturally that will not color my judgement".. :facepalm: Yet all other ratings are 3's or below..

[TetraSky]

I'm jjust a little dismayed over some reviewers going pro-brand instead of pro-fan lately.. Youtube's turning into Amazon, where pretty much 80% of all 5-star reviews start with "I got a free review sample of this product, but naturally that will not color my judgement".. :facepalm: Yet all other ratings are 3's or below..

Could be because said brand actually pays quite a bit, unlike fans who use adblock and do not contribute anything.

In the end, it's all about how much money it will take for someone to sell out. If they were honest about receiving compensation for a video, I wouldn't have any problem. (and I don't mean just a tiny disclaimer, in the video description, hidden by "show more"... I mean right in the video, both written on the screen and in audio.)

[ttam]

I'm jjust a little dismayed over some reviewers going pro-brand instead of pro-fan lately.. Youtube's turning into Amazon, where pretty much 80% of all 5-star reviews start with "I got a free review sample of this product, but naturally that will not color my judgement".. :facepalm: Yet all other ratings are 3's or below..

Having worked in the tech world for 8 years now. 4/5 bad reviews are because the person is either stupid and doesn't know how to use it, broke it or is just dumb

[App4that]

Every single YouTuber I have come across is biased. Some heavily and other less noticeable. The value in the videos is not how it's presented, but what is presented. Linus does a good job of offering enough information to help you while also offering his opinion if you're incapable of forming you own.

[Teemslo]

Every single YouTuber I have come across is biased. Some heavily and other less noticeable. The value in the videos is not how it's presented, but what is presented. Linus does a good job of offering enough information to help you while also offering his opinion if you're incapable of forming you own.

 

 

I am with you on this, tech reviewing is expensive work and to keep any good channel going you need a fresh amount of samples every month. We are all human and no matter how "fair" they try to present the product there is always a small amount of bias lurking.