> I’m going to dissent here on this thread because I’m not seeing any references.

OK, here's one such reference in "The Best Baby Formula" [1]:

> We didn’t do any testing for this guide, because babies have minds of their own, and it would be impossible to control for all of the variables that might make a baby prefer one formula over another.

Now there might be various reasons why actually testing the product is difficult or unnecessary to produce a helpful, well-researched review article, but there are definitely examples of this.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-baby-formula...

> It was very strange and very disappointing.

To which I replied that Wirecutter delivers on many occasions and is still a good review site that does do research on most staple consumer products.

> a Wirecutter article and the research was essentially just what they themselves pieced together from online sources. They didn't actually try any of the products themselves.

They are saying research is trying the product aka testing…

I've lost a lot of faith in Wirecutter after NYT bought them out. This is my own very subjective feel on the topic and this article has vindicated my feelings.

I think you can simplify that to "in general, quality tends to drop."

It isn't malicious; it's reversion to the mean. An organization's reputation comes from its high-water mark of making the most impact and having the widest reach, and being solidly average after that looks like a step back.

This correlates to buyouts because would-be corporate parents (obviously and understandably) want to associate themselves with the prestigious up-and-comer.

However, replacement-level output doesn't compare to the historic highs. This is made more visible because the buyout acts as a nice "before/after" marker even if it has no structural impact, and it remains in the public eye because a high-profile corporate overlord can't let their new acquisition fade into obscurity.

See also the results of Electronic Arts' independent studio buyouts, where they buy out a developer at the top of their game only to see quality fade before corporate meddling sets in.

[1]: https://www.bbb.org/us/il/chicago/profile/air-purification-s...