Many of you in the hobby have probably seen or read product reviews that include negative comments. You’ve probably also seen numerous product reviews that rave about a product and maybe even the brand/manufacturer.
If you have read my FAQ page, then you have seen Question #1 and my answer. If you haven’t, it is below…verbatim:
1. Why are there no sponsors or advertisements on your blog?
The simple answer is because I don’t want any. The blog’s purpose isn’t to make money and, since I don’t benefit financially in any way from anything found on the site, I’m not beholden to anyone for the site’s contents. In fact, the website isn’t even monetized. Furthermore, I don’t want ads and other extraneous links cluttering up the site. I want the site to be simple, clean, and ad-free.
Let me expand on my answer above. Many sponsored websites have signed sponsor agreements. These are official documents that protect the sponsor. From what, you might ask? Those agreements typically include language preventing the website owner from posting disparaging comments or saying anything that might cast the sponsor in a negative light. Why? It protects sponsoring businesses from loss of revenue or business due to bad publicity.
As a blogger, this can be quite problematic. Since website or video channel sponsors typically align with the subject matter of the site, it would be unusual to have a sponsor that would NOT be harmed by negative information posted on the site. For example, since my site is about the cichlid hobby, a tank or heater manufacturer would logically be a reasonable site sponsor. A manufacturer of lawn mowers or hedge trimmers probably would not. Assuming said website has considerable influencing capability (e.g., it has tons of followers whose shopping/purchasing decisions can be affected), negative comments about a product or company can be detrimental to sales/reputation.
By not having any sponsors on my site, I am free to say what I want – good or bad – about products. But because I rely on relationships with many people to get interviews, it’s not in my best interest to openly disparage a company or product. I could, and there are probably some that I would like to.
I might question something about a product or company, but I won’t use my site to “go after” anyone or anything. That would not be conducive to the success of my site. Thus, you are very unlikely to read negative comments about people or companies here on my blog. However, if I do a product review, I will tell you what I like and what I don’t like about the product. I might not openly endorse a product, but I won’t tell you that. You can decide that from my comments.