You gotta make a living man. Take the money, give disclosure, and just keep on trucking. One day you'll get large enough where you won't have to take the money.
I know others have already said this, but I think as long as you make it clear it's a sponsored review, it's not automatically bad. I'm sure many or most of us trust you to still tell us any flaws of a sponsored product, or to say no to a sponsorship that won't let you share negative experiences you have with their product.
I have absolute faith in you and your integrity as a creator and as a person. I believe you can be trusted to do reviews, even paid reviews, with honesty and straightforwardness. But I’ll also admit my bias, so I’m not someone you need to win over or prove yourself to. I think you’ll get this figured out over time. And you deserve to succeed. That means being able to make a living and taking care of your family.
I agree with what so many others are saying here, as long as you disclose that it's a paid review, give your honest opinion, and don't allow them to have editorial review, you're good. I never get upset with paid reviews, just like I never get upset with ads. Someone's got to pay the bills.
Just make sure to call it a commercial and not a review. You got to make a living. If you endorse a product, your opinion does help me decide on tech purchases.
People who have followed you all these year’s know your an trustworthy and honest person. Do what you need to make money because if you don’t the community of techies will suffer.
Let's be honest the UA-cam space is swamped with tech reviews and your goal to grow to a decent income level is going to be incredibly hard. So take all the cash your offered but be honest about where and when it happens. Identify them as a short out long term test whatever works not just don't fall into the trap of calling it a review then there is no loss of credibility. I'm glad you created this video to air your thoughts with us!
Yep yep on all fronts. I plan on continuing to test out these things on the channel. SOmetimes I do things I think will take and they do nothing, and sometimes things take off. I do wonder how these kinds of videos will do. We shall see. Thank you Gav!
You gotta do what you gotta do to provide for you and your family. If that is one avenue to help and makes things easier financially, go for it. We all love watching what you do, thats why we watch, no matter what.
I like ads to be ads and content to be content. "Paid reviews" are just inherently suspicious no matter who does them or what disclosures or promises of full honesty are made.
I totally hear ya. Money has that power. The trick is how do you make money in this industry while still being true and honest. Like I've said to others here in the comments, my time at TWiT (with them buying most of the hw I reviewed) really instilled in me a strong ethic in reviews and ALWAYS sharing exactly how I feel about a product. If a company wants to pay me to review their product, I can't help but see it as "OK, sure... but you DO know what you get right?" And of course, many might not initially. But its imperative for me to educate them as to how I do reviews and that this is the way I do things, full stop. Thanks for sharing and being here!
Jason, I've followed you from AAA to Twit (and left Twit after you left) and on to Android Faithful and Tech Sploder because I find your commentary and opinions informative , funny, and relevant. You gotta make a living and so I fully support what needs to be done. I'd rather hear from you (disclosures disclaimers and all) than not :) Keep up the good work!
As long as you disclose to your viewers that it is a paid review and to the company that you're not going to sugar coat the review. No one can begrudge you an honest living. Onwards and upwards 👍🏿
Do the brand deals Jason, I think it will enable you to grow the channel and keep doing the content you (and us) love. It's really hard to do what you want if you feel like you're underwater. No one who has followed you for any amount of time would question your ethics. Go get paid.
Jason keep your morals. Take the money IF they agree to your honest opinion of their product. Let us know that this is a paid review but your recommendation is your own. If the product maker doesn't agree with it, then keep it moving. You do great work and this video is just another example of the honesty we've come to enjoy about you and your work. Keep up the great work.
I understand your apprehension, but I wouldn’t fault you for going ahead with it. If it’s between that or you not making as much content (or none at all) then that seems worth it. You point out drawbacks even on products you like or find useful or qualify who it’s most intended for. One of my favorite gaming sites sometimes gets a sponsor for their site banner and I don’t take issue with that at all. It’s cool they’re getting that opportunity. You deserve all the success, Jason! There are 5,000+ people who value and trust your opinion. 🙂
I say do it. Like others have posted you need an income and if you give full disclosure when you review I don't see a problem. All the best going forward!
When I see other creators doing brand deals, I always take those reviews with a grain of salt, which I think is expected. More importantly, I don’t think any less of them because of it-I understand they need to make money somehow. As long as you’re not doing exclusively brand deals, I don’t foresee it being a problem.
Hey there, Mr. Howell! A couple things on this topic. First is, one idea I've had if I was ever in this position (doubt I ever will be) I'd create a short, formal video explaining the ethics of how you would approach these reviews. Two, three, four minutes, just laying it out so that it's always there and it's always present. Then in the sponsored reviews, my first thing to say would be, hey, before I get into this, this is a sponsored review. And if you want to know what my policy is on sponsored reviews, go watch this video and then come on back. A lot of people aren't going to care and will just keep watching. The people who do care will watch that video and then come back! Anyone who doesn't, well, that's not your problem. It's always puzzled me why people would ever rely on one reviewer to form an opinion anyway. The intelligent way of judging things is to get multiple points of information and then decide what makes sense. Ultimately there is a responsibility on the viewer to understand that everyone has a bias of some kind, so it's smarter to look around and try to get a nice variety of opinions to arrive at sort of a consensus on what you think of something (short of buying it yourself). The the other thing is, in the end there are lots of people who do this who I think are very well respected, very ethical and highly trusted. Many of them explain what you did and are transparent about saying that a company sponsored a review but that the final opinion is aiming to be independent of that sponsorship. As long as you're upfront about which things are sponsored and as long as the channel doesn't become only sponsored reviews, I think people will have no issue with it. I think people lose trust when they start to think they're being misled or a channel becomes entirely sponsored products. In the end, you can't sustain a business on nothing but good intentions. If doing sponsorships keeps the lights on and grows the channel, and as long as it's handled honestly then I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Maybe the problem is in how it's labelled. If they're paying you to show it off, it's more of an Ad, call it a Sponsored Review or a Showcase segment, and the audience will know it's paid for. Disclosure is always good, but even then I think reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt. By them even giving you stuff they're helping you generate content, it's a win win for sure, but would still be different if you paid your hard earned cash for the product to review.
Yeah that's the trick of working for a company like TWiT for as long as I did. So many of the products we reviewed were purchased by the company. But I will also say that cutting my teeth in reviews with that model really cemented my general approach to reviews which is the same regardless if a company sends me a unit or not: Is it good? Is it bad? If so, how so? That's ALWAYS my approach no matter how I procure the hardware, and that's entirely molded by the model that TWiT was built on for more than a decade with the company.
As long as a video doesn't feel like a blatant ad, i don't care. Also, I've watched videos that feature products (hiking/running films) where i suspect they are getting paid for featuring those products but don't mention it. Doesn't bother me, I'm not going to run out and buy something just because I saw a UA-camr using it.
I understand that you would be conflicted, but I think you should grab opportunities that are offered to you. If you choose to do it and it doesn't _sit right_ with you for some reason, then you can stop, right? I can only speak for myself, but having followed you for so long (since CNET), I *do* trust you to give 💯 honest reviews and if you're compensated from time to time, good on ya! 🤓
Thank ya, Lu. Great to have you here through it all!! As to your question, I imagine if I got a product and realized through the reviews process that its something I don't want to do, I could work that out with the company. It's actually a good reminder to have something like this in the agreement that's made before I ever get the product so there are no issues down the line.
Hey we all want to see you make content, do whatever you need to be successful, I for one will be happy to see you making money from stupid gaming apps. Take the money.
@Techsploder in five years time you'll have millions of subscribers and be making VPN sponsorship money 😜 seriously though in a few years you will look back and see the path you led to success.
im thinking its ok as long you explained to your viewers and opening text that is paid review but your opinions are yours and you believe that the product is relevant. iJustine is probably the first "reviewer" i think of who went to far with paid sponsors. Once you make it big, then you can reject those paid sponsors. Hang in there, good things to come!
Yeah, agreed. That is the trick, right? It's all about the vetting. If a proposal comes through, I then do my own research. Is it crap? Is it interesting ENOUGH to get it and see if there's something there worth knowing about? Yep, totally agree. Thank you!
I trust you, but why would a company pay you if you keep giving their devices negative reviews? I trust you, but at the same time if your channel constantly reviews products that I have no interest in, or are junk, I will not watch as many videos you publish, but as the moment, I trust you would only show us things worth our time and money.
Yeah I considered that as I was thinking through this today prior to recording the video. A company might NOT want me to do any more reviews for them if they pay me to check out their product and I end up skewering it. And that's ok. Like, I'm simply not willing to say "ok I'll only say nice things then." It's a deal breaker for me. So there's that. And if they truly decide not to include me on their next release, I'm ok with that. It's a firm line. Having said that, regarding "junk" no matter what, I'm still looking at these products to see if it even passes the baseline muster. I've already had a few products floated by me that were immediate no's because I simply couldn't envision liking it based on what I saw, or that I wouldn't feel comfortable with the community spending there money there based on my vetting process. So there's that. Thanks Kyle.
Hey Jason, Let’s be honest: this would just be a commercial for the product. We can call it what it is. Marques is doing these, as is Peter McKinnon, among others. These videos aren't really 'reviews' anymore because they function as ads. Personally, I view them the same way I would a General Insurance advertisement featuring Shaquille O'Neal, where he promotes how great The General is, even though he doesn't use it as his personal insurance. I wouldn't blame you for doing it, but I definitely would not watch it, you got to eat. I've unsubscribed from a lot of channels recently because of this.
You are in weird battle with the algorithm it seems. Your traditional content and good name should be pulling more views, I'm baffled. I'd say take the money, promote your other videos, and maybe at some point the algorithm with turn in your favor. I still think that there are major brands that would benefit from having you full time bridging the gap between users and manufacturers.
Thank you, I appreciate that. ehhhh the algorithm is what it is. Sometimes it works in my favor and sometimes it seems it doesn't. Not much I can do about that except keep hustlin!
You gotta make a living man. Take the money, give disclosure, and just keep on trucking. One day you'll get large enough where you won't have to take the money.
I appreciate your rosy outlook on the future! haha. Thanks Clarence.
Do it. Keep it honest, do disclosures and build the content and the brand.
Disclosure is essential in my view. Thank you for you input!
We’re with you on this journey.
And I deeply appreciate that!!
I know others have already said this, but I think as long as you make it clear it's a sponsored review, it's not automatically bad. I'm sure many or most of us trust you to still tell us any flaws of a sponsored product, or to say no to a sponsorship that won't let you share negative experiences you have with their product.
I appreciate that trust, thank you.
You doing the right thing, keep doing what you do. The brands will continue to come to you with bigger and better opportunities.
Thanks so much, I'll keep on truckin!
I have absolute faith in you and your integrity as a creator and as a person. I believe you can be trusted to do reviews, even paid reviews, with honesty and straightforwardness. But I’ll also admit my bias, so I’m not someone you need to win over or prove yourself to. I think you’ll get this figured out over time. And you deserve to succeed. That means being able to make a living and taking care of your family.
Well you've been in my court for a very long time, man. Thank you for being here and sharing!
Cool man, do watcha gotta do.
Thank you so much!!
I agree with what so many others are saying here, as long as you disclose that it's a paid review, give your honest opinion, and don't allow them to have editorial review, you're good. I never get upset with paid reviews, just like I never get upset with ads. Someone's got to pay the bills.
Just make sure to call it a commercial and not a review. You got to make a living. If you endorse a product, your opinion does help me decide on tech purchases.
Yep, disclosure is critical. Thanks for your opinion here. I appreciate it.
People who have followed you all these year’s know your an trustworthy and honest person. Do what you need to make money because if you don’t the community of techies will suffer.
Let's be honest the UA-cam space is swamped with tech reviews and your goal to grow to a decent income level is going to be incredibly hard. So take all the cash your offered but be honest about where and when it happens. Identify them as a short out long term test whatever works not just don't fall into the trap of calling it a review then there is no loss of credibility. I'm glad you created this video to air your thoughts with us!
Yep yep on all fronts. I plan on continuing to test out these things on the channel. SOmetimes I do things I think will take and they do nothing, and sometimes things take off. I do wonder how these kinds of videos will do. We shall see. Thank you Gav!
You gotta do what you gotta do to provide for you and your family. If that is one avenue to help and makes things easier financially, go for it. We all love watching what you do, thats why we watch, no matter what.
So great to read this. Much appreciation.
I like ads to be ads and content to be content. "Paid reviews" are just inherently suspicious no matter who does them or what disclosures or promises of full honesty are made.
I totally hear ya. Money has that power. The trick is how do you make money in this industry while still being true and honest. Like I've said to others here in the comments, my time at TWiT (with them buying most of the hw I reviewed) really instilled in me a strong ethic in reviews and ALWAYS sharing exactly how I feel about a product. If a company wants to pay me to review their product, I can't help but see it as "OK, sure... but you DO know what you get right?" And of course, many might not initially. But its imperative for me to educate them as to how I do reviews and that this is the way I do things, full stop. Thanks for sharing and being here!
Jason, I've followed you from AAA to Twit (and left Twit after you left) and on to Android Faithful and Tech Sploder because I find your commentary and opinions informative , funny, and relevant. You gotta make a living and so I fully support what needs to be done. I'd rather hear from you (disclosures disclaimers and all) than not :) Keep up the good work!
This is incredibly kind, thank you for putting a smile on my face!
As long as you disclose to your viewers that it is a paid review and to the company that you're not going to sugar coat the review. No one can begrudge you an honest living. Onwards and upwards 👍🏿
Do the brand deals Jason, I think it will enable you to grow the channel and keep doing the content you (and us) love. It's really hard to do what you want if you feel like you're underwater. No one who has followed you for any amount of time would question your ethics. Go get paid.
Thank ya, Drew!
Jason keep your morals. Take the money IF they agree to your honest opinion of their product. Let us know that this is a paid review but your recommendation is your own. If the product maker doesn't agree with it, then keep it moving. You do great work and this video is just another example of the honesty we've come to enjoy about you and your work. Keep up the great work.
Deeply appreciate that, Joe. Thank you.
@Techsploder I happily support you in this wonderful work of love.
Take care of your family. You have built up trust with us.
Right on, will do. I appreciate having your trust!!
I understand your apprehension, but I wouldn’t fault you for going ahead with it. If it’s between that or you not making as much content (or none at all) then that seems worth it. You point out drawbacks even on products you like or find useful or qualify who it’s most intended for. One of my favorite gaming sites sometimes gets a sponsor for their site banner and I don’t take issue with that at all. It’s cool they’re getting that opportunity. You deserve all the success, Jason! There are 5,000+ people who value and trust your opinion. 🙂
Thank you so much, I appreciate your support!
I say do it. Like others have posted you need an income and if you give full disclosure when you review I don't see a problem. All the best going forward!
Indeed. Thank you!!
When I see other creators doing brand deals, I always take those reviews with a grain of salt, which I think is expected. More importantly, I don’t think any less of them because of it-I understand they need to make money somehow. As long as you’re not doing exclusively brand deals, I don’t foresee it being a problem.
Right on, it is not my desire to do exclusive brand deals. I appreciate it!!
Go for it , no problem here .
Right on, thank you!
Hey there, Mr. Howell!
A couple things on this topic. First is, one idea I've had if I was ever in this position (doubt I ever will be) I'd create a short, formal video explaining the ethics of how you would approach these reviews. Two, three, four minutes, just laying it out so that it's always there and it's always present. Then in the sponsored reviews, my first thing to say would be, hey, before I get into this, this is a sponsored review. And if you want to know what my policy is on sponsored reviews, go watch this video and then come on back. A lot of people aren't going to care and will just keep watching. The people who do care will watch that video and then come back!
Anyone who doesn't, well, that's not your problem. It's always puzzled me why people would ever rely on one reviewer to form an opinion anyway. The intelligent way of judging things is to get multiple points of information and then decide what makes sense. Ultimately there is a responsibility on the viewer to understand that everyone has a bias of some kind, so it's smarter to look around and try to get a nice variety of opinions to arrive at sort of a consensus on what you think of something (short of buying it yourself).
The the other thing is, in the end there are lots of people who do this who I think are very well respected, very ethical and highly trusted. Many of them explain what you did and are transparent about saying that a company sponsored a review but that the final opinion is aiming to be independent of that sponsorship. As long as you're upfront about which things are sponsored and as long as the channel doesn't become only sponsored reviews, I think people will have no issue with it. I think people lose trust when they start to think they're being misled or a channel becomes entirely sponsored products.
In the end, you can't sustain a business on nothing but good intentions. If doing sponsorships keeps the lights on and grows the channel, and as long as it's handled honestly then I don't think you have anything to worry about.
This is all incredibly thoughtful and helpful, thank you as always sir. You are incredibly supportive and understanding.
Maybe the problem is in how it's labelled. If they're paying you to show it off, it's more of an Ad, call it a Sponsored Review or a Showcase segment, and the audience will know it's paid for. Disclosure is always good, but even then I think reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt. By them even giving you stuff they're helping you generate content, it's a win win for sure, but would still be different if you paid your hard earned cash for the product to review.
Yeah that's the trick of working for a company like TWiT for as long as I did. So many of the products we reviewed were purchased by the company. But I will also say that cutting my teeth in reviews with that model really cemented my general approach to reviews which is the same regardless if a company sends me a unit or not: Is it good? Is it bad? If so, how so? That's ALWAYS my approach no matter how I procure the hardware, and that's entirely molded by the model that TWiT was built on for more than a decade with the company.
Do it, I always trust jou
Aww thank you Harry!
As long as a video doesn't feel like a blatant ad, i don't care. Also, I've watched videos that feature products (hiking/running films) where i suspect they are getting paid for featuring those products but don't mention it. Doesn't bother me, I'm not going to run out and buy something just because I saw a UA-camr using it.
Yeah I'm not even sure I could pull off a blatant ad! These would be true reviews, the same as any review I've done before.
Learn from MKBDs recent camera mistake 😊
I understand that you would be conflicted, but I think you should grab opportunities that are offered to you. If you choose to do it and it doesn't _sit right_ with you for some reason, then you can stop, right? I can only speak for myself, but having followed you for so long (since CNET), I *do* trust you to give 💯 honest reviews and if you're compensated from time to time, good on ya! 🤓
Thank ya, Lu. Great to have you here through it all!! As to your question, I imagine if I got a product and realized through the reviews process that its something I don't want to do, I could work that out with the company. It's actually a good reminder to have something like this in the agreement that's made before I ever get the product so there are no issues down the line.
Hey we all want to see you make content, do whatever you need to be successful, I for one will be happy to see you making money from stupid gaming apps. Take the money.
hah thanks Tay. You are an incredible supporter, I appreciate you!
@Techsploder in five years time you'll have millions of subscribers and be making VPN sponsorship money 😜 seriously though in a few years you will look back and see the path you led to success.
im thinking its ok as long you explained to your viewers and opening text that is paid review but your opinions are yours and you believe that the product is relevant. iJustine is probably the first "reviewer" i think of who went to far with paid sponsors. Once you make it big, then you can reject those paid sponsors. Hang in there, good things to come!
Yep that disclosure is KEY. Thank you!!
Do it with products you love and use and are pleased to be associated with. Just don't sell your soul to shitty products.
Yeah, agreed. That is the trick, right? It's all about the vetting. If a proposal comes through, I then do my own research. Is it crap? Is it interesting ENOUGH to get it and see if there's something there worth knowing about? Yep, totally agree. Thank you!
I trust you, but why would a company pay you if you keep giving their devices negative reviews? I trust you, but at the same time if your channel constantly reviews products that I have no interest in, or are junk, I will not watch as many videos you publish, but as the moment, I trust you would only show us things worth our time and money.
Yeah I considered that as I was thinking through this today prior to recording the video. A company might NOT want me to do any more reviews for them if they pay me to check out their product and I end up skewering it. And that's ok. Like, I'm simply not willing to say "ok I'll only say nice things then." It's a deal breaker for me. So there's that. And if they truly decide not to include me on their next release, I'm ok with that. It's a firm line. Having said that, regarding "junk" no matter what, I'm still looking at these products to see if it even passes the baseline muster. I've already had a few products floated by me that were immediate no's because I simply couldn't envision liking it based on what I saw, or that I wouldn't feel comfortable with the community spending there money there based on my vetting process. So there's that. Thanks Kyle.
My thoughts have already been basically covered by the other comments, so have a like instead
I appreciate that too!
You have been working with Leo too long. You now have to hustle to survive. Take the money but stay honest 👍
Indeed I do. Thank you!!
Hey Jason,
Let’s be honest: this would just be a commercial for the product. We can call it what it is. Marques is doing these, as is Peter McKinnon, among others. These videos aren't really 'reviews' anymore because they function as ads. Personally, I view them the same way I would a General Insurance advertisement featuring Shaquille O'Neal, where he promotes how great The General is, even though he doesn't use it as his personal insurance. I wouldn't blame you for doing it, but I definitely would not watch it, you got to eat. I've unsubscribed from a lot of channels recently because of this.
I appreciate you being candid and honest here. Than you for sharing!
You are in weird battle with the algorithm it seems. Your traditional content and good name should be pulling more views, I'm baffled. I'd say take the money, promote your other videos, and maybe at some point the algorithm with turn in your favor. I still think that there are major brands that would benefit from having you full time bridging the gap between users and manufacturers.
Thank you, I appreciate that. ehhhh the algorithm is what it is. Sometimes it works in my favor and sometimes it seems it doesn't. Not much I can do about that except keep hustlin!