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[peter]

Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to create a page of Influencer YouTube Videos with the following text — this is a draft:

Influencer Videos Please be aware that while influencers always claim to be unbiased:

(1) Influencers almost always receive free products for their videos. Whereas journalist reviewers use products for review purposes, influencers treat the products they receive as their property to use as if they paid for it after their “review” has been completed.

(2) Influencers with a sizable following commonly demand compensation for doing an influencer “review.” Some of the popular influencers in this space request upwards of $15,000 US per video “review.” This, of course, creates a conflict of interest, where the influencer is unlikely to give a poor review if it ends the relationship with the developer/brand.  In the US, and most other countries, influencers are legally required to disclose any compensation received upfront in their videos. 99.99% of them comply with these regulations and laws. Influencers who even receive products for free in exchange for doing a video, are required by regulations in the US, and laws in many other countries, to disclose that information. They rarely do.

(3) Influencers also have a bias to give more favorable reviews due to affiliate marketing relationships with the developers and brands whose products and services they review. A positive review generates more revenue for an influencer than a negative one.
Are all influencers dishonest? No. But there is absolutely bias whenever influencers are provided goods with a value or cash in exchange for doing a review. Just watch with an understanding of the inherent bias in influencer marketing. Be aware that influencers are part of product and service marketing and come from companies’ marketing budgets. They are very literally part of brands’ marketing and promotions plans and they operate very differently from actual journalist reviews from reputable publications.

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