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Have you noticed that finding trustworthy reviews and recommendations has gotten a whole lot harder
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than it used to be? Today, I'll explain one reason why. I'm using Rolling Stone's website as our
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example. Here's an April 2023 article and the title, How to Watch Sports Online with DirecTV
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Stream. It includes a brief overview of the service and multiple links to sign up. So maybe
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I shouldn't have called this an article. To me, this is just an ad. And there's even a note at
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the top that says, Branded Content. What does that mean anyway? Sponsored? Here's another piece
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of content from Rolling Stone, also about DirecTV Stream. And this one is from a few months later
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in July 2023. From my iPhone, you see, it does say Sponsored at the top. I'm not done with Rolling
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Stone yet. This article with a November 2023 date is about how to watch football games without
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cable. Surprise, surprise, DirecTV Stream is mentioned as the editor's pick. There are also
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links in this article to Fubo, Sling TV, and Hulu Live. All of them appear to be affiliate links
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But for some reason, YouTube TV is missing from this list. Makes you wonder, why is that? After
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all, YouTube TV has all the channels that you need to watch football, and it is now the exclusive
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home of NFL Sunday Ticket. It should at least be included on Rolling Stone's list, right
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More on that later. Then there's this, Rolling Stone's Holiday Gift Guide for 2023. It features
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a fire pit, pool float, duvet cover, and DirecTV Stream. Wait a second, why is DirecTV Stream in
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this Holiday Gift Guide? Things get even more suspicious when you click through to one of the
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DirecTV Stream links. This is new and highlighted on the service's website. DirecTV Stream named
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Best Streaming Service of 2023 by, you guessed it, Rolling Stone. To the left of the screen
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DirecTV Stream does make a note that Penske Media is an affiliate partner. I'd never heard of Penske
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Media before, but a quick Google search told me that Penske Media is actually the owner of Rolling
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Stone. Rolling Stone is not the only website that operates this way, and it just makes it harder for
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people like me who are trying to share honest reviews. Streaming TV has been my beat since
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2016, and I've reviewed all the major services. YouTube TV is the live TV service that I personally
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use the most, but I can acknowledge it's not right for everyone. Who knows, DirecTV Stream may
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actually be the better pick for your household. But that's not really what this video is about
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so let's get back on track. What alarms me is that Rolling Stone and many other websites don't even
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mention YouTube TV in their content. Now, I don't work at Rolling Stone, so I can't say for sure
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what's going on here, but I do have a theory. Perhaps it's because YouTube TV doesn't give them
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an affiliate link. With Michael Saves, I make money from display ads, and I do use some affiliate
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links, but none of the content I produce is sponsored. So that means no company is paying
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me to say nice things about them. A few people have assumed that my YouTube TV review is sponsored
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Well, it's not, and as far as I know, there's no affiliate program for YouTube TV. But the mission
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of my website and my YouTube channel is to help you find the best service, so I would never exclude
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YouTube TV just because I'm not getting paid. I have reviews of all the major services, and I try
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to lay out the pros and cons based on my testing. Unfortunately, many websites just don't put the
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consumer first. The content from Rolling Stone is one example, and here are some of the red flags
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First, the content is sponsored. Someone paid for it. Some of the articles are extremely thin
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and don't offer more information than you'd find on the company's website. Third, Rolling Stone
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isn't really known for its coverage of streaming TV. And finally, the author's background is in sales
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and marketing. Thank you to the TV Answer Man. He highlighted this issue on X, and it's just my
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opinion, but DirecTV Stream should really pull that banner with the Rolling Stone recommendation
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Let me know what you think down below in the comments. Thanks for watching
