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Tech Review Sites and Payola

Posted by kdawson on from the fish-in-a-barrel dept.

cheesecake23 writes "How often have you read a hardware review and thought: 'No way was that an honest opinion, the reviewer was bought'—? The Daily Tech has gone undercover to find out whether or not payola is accepted among the 35 largest online English-language hardware review sites. Questions asked and answered — Q: How many sites would take money (or sell ads) in exchange for a product review? A: 20 percent. Q: How many sites would additionally consider selling an Editor's Choice award? A: None. Q: Were any regions of the world more corrupt than others? A: No, it was 20-25% almost everywhere. Q: Does it depend on the size or age of the site? A: RTFA. Although no bad actors were explicitly unmasked, the article contains enough information to make a whitelist of quite a few good guys."

9 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Toms by Iam9376 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I remember when Toms Hardware Guide was a good, unbiased resource..
    wait...

    1. Re:Toms by jcr · · Score: 3, Funny

      Music on MTV... That was a good week, back in the early 1980's.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  2. Meta-Cynicism by Palmyst · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do we know daily tech did not take any payola from the reviewers surveyed?

  3. Re:I wonder... by fishthegeek · · Score: 5, Funny

    No charge if iPhone is in the first three sentences :-)

    --
    load "$",8,1
  4. Re:Give the names, you chickensh!t by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Funny
    Since we all know what **** is this shouldn't be that hard...

    Hey! That's my password. Why're they doing articles on that?

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  5. Re:I wonder... by antdude · · Score: 3, Funny

    Patience, good stories, no life, etc. :) See who is #4 on Hall of Fame for "Most Active Submitters". ;)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  6. Re:I wonder... by JonathanR · · Score: 3, Funny

    On Slashdot, you'll get two articles for the price of one...

  7. Re:Slashdot Payola by nick_davison · · Score: 2, Funny

    Slashdot takes it, just admit it.

    I think you're thinking of Cowboy Neal. And that was never conclusively proved.

  8. Re:Slashdot Payola by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And if you pay a little extra they even publish your story twice.