A big problem of this was positioning of customer reviews over things like Consumer Reports or other publications that have to maintain a long-running reputation (the random reviewer who gives 5 stars doesn't). Reviews became what people trusted, then those were manipulated or paid for, but nothing has filled the trustworthy vacuum because of that just yet.

(Consumer Reports is still there of course, just not as popular of a source as reviews for some reason)

Just as a plug / FYI for Consumer Reports - it's worth checking your local public library to see if they've got a subscription to C.R. that you can use for free.

Nowadays, with everything being online, you might even be able to use the Consumer Reports website for free, through your local public library.

> Consumer Reports that have to maintain a long-running reputation

Tell me more about the "long-running" reputation of Consumer Reports. I will then tell you why Suzuki Samurai is no longer sold in the US.

>Tell me more about the "long-running" reputation of Consumer Reports.

Compared to random people leaving reviews, they do have to be more careful.

Exactly. I can say that we were a low-middle class family, so whenever we wanted to buy something, we would just go and buy the best one that will last for a while, even if it meant that it is twice as expensive. Nowadays, it is really getting hard to find something that fits this criteria.

It's still possible, but it'll take you 6 hours of research, wading through garbage links on Google Search and instead of twice as expensive, it'll be 5x as expensive.