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A couple observations: 1. All outgoing Amazon links appear to be intentionally augmented with a "?tag" querystring parameter "probablecausality-20". This appea

A couple observations: 1. All outgoing Amazon links appear to be intentionally augmented with a "?tag" querystring parameter "probablecausality-20". This appears to be an Amazon-specific affiliate link tracker [0], which means the author is indirectly profiting from every purchase originated from this site, which feels scummy or disingenuous at best. 2. If the author is accepting sponsorship/advertisement revenue from brands for promoting their products, this should be extremely clearly disclosed. Notably, many major brands (like G.SKILL) are conspicuously absent from the rankings, despite having some of the most competitive capacity/dollar ratios. [0] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49919290/what-are-all-those-parameters-in-an-amazon-affiliate-associate-link https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49919290/what-are-all-th...

hajimuz 3y ago
why affiliate is disgenuous?
- lopkeny12ko 3y ago
  1. Publishing a tracker for RAM prices out of passion for open source and/or computer hardware is noble. Exploiting this for personal monetary gain, however, is not. 2. From my read of how the affiliate program works, the author is basically pocketing some change for every sale made from an outbound click from this website. I can see this being valid for content like an in-depth review or benchmark of a particular model. But here, 100s of links are plastered with no context--extracting affiliate revenue from this feels scummy, cheap, and low-effort. Unlike a review, for example, there is no additional value being contributed that one can't already find directly on the product page.
  - speff 3y ago
    If there's supposedly no value from this project that you can't find on the product page, then don't use it. An affiliate link is appropriate here - you're using their work to find a specific product. One that you may not have found without this site. If the site helps amazon make a sale, then the dev can feel free to take their cut in making that sale happen.
  - beachy 3y ago
    I feel the opposite is true. Individual reviews are ever closer to marketing, astroturfing on today's internet. This is an honest view of multiple products, distinguishing them on price rather than subjective/anecdotal factors. I don't see any problems with affiliate links as long as they are disclosed (apparently they are).
generalizations 3y ago
It is actually marked in a few places - the column title at the top is labeled 'Affiliate Link', and one of the sidebar entries also clearly says it's "Supported and paid for by affiliate links". Also some of the discussion here involves the fact I'm running the site in conjunction with the amazon affiliates program; and that also featured in the discussion I linked to from last month. Edit: forgot to mention, the FQA also addresses this: https://ramstickprices.com/fqa.html https://ramstickprices.com/fqa.html

hajimuz 3y ago

why affiliate is disgenuous?

lopkeny12ko 3y ago
1. Publishing a tracker for RAM prices out of passion for open source and/or computer hardware is noble. Exploiting this for personal monetary gain, however, is not. 2. From my read of how the affiliate program works, the author is basically pocketing some change for every sale made from an outbound click from this website. I can see this being valid for content like an in-depth review or benchmark of a particular model. But here, 100s of links are plastered with no context--extracting affiliate revenue from this feels scummy, cheap, and low-effort. Unlike a review, for example, there is no additional value being contributed that one can't already find directly on the product page.
- speff 3y ago
  If there's supposedly no value from this project that you can't find on the product page, then don't use it. An affiliate link is appropriate here - you're using their work to find a specific product. One that you may not have found without this site. If the site helps amazon make a sale, then the dev can feel free to take their cut in making that sale happen.
- beachy 3y ago
  I feel the opposite is true. Individual reviews are ever closer to marketing, astroturfing on today's internet. This is an honest view of multiple products, distinguishing them on price rather than subjective/anecdotal factors. I don't see any problems with affiliate links as long as they are disclosed (apparently they are).

generalizations 3y ago

It is actually marked in a few places - the column title at the top is labeled 'Affiliate Link', and one of the sidebar entries also clearly says it's "Supported and paid for by affiliate links". Also some of the discussion here involves the fact I'm running the site in conjunction with the amazon affiliates program; and that also featured in the discussion I linked to from last month. Edit: forgot to mention, the FQA also addresses this: https://ramstickprices.com/fqa.html https://ramstickprices.com/fqa.html