A genuine hands-on lab-testing operation that Gannett wound down in 2024; its picks were earned, not sold, but a 2023 disclosure lapse (by the company's own admission) and the shutdown leave a static, aging archive.
What it's really for A USA Today product-testing lab (now wound down); earned affiliate commissions on tested picks.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its lab-tested 'best of' product guides, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
- Operating since
- 1997 (29 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- It earns affiliate commissions on products readers buy through its links, plus advertising and content-licensing revenue across the USA Today Network.
- What they do
- Reviewed put consumer products (TVs, appliances, kitchen gear, electronics) through hands-on testing in a 24,000-square-foot Cambridge, MA lab and published ranked "best of" buying guides.
- What to watch for
- Gannett announced Reviewed's closure in 2024, so the site is no longer actively testing products and its rankings are an aging archive rather than a continually refreshed source.
- Composite score
- 4.20 / 5.00 → grade A
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
- Reviewed was founded in 1997 by Robin Liss; Gannett acquired the network in 2011 and it became part of the USA TODAY Network. It operated a Cambridge, Massachusetts testing lab and earned income from a blend of affiliate commissions, licensing, and advertising. In August 2024 Gannett announced the closure of Reviewed. Source: Wikipedia - Reviewed (website) →
- In October 2023 the unionized staff alleged Gannett published AI-style product articles under unverifiable bylines. Gannett denied AI authorship, saying the content came from third-party freelancers hired by a marketing-agency partner, but acknowledged the pages 'were deployed without the accurate affiliate disclaimers and did not meet our editorial standards.' Source: Poynter - Were these product review articles written by AI? Gannett says no →
- Reviewed built its commerce model on first-hand product testing across the USA Today Network, with 40+ staff dedicated to testing, monetizing through affiliate revenue rather than selling placement. Source: Digiday - How Reviewed powers commerce across the USA Today Network →