A ".org" review site whose ranking page concedes, in its own words, that paying advertising partners "may influence their position" on the page.
What it's really for An affiliate review site; it labels paid advertisers 'Our Partner' and features one per category.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its 'best of' company rankings, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Revenue comes from referral commissions paid by the companies it ranks; the site's own ranking page states partners' "performance and/or payout may influence their position on our website, including the order in which they appear," and TruthInAdvertising.org found all six brands on its "best refrigerators" list were advertising partners.
Source →- Operating since
- 2016 (10 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- Affiliate-commission review site that researches and ranks companies across insurance, finance, home services, software, and electronics, earning referral fees when readers click or buy through its links.
- What they do
- Publishes scored "best of" rankings backed by claimed multi-hundred-hour research, labeling paid advertisers as "Our Partner" and pointing readers to a featured company in each category.
- What to watch for
- By its own disclosure, when two companies rank closely the paid "Our Partner" can be placed higher, so the order you see is not purely merit-based.
- Composite score
- 1.70 / 5.00 → grade D+
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- The site's own ranking page discloses that compensation can affect placement: partners' 'performance and/or payout may influence their position on our website, including the order in which they appear,' and that when rankings are subjective 'our advertising partners may be ranked higher.' It labels paid advertisers as 'Our Partner.' Source: ConsumersAdvocate.org — How We Rank →
- TruthInAdvertising.org reported that the for-profit, '.org' site earns referral commissions from featured advertisers and found all six brands on its 'best refrigerators' list were advertising partners, quoting the site's own admission that partners 'may influence their position... including the order in which they appear.' Source: TruthInAdvertising.org investigation →
- ConsumersAdvocate.org was acquired in 2016 by Ad Practitioners, LLC, which rebranded to Money Group in August 2022; Money Group also owns Money.com (acquired 2019). Source: PR Newswire — Ad Practitioners rebrands to Money Group →