I'm not a conspiracy theorist but....

[neddyrow]

you may do this when looking for something to buy that you have little knowledge about. you jump on google and type, "what are the best _______?" it could be hammers, golf balls, bike helmets, you name it. the first results that show up are from websites that claim to be a group or association of experts and they recommend their "top 10 products" at the end of every "choice" is a link to amazon. seems fishy to me.

the reason i question this is because we here are somewhat knowledgeable about basses and musical gear. so if you type in what is the best bass amp or best bass strings, you will get a website of bass experts recommending options only available on amazon. you and i know full well there are better options out there. just seems a little deceptive to me.

so i have been now searching for items by searching for "online ______ store" first. usually the distributors of the products have higher quality products than amazon.

i have been doing this recently with better luck. i just bought a hairdryer for my wife and it had way more options than any product similar on amazon. i've been doing it with tools and other products that i want to last.

has anyone else noticed this?

 

[MattZilla]

Yep, and I wound up doing what you did along with other variants.

____ manufacturer
____ review
X___ vs y____
Y___ vs z____

Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's exhausting. Reddit sometimes has thorough reviews on stuff.

 

[lizardking837]

Native advertising is a very real thing. Once you become aware of it you'll start noticing it in other places. The most egregious one was an ESPN article, the last two paragraphs were an ad for Chick-fil-a....

 

[arbiterusa]

the reason i question this is because we here are somewhat knowledgeable about basses and musical gear. so if you type in what is the best bass amp or best bass strings, you will get a website of bass experts recommending options only available on amazon. you and i know full well there are better options out there. just seems a little deceptive to me.

I want the minute and a half I spent reading this back. Straight to the ignore list.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I’ve learned that when I search for something and the results include links like “The Top 10 Best Basses for Metal”, it’s usually clickbait. Not sure how clickbait relates to conspiracy theories though.

 

[micguy]

The "best" in any category is what the advertiser with the biggest wallet has in stock that will net them the biggest profit - obviously. You don't know that?

 

[charlie monroe]

It’s not a conspiracy. It’s a passive income business model.

 

[neddyrow]

I want the minute and a half I spent reading this back. Straight to the ignore list.

care to elaborate?

 

[hbabels]

It’s an interesting theory that makes sense. I’m going to try this and see what the results are.

I’ve been wanting to buy less from Amazon anyway.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I am glad you just had this epiphany

Since you are at it, here are of few other epiphany-worthy facts:

- Most poeple's lifes are way less cool than indicated by their social media posts
- Most online product reviews over-exagerate the quality of products reviewed
- Most political statements inititate from interest groups who work hard to manipulate the masses for their own interest. Those people don't give a damn about you and me
- The only sure thing you can read on the internet is that the best bass ever made is the Fender Precision.

 

[lfmn16]

Anybody that believes there is a "best" anything deserves what they get. There's no such thing as "one size fits all." There are too many variables for there to be a best "anything" for everyone.

 

[zombywoof5050]

Manipulation of search results is prevalent, and only going to get worse. As more and more data is collected on each individual, the search results will be better tailored to exploit those people on an individual basis.

 

[dkelley]

you may do this when looking for something to buy that you have little knowledge about. you jump on google and type, "what are the best _______?" it could be hammers, golf balls, bike helmets, you name it. the first results that show up are from websites that claim to be a group or association of experts and they recommend their "top 10 products" at the end of every "choice" is a link to amazon. seems fishy to me.

the reason i question this is because we here are somewhat knowledgeable about basses and musical gear. so if you type in what is the best bass amp or best bass strings, you will get a website of bass experts recommending options only available on amazon. you and i know full well there are better options out there. just seems a little deceptive to me.

so i have been now searching for items by searching for "online ______ store" first. usually the distributors of the products have higher quality products than amazon.

i have been doing this recently with better luck. i just bought a hairdryer for my wife and it had way more options than any product similar on amazon. i've been doing it with tools and other products that i want to last.

has anyone else noticed this?

I have done a lot of web development and search engine optimization over the years.

You are correct - that's how it works. It's intentional, not a conspiracy - it's done for sales, to help you also. I put sales first, though, for a reason.

No conspiracy though - search engines are a business. Google is very wealthy, it's not a mystery how. They aren't corrupt (I know first hand - my sister in law was a director, formerly an engineer there, for years)... but they make a LOT of money from what used to be, basically, a free search engine.

Targeted search and adwords and such are some of the ways google sells positioning and advertising space to customers for money.

You can pay to get your data shown in google. However the search results are, still, legitimate, and largely better than any of their competitors.

 

[gln1955]

It’s an interesting theory that makes sense. I’m going to try this and see what the results are.

I’ve been wanting to buy less from Amazon anyway.

There's a really easy way to buy less from Amazon.

 

[rickster4003]

Your dealing with algorithms, the people behind them and the big corporate that oversees them. Being as it may you will be guided along the path set out by them.

 

[hbabels]

There's a really easy way to buy less from Amazon.

Ha ha i know I know
It’s the connivence factor or the impulse buy that keep getting me !

 

[InhumanResource]

you may do this when looking for something to buy that you have little knowledge about. you jump on google and type, "what are the best _______?" it could be hammers, golf balls, bike helmets, you name it. the first results that show up are from websites that claim to be a group or association of experts and they recommend their "top 10 products" at the end of every "choice" is a link to amazon. seems fishy to me.

the reason i question this is because we here are somewhat knowledgeable about basses and musical gear. so if you type in what is the best bass amp or best bass strings, you will get a website of bass experts recommending options only available on amazon. you and i know full well there are better options out there. just seems a little deceptive to me.

so i have been now searching for items by searching for "online ______ store" first. usually the distributors of the products have higher quality products than amazon.

i have been doing this recently with better luck. i just bought a hairdryer for my wife and it had way more options than any product similar on amazon. i've been doing it with tools and other products that i want to last.

has anyone else noticed this?

What's fishy about it?

 

[carlos 1955]

If you take the time to look a these sites for best ____ most of them are based on the sells they get from amazon. The ______ your looking for or that corresponds to your need’s might not even be in the top 10 because of a similar product that sell for 15$ less and has more sell’s So it’s all bias... and like another comment said they over emphasis on the bad and the good !

 

[dalkowski]

What's the best search engine for metal?

 

[MynameisMe]

I reviewed a top 10 site of reverse osmosis systems for under the sink because our city water is terrible.
They all had Amazon links for pricing and the one that I chose was their number one and I am very satisfied with it.
Amazon is a great way to sell if you want to make it easily available because so many people have an Amazon account.
It's really nothing more than that.
No black helicopters involved in the writing of this post.