Wow! What deals! /s MR should reduce its hyping of Amazon sales!

[Saturn007]

MacRumors should rethink its approach in promoting Amazon sales. It seems like every week or two, there's a headline with an over-the-top sales pitch.

A recent article, for example, was headlined:

“Amazon Prime Day: 10.2-Inch iPad Drops to All-Time Low Price of $299 ($30 Off)”​

It emphasized that:

“In another early Prime Day discount, we're tracking the return of an all-time low price on Apple's 64GB Wi-Fi iPad…​

This is the best deal we've ever tracked on the 10.2-inch 2021 iPad, and it's been months since we saw this price.” (I've added the bolding to highlight the issue.)​

LOL! 😎 Such hype!

“all-time low” “best deal” “ever tracked“​

For a whopping, ginormous $30 off!! /s

There is a clue in the caption as to why this occurs…

”Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.”​

But that doesn't excuse it! No need for MR to oversell such a tiny discount.

A simple headline would suffice:

“Amazon has brought back a $30 discount on the 64GB 10.2” 2021 iPad”​

It would also show greater integrity.

In addition, these “huge” savings typically apply to only one model, in one color, and often not to advanced ones. (There was one recent exception.)

Such puffery generally leads to eyes glazing over. I usually just skip any headlines and articles about Amazon's amazing “all-time low” prices.

Hope MacRumors can reconsider its approach and reserve such headlines and articles for the real deal!

Note: If the articles are purchased by Amazon, then a bolded disclaimer should be added to them.

 

[annk]

Note: If the articles are purchased by Amazon, then a bolded disclaimer should be added to them.

The articles are not purchased by Amazon. That's why you don't see any sort of disclaimer.

 

[Saturn007]

Glad to hear it! I had hoped that was the case, but wondered about it given how often the promo articles and blaring headlines appear! 😎

 

[Weaselboy]

Are news stories really advertising in disguise?

No. We always identify our promotional arrangements, and we don't post undisclosed paid stories. If we think you'll be interested in a particular story about a Mac or iOS app, or a commercial ...

macrumors.zendesk.com

Here is a FAQ on the subject.

 

[Saturn007]

You've both focused on my footnote at the end, which was really an aside.

My major concern is about the hype, in both the headlines and the articles, on these modest, even de minimis, sales. That was the main point of my post.

All the “all-time” high biz is really over the top. It's misleading and unnecessary! To reiterate my key suggestion:

Hope MacRumors can reconsider its approach and reserve such headlines and articles for the real deal!

Still hope you do!

 

[icanhazmac]

I have no problem with the way that MR promotes the meager sales that tend to be offered on Apple products. I'd rather know I can save a few bucks than not know. I also appreciate the "all-time" label so I don't need to scour the intarwebz looking to see how deal a compares to deal b.

If MR waited for an actual "great" sale on an Apple product we might all be dead first.

 

[KaliYoni]

I don't feel particularly bothered by how MR positions its stories about sales on Apple stuff. Why? My main reasons are:

• I am not a paying subscriber so I accept MR's use of affiliate links and the need to drive traffic to the links.
• Influencer culture has led to the widespread use of hyperbole and sales puffery in daily life. Simply getting peoples' attention now requires "hot" and (what used to be considered) over the top language.
• The style and tone of MR's headlines and stories is heavily shaped by social media norms and jargon. For example, when an Apple advertisement hits YouTube, MR describes it as "sharing". Or a product assortment put together by a store is said to be "curated". These uses of share and curate are pretty far off from dividing something into portions among several people or using academic and professional expertise to assemble an exhibition.

 

[bpeeps]

I don't feel particularly bothered by how MR positions its stories about sales on Apple stuff. Why? My main reasons are:

• I am not a paying subscriber so I accept MR's use of affiliate links and the need to drive traffic to the links.
• Influencer culture has led to the widespread use of hyperbole and sales puffery in daily life. Simply getting peoples' attention now requires "hot" and (what used to be considered) over the top language.
• The style and tone of MR's headlines and stories is heavily shaped by online customs and jargon. For example, when, say, an Apple advertisement hits YouTube, MR describes it as "sharing". Or a product assortment put together by a store is said to be "curated". These uses of share and curate are pretty far off from dividing something into portions among several people or using academic and professional expertise to assemble an exhibition.

• Paying subscribers are not exempt from deals posts, they see those too. So your mention of that is irrelevant.
• That's no excuse to continue the practice. If one jumped off a bridge, I'm certainly not following them.
• One word for your third bullet point: clickbait

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Advertising “Stories” are the reason I didn’t renew my MacRumors membership.

 

[jeremysteele]

Macrumors is a business and has very real expenses. Posts with affiliate links and calls to action are one such way of advertising. One could argue that paying members shouldn't see the posts since one such perk is no-ads, but then people would undoubtably complain about not seeing the posts for sales.

No matter what MR does, someone will complain. They could be 100% ad free and sponsored by money that appears out of thin air, and someone would complain, claiming that MR was slanting posts toward quantum physics by accepting quantum tunneled money.

People who think their approach is over the top should watch ANY Apple TV ad, ever created. Especially 1984. They are essentially saying the Macintosh would free society from big brother.. and it is regarded as one of the best ads ever created... hah.

But I guess affiliate links are more over the top? Gotcha.

 

[bpeeps]

No matter what MR does, someone will complain. They could be 100% ad free and sponsored by money that appears out of thin air, and someone would complain, claiming that MR was slanting posts toward quantum physics by accepting quantum tunneled money.

People who think their approach is over the top should watch ANY Apple TV ad, ever created. Especially 1984. They are essentially saying the Macintosh would free society from big brother.. and it is regarded as one of the best ads ever created... hah.

This site is not releasing ads anywhere near the caliber and quality of Apple ads. The two are so far apart it's not even a good comparison.

 

[jeremysteele]

This site is not releasing ads anywhere near the caliber and quality of Apple ads. The two are so far apart it's not even a good comparison.

You literally missed my entire point.

A blog post saying "Look at this awesome unbeatable sale" is way less obnoxious and egotistical than Apple telling people their computer will destroy big brother. At least MR isn't hiding the fact they are throwing a call to action in front of your face, nor are they being misleading. IMO, the posts are far less "over the top" than what OP thinks when you compare it to other ads.

The examples OP provided are incredibly mild compared to what a lot of tech youtubers do, for instance. Especially when they are advertising cruddy free to play games that nobody plays, not even themselves, despite saying they do in their own ads (which IIRC violates FTC guidelines, but that's another topic)

 

[bpeeps]

You literally missed my entire point.

A blog post saying "Look at this awesome unbeatable sale" is way less obnoxious and egotistical than Apple telling people their computer will destroy big brother.

That's a matter of opinion.

The examples OP provided are incredibly mild compared to what a lot of tech youtubers do, for instance. Especially when they are advertising cruddy free to play games that nobody plays, not even themselves, despite saying they do in their own ads (which IIRC violates FTC guidelines, but that's another topic)

You can cherry pick other ads you don't like all you want, that doesn't change my point that MR deals posts are obnoxious in abundance, clickbait driven, with extremely poor value. To quote the OP, "for a whopping, ginormous $30 off!!"

 

[jeremysteele]

That's a matter of opinion.

This entire thread is....