- Back to homepage

Can you bribe a hardware review website?

@ 2007/06/03

Over the past three months, DailyTech put together a series of faux companies, product portfolios and trademarks. In a combination of phone and email correspondences, our team of journalists set out to find illicit and unethical review behavior in the English-print, computer hardware review industry. 
 
Specifically, these journalists looked for publications that were: 

* Willing to sell advertisements (receive funds) in exchange for publishing content. 
* Willing to sell advertisements (receive funds) in exchange editor's choice awards. 
* Willing to offer viral marketing in exchange for cash and resale hardware. 
 
Manufacturers pressure publications from all sides when attempting to secure headlines and positive reviews. No money actually exchanged hands during this analysis, and the working relationships lasted less than a week. 
 
There are approximately 150 circulated English-print technology websites; our team specifically targeted the 35 largest publications. We determined the size of these publications via Alexa’s online index and publication-supplied web statistics. DailyTech was included among this list.

Comment from jmke @ 2007/06/04

since they only send me first email last Thursday, wanting my phone number for a call, I preferred the email/MSN way, today is the first day I'm available for a chat, so their dead lines are too short

Comment from Tarantula @ 2007/06/04

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmke

never really got around to responding to their inquiry in time it seems

nice way to dodge the bullet

Comment from jmke @ 2007/06/03

I think we made the list of "checked websites"? never really got around to responding to their inquiry in time it seems

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.