Technically I guess they do have banner ads but do you really think this blind content is influencing their recommendations?
Consumer Reports*is well known for its policies on*editorial independence, which it says are to "maintain our independence and impartiality... [so that] CU has no agenda other than the interests of consumers."[3][4]*CR has unusually strict requirements and sometimes has taken extraordinary steps; for example it declined to renew a car dealership's bulk subscription because of "the appearance of an impropriety".[5]
Consumer Reports does not allow outside advertising in the magazine[3][4]*but its website has retailers' advertisements. Consumer Reports states that*PriceGrabber*places the ads and pays a percentage of referral fees to CR,[6]*who has no direct relationship with the retailers.[7]*Consumer Reports publishes reviews of its business partner and recommends it in at least one case.[8]*CR had a similar relationship withBizRate*at one time[9]*and has had relationships with other companies including*Amazon.com,[10]*Yahoo!,[11]*The Wall Street Journal;*The Washington Post;[12]*BillShrink;[13]*and Decide.com.[14]*CR also accepts grants from other organizations,[15]*and at least one high-ranking*Consumer Reports*employee has gone on to work for a company he evaluated.[16]
CR also forbids the use of its reviews for selling products; for example, it won't allow a manufacturer to advertise a positive review.[3]*CR has gone to court to enforce that rule.[17]
Consumer Reports*says its staff purchases all tested products at retail prices, anonymously in "most cases",[6]*and that they accept no free samples in order to prevent bias from bribery or from being given better than average samples.[3]*However, in order to review some products before they are publicly available CR does accept "press samples" from manufacturers but says pays for the samples and does not include them in ratings.[6]*For most of CR's history it minimized contact with government and industry experts "to avoid compromising the independence of its judgment." In 2007, in response to errors in infant car seat testing, it began accepting advice from a wide range of experts on designing tests, but not on final assessments.[18]*Also, at times CR allows manufacturers to review and respond to criticism before publication.[4]
Some objective and comparative tests published byConsumer Reports*are carried out under the umbrella of the international consumer organization*International Consumer Research & Testing.*Consumer Reports*also uses outside labs for testing, including for 11 percent of tests in 2006.[18]
