Influencers play an important role in marketing today. They tend to have a certain reach that makes cooperations with them attractive to companies.
It should not come as a surprise that influencers get offers to test devices. Companies send them the devices free of charge in the hope that they get a review by the influencer in question.
This cooperation should not come with any requirements, or only light requirements, such as disclosing that the device was not paid for.
Reports suggest that Google has altered the terms for influencers recently. To get a new Pixel device for testing, influencers had to acknowledge and agree to the following:
By opting into this program, do you acknowledge that you are expected to feature the Google Pixel device in place of any competitor mobile device? Please note that if it appears other brands are being preferred over the Pixel, we will need to cease the relationship between the brand and the creator.
In other words, Google tried to influence reviews of influencers with the new terms.
At least some YouTubers who joined “Team Pixel” in the past have quit citing that the new terms were not giving them the editorial freedom that they needed and their audiences deserved.
The Verge asked Google about the new terms and Google said that they “missed the mark” and that “it has been removed”.
Still, the agreement was in place for a time and it seems likely that the participating influencers would make sure that their reviews and takes on the new Pixel devices would not violate it.
All in all, it is a new low. It is good to see that some influencers decided to quit the program because of the changes.
Do you check out what creators or influencers have to say about a certain device before you make a buying decision? Or do you get your information from elsewhere instead? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
I’m not influenced by influencers. I do read comments on sites like Ghacks and of course Chipp.in, but that’s as far as it goes. I don’t have an account at Instagram, or Facebook where these so called influencers accumulate their followers and those that I’ve come across on youtube for example are not worth the time of day even.
Recently though, I wrote a review of a stick mixer I bought on Amazon and included a number of images of a strawberry and banana milkshake I created with it one of which had the mixer unit still sitting in the finished milkshake. Much to my surprise however Amazon rejected it saying that it was too sexually explicit. What?!!
It is all about trust in my opinion. It is hard to earn and easy to lose.
Social media is an STD and making an informed descision based on it is an oxymoron.