I feel the exact opposite, BIFL very much feels like it’s been taken over by ads and corporate sponsors. Most of the recommendations are from ppl who either just bought the thing or for brand that are less than 20 years old.

IME, most subs are infiltrated with marketers either large brands or for the sub’s niche. I stopped using Reddit after the whole API thing, but for the last 3-4 years it’s felt like nearly every media(video/pic) post was doing some form of product placement, even the comments of various innocuous threads would have some top commenter mentioning casually a certain brand or product.

How do you know that? I honestly find it hard to trust any product related reviews I read online anymore.