Doreen DiCrecchio
Mom of Twins | Grandmother
Twitter

It’s that time of year again. You know when you see those lists titled the 10 best this, the 20 best that. But have you ever really thought about if those lists are accurate or just another way companies get you to buy their stuff?

I really thought about this today because I needed (okay wanted) to get new headphones with a microphone. I wanted wireless. So I googled “best wireless headphones with mic.” Of course, sponsored ads came up as well as at least ten best-of lists. I clicked on the first best list which was from a computer-related magazine. I checked out a few of those headphones simply by clicking on the buy here link which lead me to Amazon. I then clicked on a best-of list from Good Housekeeping. That list was pretty similar, the same buy here links. I proceeded down the suggested lists and found that each one suggested the same eight headphones with a couple of different ones thrown in. For curiosity’s sake, I decided to search a popular electronics store for their choices. Surprisingly, they had over 100 headphones to choose from. I picked one that had not been listed on the other lists and googled it to see if other stores or websites were selling it. Guess what I found? It was on some best-of lists too! Just not the first 10 that showed up. But when I clicked on one of those lists, the website I was on had an interesting disclaimer. It stated that they may receive affiliate fees from the products listed on their best-of lists.

How about that. Silly me thought that these best-of lists truly were just that. Now I am wondering if every best-of list is simply paid advertising. Learning this makes me appreciate Mom’s Choice Awards that much more. I know that our evaluators vet each product, toy, book, baby teether, etc. Mom’s Choice uses a proprietary methodology to score items on a number of criteria including production quality, educational or entertainment value, appeal, cost, and originality. There are no best-of lists because there is no need. All of the items are quality. And isn’t that what we are all looking for?

About Doreen DiCrecchio

A ’60’s baby who had ’80’s babies. I am passionate about my children, my grandchildren, my dog, practicing yoga, and my two favorite sports, football and soccer. I love to write about my passions and anything else that interests me including cooking, baking, and reading. I believe in doing what makes me happy. Writing (among other things) makes me happy.

View all posts by Doreen DiCrecchio here.

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