Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh shit. I used to consider them to be one of the most reputable sources.
Oh no! I did as well. Who is the current honest broker of product reviews?
[deleted]
Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
61–70 of 147 posts
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
"In general the web was at its best decades ago, when people published because they knew things and were internally compelled to share." What does this mean, "internally compelled"? If someone is providing systematic reviews of products, it takes time and resources to do so. Why would they do this for free?
I mean when someone's motivation comes from what they themselves are interested in and their wanting to pass along their knowledge to help others, as opposed to say the external incentive of being financially compensated. I know this seems completely foreign in this age of played out incentives, but such publishing used to be quite common before independent sites were drowned out by webspam. You'd do a search, dig th…
RIP JohnnyGuru dot com :-(
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#63I think there's still a niche for a Wirecutter-like site. But I don't know what it should look like, and how it should function without invasive affiliate advertising. I like reading high quality reviews of practical goods as well as more specialized things. Right now, I just Google search "name of product" + "reddit" and browse through threads to get a general consensus of a product.
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#64Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…
> I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. Let me offer a counterexample - VPN services. They didn’t get a cent from Mullvad, which they declared the winner. Number two was IVPN, which also doesn’t have an affiliate program. The review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/
Why do you think they didn't get money from them?
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#65Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…
That's a pretty sensationalist article. Wirecutter doesn't hide the fact that they make money off of affiliate fees. Almost all content sites do. Are there better review websites than the Wirecutter? I've found them to be solid and helpful.
I like RTings, but they only review a limited selection of products. Consumer Reports is not what it used to be, and I always wonder if they're about to go out of business. I'm not aware of anything better, though I'd love to hear other people's recommendations.
I have wondered if there is even a way to sustain an organization large enough to review a wide variety of products, and have a business model that does not raise questions about your motives or integrity. I'd guess that such a business would need a lot of people and time to comprehensively review products well, and that costs money. In the Wirecutter model, where they claim to keep their reviews up to date as new products come out, it's kind of a recurring cost, too. But if affiliate links are ethically dubious, and advertisements are even worse, and if not enough people will pay for a subscription to their site, then what is the alternative?
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#66Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…
I wanted to link to an older comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24714286) I made on this topic, because I keep on seeing this article. It's turned out to be one of my most upvoted comments on HN, to my genuine surprise.
Reproduction:
I keep on seeing this link pop up. Since no one is replying, I'd like to point out that I think the Wirecutter is actually in the right here. Another HN member did some investigation and found that Xdesk is stretching things: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22144078
In general, having been able to talk with some of the people there, I'm convinced that WC was focused first and foremost on truth-seeking and quality at this point in their life (pre-acquisition) — however, the consensus seems to have been that after the NYT acquired them, they started becoming more incentivized to grow revenue, and started to jump the shark.
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. Let me offer a counterexample - VPN services. They didn’t get a cent from Mullvad, which they declared the winner. Number two was IVPN, which also doesn’t have an affiliate program. The review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/
Why do you think they didn't get money from them?
Mullvad: I know it for a fact, because I'm one of the founders.
IVPN: I don't know it, but I've met Nick Pestell (the founder) several times, and he's told me they don't pay for reviews. I trust him.
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. Let me offer a counterexample - VPN services. They didn’t get a cent from Mullvad, which they declared the winner. Number two was IVPN, which also doesn’t have an affiliate program. The review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/
While my experience with Wirecutter has been decidedly mixed, Mullvad really does seem to be the best VPN around.
Thank you!
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any site that you do use now for recommendations? In the game of capitalism it seems everybody becomes a sell-out.
Consumer Reports has a long history of subscriber-funded independent reviews. They refuse all advertising, free/discounted items, etc. to prevent conflicts of interest. They review everything from cars and lawnmowers to mattresses and electronics, but depending on what niche of electronics you're looking at they may or may not have the kind of reviews you're looking for. https://www.consumerreports.org
consumer reports is a great resource when you just want an example of X that isn't a complete lemon. that's not a criticism, most purchases are like that for most people.
but if you care about getting a really good X, they're not a great source. most of their buying guides have a lot less detail than Wirecutter's, and of course pale in comparison to dedicated review sites for popular niches.
it's unfortunate that you essentially have to trade trustworthiness for detail.
Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday
#70Looks like they're asking for $300,000 for their 65 workers. That's an average of $4600/person. Does that seem pretty low to anyone else?
https://twitter.com/wirecutterunion/status/14631750942184161...