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Comment by LeonidasXIV | Hacker News Reader

I don't think it's about just air purifiers. If their air purifier review is so obviously low quality, how do the other reviews fare? Do I need to read a debunking review of Wirecutter recommendations for every category I read? Why read Wirecutter at all then, if they're not trustworthy? Is it actually a review or an ad for the winner of the comparison?

I think a lot of our mainstream media is so bad because nobody is calling out the shoddy reporting.

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I think the fact that their #1 pick was an affiliate product shows what could really be behind the curtain. Is Wirecutter being paid to bump up their reviews for products or at least being paid to trash other products in comparison? It's like doing a review on a Toyota Corolla while at the same time comparing it to a Mercedes E63 AMG. Yes, I'm sure the Mercedes is better looking, more comfortable, much faster, and can overall out perform the Corolla but it costs 4x as much and cost you much more in gas. If you need the absolute best in performance, buy the AMG. If you just need something to get to work at the best value, buy the Corolla. Just about every shootout-style review worth it's salt will have different categories: best overall laptop, best gaming laptop, best 17in laptop, best compact, and best value. In this case, the IKEA air purifier should have been compared to something of similar price and something of similar performance. As a consumer, I'm interested in those two metrics, either I've got a general idea of how much I'm willing to spend and looking to get the best performance at that price or I'm looking for a certain level of performance due to health issues and want to get the cheapest thing that can do it. Features can come into play but most of these purifiers are dead simple: a fan, a filter, a speed controller, and a timer to change the filter. Obviously Wirecutter can't survive on being totally independent and taking no money from anyone but it is incredibly disingenuous if they are accepting money to promote one product and trash any competition. IKEA is a very popular brand and lots of people are going to be looking at online reviews. Slipping in what could potentially be an advertisement into the review is worthy of involving the FTC if it's not being clearly disclaimed.

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