It's worth clarifying that this is from 2014/15. The New York Times bought Wirecutter in 2016, and Lam isn't CEO any more.<p>The site doesn't hide that it makes money from affiliate links:<p><a href="https://thewirecutter.com/about/" rel="nofollow">https://thewirecutter.com/about/</a><p>FWIW, the XDesk post mentions The Wirecutter's response to their initial post, but doesn't link to it. That response is here:<p><a href="https://thewirecutter.com/our-response-to-nextdesk/" rel="nofollow">https://thewirecutter.com/our-response-to-nextdesk/</a><p>They suggest the Wirecutter refused to review their desk (though the e-mails don't seem to actually say that?):<p>> We offered a review desk to your CEO and the response was basically “pay us a kickback”. So, the only NextDesk you’ve ever reviewed was our original model that is now 4 years old (2-3 versions ago)<p>When the current standing desk review page (<a href="https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-standing-desk/" rel="nofollow">https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-standing-desk/</a>) features the "Terra 2", which appears to be the exact same desk XDesk's own site is promoting. And the page states:<p>> Xdesk did not return multiple requests for comment on our impressions.
Read through the entire thing... mostly sounds like a pretty normal attempt to get some kind of affiliate revenue from Nextdesk. And it doesn't look like there is anything in the emails that says "pay us or we will decrease your ranking" or "pay us and we will increase your ranking". At worst, the CEO erred by using the phrase "kickback", instead of affiliate program or similar.
Not a great story but also not as hysterical as the headline implies.<p>1. Man/most/all wirecutter links are relatively benign "affiliate" links, mostly to Amazon.<p>2. Wirecutter updates review, usually annually, and frequently selects a new #1.<p>3. Price is a key component of Wirecutter selections. They are not just picking "the best" but instead, "the best for most people".
Not defending them, but it seems like a lot of online websites have kickbacks. I mean hell, you can set up an amazon referral link for your youtube channel in like 2 seconds. The intensives of the review "industry" are fucked...
it's not like movie reviewers make 10 cents if I see Star Wars