Tom follows up on Damien and I on his blog
His theory on bloggers and reviews is quite amusing:
I’m not sure, but I think if bloggers are reviewing new kit, they need to disclose if they received a free review copy (and preferably return it after the review period is over) – this would go some way to ensuring that bias is removed from the process.
Why should they return it?
I used to review books for a newspaper. There is no way that I was going to return them after the review.
The real matter that needs to be resolved is not whether the reviewer keeps the product or not but whether the promoter is willing to accept that not all reviews are going to be positive and that they do not expect them to be so ie. they are not bribing people to give them positive reviews
That is the key.
michele – as you’re on this subject, you really have to work on the placement of those adsense ads. they’re squeezing your post into a three-word column, which means they’re rather intrusive. it may improve your click-throughs, but it’s not helping readability.
I think anyone given a product that costs more than EUR 100 should declare that it was not purchased when writing a public review of the item. Even C-list journos get free kit to fill newsprint with reviews.
FMK – I know I know. I’ll be working on those this evening I think
Bernie – maybe so, but you don’t need to make a declaration. You could simply say “I was asked to review product X”, which infers that you didn’t pay for it.
Why hide behind an inference Michele?
What do you have against simpky being honest and coming out and saying “I was sent a free copy of product x to review and…”?
Tom