Q: "Honest" Mattress Reviews?

A: There comes a time in everyone’s life when your current mattress is just not doing the job. So you decide to scour the internet in search of a new one. A few clicks and you will quickly realize that big-box showrooms are out and the online “bed in a box” start-up companies have begun to take over! With all the partisan reviews and affiliate marketing online, it’s hard to tell who’s actually telling the truth when it comes to their products. It might seem like everything you’re reading out there is mostly positive and at this point, you might be thinking this is all part of their game. 

In this post, we will be discussing 3 things to look out for when researching online for your new mattress.

1. Click the Links!

If you’re on a website and you notice that the mattress review site has links to other mattress companies, try clicking them. Take note of the URL. if you notice the URL says something about the previous site you were just on, you can be sure that site is being paid to send you there and they will probably be paid even more if you actually choose to purchase the product or service.

2. Affiliate Marketing

The thing about affiliate marketing is the person conducting the review or advertisement often gets all of their talking points from the company sending them the product, in this case mattress, for review. While the reviewer may sound convincing, in reality, they probably know just as much as you do watching for the first time.

These videos often end with the reviewer providing a coupon code with their name or tag and a number indicating the discount amount. This amount might indicate your savings but it also indicates the percentage going straight back to the reviewer every time the code is used at purchase. Many people will know this is how “influencers” make most of their money.

3. Hosted Mattress Reviews on Site

Be careful about companies that host their own mattress reviews as this is a sure way to suppress bad reviews and create great fake ones. Always look for a company’s reviews directly through Google or Yelp, as these giants filter out fake reviews and ensure the company’s ratio of positive and negative reviews is accurately represented. 

A legitimate company hosting its reviews through a third party like Google may not have as many reviews as you would expect (because you can’t fake them). However, the ones that are there will most likely give you an accurate picture about the product at hand.

The moral of the story is to be leery of any company that engages in affiliate marketing, hosts their own reviews, or offers a pre-generated promo code through random reviewers.