I saw a post over on the Onyx Boox blog where they are giving away gift cards to people that post reviews of the new Nova3 Color.
Onyx as a company does some questionable things sometimes, and it depends on where you stand on the paying for reviews thing, but either way this is another oddity to add to the list.
Basically Onyx is giving away five $30 gift certificates and two $100 gift cards to people that post reviews of the new Nova3 Color on YouTube, Reddit and Twitter.
You have to apply for entry, and they obviously aren’t going to select reviews that are critical so that’s where paying for reviews gets dicey. There’s also no mention of requiring people to mention they were given a gift card for posting said reviews.
Entries are being accepted until April 20th and the winners will be announced on April 22nd.
Here’s what Onyx says about how reviews will be selected:
Readers’ comments, likes, and upvotes of your review articles/videos will be taken into consideration.
We will also evaluate your writing and photography through the review. We would especially love to see magnificent artwork created on Nova3 color.
More details can be found on the Onyx Boox blog.
What do you think about Onyx giving away gift cards in exchange for reviews? Is it a bad idea or does it really matter?
Maybe the word ´review´ is misleading. They should change it to ´how do you use your device?
As long as it is known that review is awarded somehow I do not mind. In any case I am reading reviews with lowest rating first.
But, shouldn’t there be some regulations on mandatory disclosure of fact that review is biased somehow?
Yeah, I don’t think this kind of thing would be considered acceptable in the US without a disclosure, but Onyx is based in China so it’s probably different there.
It’s getting ridiculous! I got the nova3 on release day and for me it was unusable. I accept it may be perfect for some and I’d love to know why but reading reviews that completely gloss over the downsides is just irritating. There is lots I love about my boox but offering constructive criticism is more helpful in improving a product that is not without flaws.
If it’s an only-positive review, and posted for an incentive rather than the intent to inform, it’s not a review anymore. It’s an ad.
The stink isn’t so much on Onyx, there might be people who only have good things to say who would use a gift card for more of their product. Others, not so much. The onus is on the “reviewers” to only take the incentive and post honestly. Will that happen? Probably not, at least not here in the US where anything that “earns” a buck without breaking a law is seen as a net benefit.
What Onyx is doing is drawing out people who can’t be trusted to tell the truth if there’s cash on the line. You know a man by his friends. I’ve never seen this actually work out well in the long term.
Writing a review is work – I would only do it if I intended to buy something from the Boox Store, given the prizes offered.