Beware of software reviews using search engines

This morning I ran across what looked to be an interesting article submission service called Content Crooner. Before I shell out any money, I almost always try to find honest reviews of the product.

So I Googled "Content Crooner review" and came up with quite a few results.

1. One Article Marketer's Review of Content Crooner
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2407774/one_article_marketers_review_of_content.html?cat=35
This reviewer was impressed by the image of a lizard with a microphone as a "first impression". She also said, "The color scheme of the Content Crooner website is aesthetically pleasing. The buttons are nice and glossy, and the layout easy to follow. " In addition the Login Page is "very straightforward". Based on those factors and some more fluffy stuff, she "strongly recommends"
Article Crooner. (OMG)

2. Jim's Marketing Resource Guide praised Content Crooner
http://www.jimsmarketing.com/Content-Crooner-Review.html
(he says he used it by its old name, Article Marketer, with great results) The problem I have with this review is that the link provided goes to another page on Jim's site that auto directs you to the Content Crooner site. This suggests an affiliate relationship to me and as such is usually not acceptable proof.

3. The next review is on YouTube
Content Crooner Review - By ArticleSubmissionReview.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWI62woUuSA
He calls it a "no frills article submitter" - the video shows how simple the software is to use, but nothing else (yawn)

4. Article Submission Review (from the fellow who gave us the video above)
http://articlesubmissionreview.com/article-submitter/content-crooner-review
This fellow gave the product only 3 stars (out of 5) mainly because the software has no article spinning capability! He recommends other software but the links go to a page on his site. One is a squeeze page. This site drips with affiliate links.

5. a host of other reviews much like the first four reviews. I don't trust any of them either because they offer something else with an affiliate link or because they are too energetic in their recommendation based on the ease of use. I think these are also signs of affiliation.

As usually happens, searching for pure, honest reviews of a product are fruitless.

I suggest relying on opinions of posted by members at trusted forums. The poster usually is not selling the product and he or she often has something at stake - credibility on the forum.

Greg Cryns
Work At Home Profiles

.