I was a gaming and hardware reviewer for a couple of the old mags.
The truth is that you can't be honest in your reviews. The system is against you from the get go.
Magazines and websites rely on advertisers for profits (lots of profits).Your subscribing to a mag or website only pays for a tiny portion of the cost. It's the advertisers who really pay the bills, and they know it.
I was never told directly "lie in the review" but on the other hand I was constantly reminded that if I was to harsh on something?, that it may cost the company millions in revenue.
Many companies state in their contracts, that all reviews have to go through them first so that they can address problems that reviewers may encounter. The reality is that it gives these big companies an excuse to lower the advertising budget with a particular mag or website. So instead of a few million coming in for a 4 page spread, the mag ends up getting 200K for a quarter page ad. Yea it hurts.
Most techies just get fed up with the politics of the whole thing and quit. Some guys went independent and found out that even being Independent that you had to follow the companies guidelines for reviewing their products and if you give a bad review? You can forget about getting permission to do the next product.
Want as close to honest reviews as you can get on stuff? Go to forums and read what other people say. But remember, many company people get bonuses for going on to forums and giving stellar reviews also.
The truth is that you can't be honest in your reviews. The system is against you from the get go.
Magazines and websites rely on advertisers for profits (lots of profits).Your subscribing to a mag or website only pays for a tiny portion of the cost. It's the advertisers who really pay the bills, and they know it.
I was never told directly "lie in the review" but on the other hand I was constantly reminded that if I was to harsh on something?, that it may cost the company millions in revenue.
Many companies state in their contracts, that all reviews have to go through them first so that they can address problems that reviewers may encounter. The reality is that it gives these big companies an excuse to lower the advertising budget with a particular mag or website. So instead of a few million coming in for a 4 page spread, the mag ends up getting 200K for a quarter page ad. Yea it hurts.
Most techies just get fed up with the politics of the whole thing and quit. Some guys went independent and found out that even being Independent that you had to follow the companies guidelines for reviewing their products and if you give a bad review? You can forget about getting permission to do the next product.
Want as close to honest reviews as you can get on stuff? Go to forums and read what other people say. But remember, many company people get bonuses for going on to forums and giving stellar reviews also.