I don't really care if they have affiliate links to sell products, they include links for multiple sellers and I see no sign that they are steering people to the most expensive product since most times their top rated product is not the most expensive one.
> They would buy cars themselves, then review them instead of getting a "perfect" car loaned and managed by the company that created it.
That's a very expensive way to do reviews, and apparently digital subscriptions don't pay all the bills and affiliate links help close the gap.
> They clearly are in bed with advertisers - there is no firewall, they don't support themselves financially.
Why do you say that? They have no advertising (unless you call the affiliate purchase links "advertising", but their relationship with Amazon isn't going to make them recommend Ford over Chevy.
This is still very much the case for all the products they test, cars or otherwise. According to people I know who work there, they don't even order products to their office, lest a company sees the address and ships a superior product.
The intro offer was "10 issues for $20 plus TWO FREE GIFTS" (emphasis theirs). I got a renewal notice and did the math, realizing I was only getting 8 issues. Support told me this was correct, they did a combined issue this year they're counting as two. I point out that there's only 9 then, and they tell me the "Annual Buying Guide" listed as one of the free gifts counts as an issue for the intro offer despite not counting as an issue for an annual subscription.
It's such a tiny bit of false advertising, but it's enough that I can't trust them on anything and immediately unsubscribed.
They had a firewall between themselves and the manufacturers of products they review. They would buy cars themselves, then review them instead of getting a "perfect" car loaned and managed by the company that created it.
I also got an online account
But online, that firewall came down, and it got worse. They had funnels to sell you the products they reviewed and they had cookies and they got money for sales.
so I lost my trust in consumer reports.
Now they're releasing an app to help, but they've still left the barn door open.
When you look at that page, look at the Privacy Policy.
They clearly are in bed with advertisers - there is no firewall, they don't support themselves financially.
Even their privacy policy links to the ad networks to opt-out, which is a confusing mess.
If they were serious, they would have a button on their OWN site to prevent your browser from ever contacting third parties.
I have not regained my trust in consumer reports.