Guidelines to a Review site that does not piss anyone off??
 

How can you be fair and impartial on a review site?

If you tell your surfers that the website is crap (because it is crap)... then can't affiliates pull the rug out from under you and cancel your account?

Is there a way to review a site in a fair and impartial way so that the affiliate is not offended by what may be said?

And is there any reason (besides providing it to surfers) to review sites without affil programs?

As far as morals and ethics goes......whats your take on Hardlinks and Banners? Those who pay the bills may expect to get better reviews.

Any answers are appreciated.

review sites without affiliate programs?
if the sites aren't your own?

call me blind but I don't see no reason for doing that

btw maybe it's because i masturbate too much
http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=427995

then dont list that site.

dude you're talking about morals, ethics... this ain't the church... do what you have to do to make the most money....

I try to be impartial in my reviews, however, if a site is converting there is a strong temptation to improve the rating.

Having said that, if I review a site and it's junk I don't list it or even sign up as an affiliate.

So all my reviews are at least mildly positive with 3 - 5 stars. If it's a "2 star" site it won't even be mentioned, listed or reviewed. There are some instances however, for a site I feel is being dishonest, I will review them and give them a "1 star", putting them in the "Disapproved" list. I think this helps a bit with the credibility instead of having only positive reviews across the site.

It also serves as a warning to surfers. And to me, an informed, alert surfer is better for us all.

Lastly, if I send visitors to a site that's terrible, after telling them I thought it's great what does that say about me? My reputation and my site's reputation will be worthless in no time.

So I'd say if you are a reviewer, be honest or you will have no credibility. If a sponsor yanks you for a bad review you can mention that in the review. In the end, it's YOUR name and rep that your reviewers rely on.

1. We've given some poor reviews out, and never been dumped from a program for this reason. As long as you're fair, give good points without trashing them, then I think you'll be ok.

2. If you want to avoid bad reviews, then don't review bad sites. Although soon we'll be reviewing poor sites (where up to now we only review top 10%), most of your signups will go through your top rated sites anyway.

3. Sites without affiliate programs are tricky. Depends how credible you want to be and how "long-term" your thinking is. If you plan on pushing hundreds of reviews, then users will catch on to whether you're hiding top sites from being reviewed. If you want to look unbiased, you must not care about conversions, payouts, etc.... You'll give away some free signups, but in the long run you'll gain more trusted users (and that's key in my opinion).
The trick is to find a way to "limit" the exposure of such sites without altering the score/review. That's one thing we'll be doing on our site.

4. I advise avoiding ads of all kinds when you have a review site. Your bread and butter are the reviews, they are your content and no reason to dillute that. When you add advertising, then you also appear biased to them, regardless of whether you are or not. Go ask AVN and Xbiz! :winkwink:

You can definitely run a successful "and fair" review site, just don't buckle in to the temptations. In the long run, they will cost you. Good luck! :thumbsup

Don't review crappy sites.

-Dino

excellent advise there