[pc86]

Since when is making money a questionable financial motivation?

I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson. It's so they can make $3 off your Amazon purchase.

For all the talk of side projects and acquisitions and growth hacking and SEO, HN tends to have an inherent distrust of anyone attempting to make money online by any way other than subscription SaaS.

[accountface]

Making money isn't a questionable motivation, it's a biased one.

Just like "discount provided for an honest review" on Amazon, stuffing keywords in your URL for affiliate traffic is a very clear bias.

It's shouting "I profit from traffic, so I want to get you here by all means necessary" — this is less true as algorithms become more intelligent, but it's been my experience since the advent of the internet.

Now, of course — that's not always true. Some great sites have also relied on keywords and affiliate revenue... but I'd wager that a reputable site with a keyword based URL and affiliate links is a one in a million phenomenon (thenightlight.com is the best example I can think of)

tl;dr As an internet user I've been trained to equate all keyword stuffing with spam. It's like "banner blindness" but for keywords.

[TeMPOraL]

> I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson. It's so they can make $3 off your Amazon purchase.

You'd be surprised. That's what differentiates the ad-based Internet from the good old Internet "by people, for people".

Personally, my way of searching for / evaluating a product is to find a legitimate (not sponsored) community around this product category and search the archives for recommendations and discussions. This makes it much easier to get real opinions and avoid various kinds of marketing.

Sure, marketers have been trying to game this technique since time immemorial. That's one reason I consider them malicious actors.

[pc86]

> the good old Internet "by people, for people"

Just like the good old days of America?

Neither was as great as we would like to think it was.

[vtlynch]

>I think it's unlikely you'll find anyone reviewing vacuum cleaners online because they love the engineering prowess exhibited by a Dyson.

There are literally dozens of sites for every niche and topic where people are writing about it for personal satisfaction. Rather shocking you would think that given the number of personal blogs that pop up on HN.