Mattresses seems like another one so over polluted by affiliate links, you can barely find a real comparison. (sleeplikethedead.com seems pretty good.)
On its face, affiliate reviews are ok if the company has integrity, like Wirecutter attempts. If they pick a profitless product as first over one that makes them money.
Credit card reviews are another one that have gone off the chain. There are thousands of identical sites ranking the same cards.
Yeah mattresses, any specific type of software (CAD, photo editing, video editing etc), credit cards, supplements of all varieties... these are all the ones I've personally encountered when trying to find info.
People are always quick to throw Amazon under the buss for reviews but it's not just Amazon/Newegg etc but I don't trust reviews anymore, at all, the only time I trust a 'review' is when a friend is like "yeah man I've been using this thing for such and such and it's great".
Even when friends recommend something I've been burnt simply by listening to just 1 or 2. Altman mentions a specific mattress cooler in one of his blog posts, I bought it without even checking other online reviews because I respect Sam and value his opinions (he also has no reason to plug a specific product, especially when he is in no way involved with the company). Man it was great, oh man was it great, until I'd been using it a couple of months and was changing my sheets and saw mildew all over my mattress protector from the condensation forming on the tubes at night while I slept. San Francisco doesn't have the summer humidity that Indiana does and in the 2 weeks between sheet changing...
The problem with a lot of these affiliate sites (which I alluded to in the conclusion of the article but perhaps didn't spend quite enough time on) is that they provide a small disclosure of their relationships in their footer or in the article. But they do it as inconspicuously as possible to avoid the drawbacks of disclosing anything.
I have a lot more respect for the sites that prominently disclose their relationships, like Wirecutter. Most of these sites are a business, they've gotta make money somehow. But IMO most readers aren't seeking out such disclosures automatically when they see a "review", so the hidden-in-the-footer nonsense is entirely useless.
Web hosting is pretty bad about these affiliate link filled 'review sites' too. Virtually every company rating hosts is in it for the affiliate revenue, and features the same few (well paying) companies regardless of actual quality.
On its face, affiliate reviews are ok if the company has integrity, like Wirecutter attempts. If they pick a profitless product as first over one that makes them money.
Credit card reviews are another one that have gone off the chain. There are thousands of identical sites ranking the same cards.