I commented on their new Mac display review and it has promptly been deleted entirely from the site.

Essentially I stated that the cost of the screen should have been listed both in the introduction and the conclusion.

I also pointed out that there has been an enormous change with respect to the journalistic integrity of their website dating back to their review of Windows Vista.

Anand is going on there stating that they do not get paid for reviews. He's glossing over the facts, just as a marketer would. Here are some facts:

- Apple is providing the hardware to them for free
- Apple would probably love it if the price of their hardware was left outside of the equation

I say it's fine; he's making his bed and now he can sleep in it.

I'll continue reading Xbit Labs for the bulk of my tech information.

None of us get paid for our reviews. And most of us state where we got the HW or SW that we get for review.
--i usually say "provided by" without going into any details.

(BtW, i got a nice tower case and mechanical KB coming from Thermaltake this week for review).
http://thermaltake.com/products-model.a ... C_00001719
http://www.ttesports.com/products/product.aspx?s=19

ANYway, Anand's reviews are solid. But no matter what, you should always check more than one site and one opinion. And try to read between the lines. There are so many factors in every evaluation that no one review can cover it all usually.

However, although Anandtech may be solid, his Video forum has certainly gone to hell

When i read this kind of stupidity:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192721


How much more proof than Idontcare stating that some ATF members get their kit from AMD do these stupids need? Of course, how many of them are really posting from Austin or from Toronto and pretending to be "fair and balanced" while they cast stones at Focus Group for what they themselves do?

Finally, there is nothing wrong with "viral" .. it has got a bad rap. Viral advertising is great when it is "natural" - when you post a Youtube video (for example) that gets immensely popular. However, it is not great when a company has hidden shills "paid" to promote their product who pose as regular posters and consumers.

Someday i may write the definitive article on the dark side of viral marketing to the tech sites. Of course, ATF would simply not believe it. It is their own defective AI issues and mob mentality.

man that would be a great article, I recommend it!

Those ppl at atf like the one you quoted really bought into AMDs campaign so bad they are completely utterly blind. They would have a melt down to find out that most of the trash the talk and believe is actually birthed from propaganda. Whats interesting to me is how? how can they not see the extremity and not sense foul at all? How are they so convinced from such a simple ploy? I mean, i am so blown away at this that i tend to believe even comments like the one you quoted are from fake viral shills themselves. I just am not used to such stupidity, i guess. It blows me away, the lack of any reasoning skills.

i would be willing to bet that quite a few of the posters on ATF - the ones that make the most noise about Nvidia Focus Group - get AMD hardware for free from AMD channels. Many of the rest of the fans simply lack sense.

You know how much would change if anand made it a requirement that these amd employees and/or hired marketers show their affiliation. That site is out of control nonsense and something should be done. It is rather deceitful? Why doesnt anand stand up and do something? Is it money?

What would you suggest that Anand do?

AMD Viral marketing to the tech sites is not affiliated directly with AMD the company. They have been quoted as saying "viral marketing is not in our genetics". It is a network of "friends" who pass on HW that they get for evaluation to "likely" posters .. generally young guys in college are recruited and they are monitored to see what they post. If they post a lot of great posts about their company, they get more promises of HW.

You got to realize that there are also AMD's partners who have a stake in selling AMD-branded GPUs. And the same could be said for other companies that have their vocal "fanboys". A chosen few forum posters are rewarded. Others seems to be "trying out" for being noticed for that position.

But none of this is "official". Both AMD and Nvidia officially practice the "good" kind of viral marketing - Contests, LANs, Facebook and twitter - these kinds of social interactions are acknowledged as really good overall for the customer. It is the MANIPULATION of consumers that should be turned away from.

And i have seen Nvidia really work to rein in their old practices. They got caught with AEG Focus Group and since then have opted for transparency to their credit. And you can see that their Focus Group members conduct themselves responsibly now. As i said before, "most improved".

Not that they can stop it completely, they could take a stance against it. Or at least a solid position. Marketers be up front and not dark in the shadows. Marketers have ruined their forums. Make it against the rules, banned if caught. Most ppl would remain under the radar of course. but what i find intriguing is that most ppl over dont know its goin on at all. A rule like that should open some eyes, if just one gets caught ppl could no longer be so ignorant. Its never gonna end completely but i think the atf turns a blind eye.

I think ppl should be informed. You sound full of information that could be useful. PPL dont get it. Just the little bit you've stated, i can tell that you have plenty to go on. I think you should write an article or at least a fruit for thought. You could be clever in your approach, just as long as ppl can decipher the key points.

Whats evident is any site that gets popular gets poisoned by these market ploys. I can stomach the praise but the consistent bashing is just out of control. This poison will flood this site as it spreads. You have already a touch of this spilling over. I know there its something that is hard to deal with. I know that there has to be a way to shed light on this poison. It is something that should be given great thought.

there is a pattern to the bashing. structure. If ppl were educated to the existence of the poison, its usefulness, the double edge blade, its deception, a history, etc they might not be so fooled into its campaign. Its important to advertise a product, even hype is important, but you got to admit this is out of hand. Its ruined the ATF and this is something the ABT will not escape if this site grows to the big tech size.

I know there is no way to proof the forums from viral campaigns. I also think that there is usefulness in such, so the idea is to find away to prevent the poison from taking hold. I mean there are ppl who really dont know whats goin on, this is something i think should be confronted.

Well we are very open about it at ABT. i simply can't speak for other tech sites. We will strive to educate our members the best we can. As the the old saying goes, forewarned is forearmed.

As to the article .. that is a lot of work and thought and there are TEN YEARS of PMs and correspondence to go through ...
... i thought for my memoirs, perhaps

Recommending people to buy Windows Vista and deleting legitimate user comments from their reviews really paints a clear picture for me. AnandTech lacks journalistic integrity.

Anand has become some sort of celebrity at this point.

His articles are generally speaking quite decent; what I find disconcerting is the lack of fundamentals therein. We need to know the price of what he's reviewing. Cost isn't something that should be glossed over. I realize that many people in the "Mac" camp don't need to ask "How much?", however a huge portion of their user base is comprised of working class people and their children.

The lack of Linux articles on the site speaks of a corporate bias in my opinion. I'll bet Apple, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, and nVidia all don't want people switching over to it in droves. It would destroy their entire businesses.

Who did Anand recommend purchase Vista though? People who were gong to buy new hardware anyway, or people with older less capable hardware? Vista is OK as an OS (a bit annoying in places) if you have the hardware to make it run well.