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And if you think normal product reviews are in a bad state... well, then there are web hosting reviews. In that industry, pretty much 100% of the recommendation

by CM30 11y ago

And if you think normal product reviews are in a bad state... well, then there are web hosting reviews. In that industry, pretty much 100% of the recommendations are driven entirely by 'whose affiliate scheme brings the most money'. Or even worse, they're like a mafia protection racket; pay the money and we'll take down bad reviews, don't pay and we'll take down the good ones and leave only the bad ones instead. Parts of that industry make the Amazon system look entirely respectable by comparison. Then there's the state of video game reviews, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Double so when mobile apps are involved.

wineisfine 11y ago
True. The worst are VPN reviews though. Thats a total other league of amateur companies actually to be reviewed. Hosting companies, well its more clear who are the big players and such. vPN is a shady world - who knows who is really logging what - etc.
- jrockway 11y ago
  That's why you create a mesh route of various VPN providers. VPN provider 1 knows that you are using it to talk to other VPNs. VPN provider 2 knows that some VPN customer at VPN provider 1 is talking to website X. All the red tape and technical debt should prevent any major problems, if you know what I mean. I personally just use Usenet for whatever people use VPNs for, I think. If I were doing something that needed to be kept from the NSA, I guess I would use Tor. Or postcards covertly hidden under rocks in public parks or whatever ;)
mmanfrin 11y ago
My favorites are reviews on the manufacturers own site. Oh wow! 480 5-star ratings out of 487?!
- foota 11y ago
  Look at that, the most expensive one is best rated!
- jonaf 11y ago
  Do you have an example? What makes it unbelievable? What if a product is legitimately that good?
  - matthewmacleod 11y ago
    It's not. No product is ever that good, simply because every product occasionally fails and some of your customers are awful.

by CM30 11y ago

wineisfine 11y ago

True. The worst are VPN reviews though. Thats a total other league of amateur companies actually to be reviewed. Hosting companies, well its more clear who are the big players and such. vPN is a shady world - who knows who is really logging what - etc.

jrockway 11y ago
That's why you create a mesh route of various VPN providers. VPN provider 1 knows that you are using it to talk to other VPNs. VPN provider 2 knows that some VPN customer at VPN provider 1 is talking to website X. All the red tape and technical debt should prevent any major problems, if you know what I mean. I personally just use Usenet for whatever people use VPNs for, I think. If I were doing something that needed to be kept from the NSA, I guess I would use Tor. Or postcards covertly hidden under rocks in public parks or whatever ;)

mmanfrin 11y ago

My favorites are reviews on the manufacturers own site. Oh wow! 480 5-star ratings out of 487?!

foota 11y ago
Look at that, the most expensive one is best rated!
jonaf 11y ago
Do you have an example? What makes it unbelievable? What if a product is legitimately that good?
- matthewmacleod 11y ago
  It's not. No product is ever that good, simply because every product occasionally fails and some of your customers are awful.