No More Fake Reviews - So Who’s Gonna Tell Us What To Buy?


Very interesting and with a fairly profound impact on our audiophile community:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials

Some strong language in the ruling. How are some of our YouTubers going to be able to sustain their channels without gifted products?

 

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@curiousjim 

So in conclusion, I feel that if they tell you upfront that they bought the item at a greatly reduced price or that they were outright given the piece, there shouldn’t be a problem.

...and I think that's pretty much exactly what the FTC are saying they should do...

If a reviewer states that he was given or purchased the product at a discount then to me the manufacturer wrote the review.

@gs5556 

You said:

If a reviewer states that he was given or purchased the product at a discount then to me the manufacturer wrote the review.

I think that's a safe default position. But consider this, which I think is a common scenario:

I'm a reviewer. Company A sends me a product to be reviewed. Both parties expect the product to be returned once the review is finished. I write the review and it's glowing, extremely positive, because I really like the product, so much so that I would like to keep it in my reference system. I contact Company A and they say fine, you can have our standard industry accommodation, (say -40%) and it's yours to keep. The only stipulation is that you can't sell it for 12 months from the date of purchase.

I write the review, and I say the usual: I liked this product so much that I decided to buy it....blah blah.

Is that still considered a tainted, or 'paid for' review?

This is just EXCELLENT NEWS....time to put the squeeze on some of these hifi charlatans and the hifi banana republic.

File complaints a plenty O’ empowered hifi consumers and ensure that the FTC is introduced to some of these charlatans (get their names on the radar first, familiarity is key). A couple of examples should be made to instill some fear in the tender hearts of all the other charlatans.

God bless the FTC.