Have you ever looked for a new diet or weight loss supplement and ended up on a review site? At first, it looked like a real review. You see a story about a person that tried the product, and they analyze the product in detail. However, it slowly dawns on you that the whole “review” is actually just a giant ad. There’s nothing negative about the product being reviewed. In fact, when you hover your mouse cursor over the link of the product being reviewed, you can see some weird numbers and characters at the bottom of your browser screen. This indicates that it’s an affiliate link. You’re probably kicking yourself for wasting precious minutes of your life’s time reading this so-called review.
If you feel ripped off or burned, you are hardly alone. Most review sites on the Internet feature such worthless content. This content is worthless because it suffers from conflict of interest. If somebody reviewing a product is going to get paid for every sale of that product, do you think that person is going to write an honest review? That, in a nutshell, is the conflict of interest problem that haunts most review sites. This is why truly savvy and intelligent consumers are very skeptical of product reviews. They will still read them, but they will read them with a huge grain of salt.
Beware of incomplete information
Another problem with review sites is that most of them feature incomplete information. It’s not in their interest to give you the whole story. Why? You probably wouldn’t buy if you get the whole picture. There is probably one deal killer that you need to know of but they intentionally leave out.
Inadequate comparisons
Most people make buying decisions based on comparisons. That’s how we perceive value. Nothing in of itself has a value unless you compare that product with another product. That’s when you can see the comparative value.
Online marketers know this. This is why they would set up bogus comparisons. For example, they would compare the product they are promoting with an obviously inferior product. Such product comparisons are worthless. That’s like comparing Toyota Tercel with a BMW. There’s no comparison. Obviously, you would think that BMW is the better car. This is the kind of comparison rip off review sites are often engaged in. Be aware of these red flags so you don’t get separated from your hard-earned dollars.