1. What is Hi-TECH REPORTS?
HITechReports.com is a website that helps users find answers about what products are top-rated or best bets in their class. Our mission is to reduce the time it takes readers to make an intelligent purchase. The process begins when our editors scour the Internet and print publications for comparative reviews and other sources relevant to the topic. We then analyze these reviews and sources and rank them according to how credible they are, based on specific criteria we have developed for this purpose.
2. How do you decide which reviews are most credible?
We have the most respect for reviews that cover multiple competing products — and when a reviewer can demonstrate testing. We also listen carefully to a reviewer who has tested many products, and then makes an assertion that the product he is reviewing today beats other products he has reviewed in the past.
3. Do you favor professional reviews over user reviews?
We do consider reviews prepared by users of a product or service. They often have more passion and insight than professionally prepared articles. In practice, however, individuals don’t conduct exhaustive comparison tests as often as professional organizations do. For example, CNet.com and Consumer Reports operate laboratories staffed with dedicated experts, making them hard to beat in terms of credibility. We do read thousands of reviews by individuals, and we often include websites where consumers vote on which products they consider best in the Our Sources pages. Rather than consider a single owner-written review, we look for commonalities across dozens or even hundreds of such reviews.
4. HITECH Reports accepts advertising. How can you be objective about which products are best?
Our objectivity is built into our core process of reporting what the reviewers say. We make our process transparent to users, who are free to examine our sources. Consumer Reports has popularized the notion that a publisher cannot be objective if it takes advertising. We appreciate this point of view, and there is good reason to be cautious about the influence advertisers can have on publishers. That is one of the reasons we rigorously evaluate reviews.
5. Do you get money from the retailers who appear on your site?
Yes. We do receive money from the reliable retailers with competitive prices that we allow to advertise on our site, and customer feedback on retailers is welcome. HiTechReports separates its editorial content from its advertising content and its editorial operations from business operations. Our editors’ work is not linked in any way with financial rewards from retailers or advertisers.
6. How do you decide which categories to cover?
We cover any product or service category that has been the subject of independent evaluation. There is no theoretical limit to the number of categories we can cover. We are open to suggestions.
7. How often do you update your reports?
There is no set timetable. We update our reports as often as new information comes in. Our goal is to incorporate standout reviews soon after publication. If you see something you think should be reflected in one of our reports, let us know.