Two things about YouTube:

• The Videos Themselves
• The Comments

Let's Talk About Videos

Be especially careful with product reviews on YouTube! That's right - one thing to look for in these are the bait-and-switch format. This is when you go to a video that purports to have a review on a specific product, and once you are inside, you get a very general "review" of the product, if any, before it switches to a different product half way into it. I've seen some with the product name in the title, but when you get into the video, it mentions NOTHING about the product and talks about one completely different.

This is obvious stuff! What's not always so obvious are those that hail a product regardless of whether it's good or bad. These are NOT reviews, even though they have the term in the title! They are affiliate plugs from someone who doesn't care one way or the other about a product's quality or reputation, and promotes it for the sheer interest in your money. If you find one of these in your research, go on to the next.

Not all videos are bad. It isn't my place here to place stigma on video as a promotion medium. On the contrary, video is an excellent means to reach your customers! This being said, you will also find accurate and honest reviews on video as well, though, in my own observation, they are in the minority.

YouTube Comments

Now, let's look at the comments found with video product reviews...

The great thing about the comments is that they contain honest customer views of the product. You will know these right away. If it's a bad product, you will get it somewhere along the line within the comments, sometimes several. If the comments are disabled, this might be another tell-tale sign, but do not always rely on this until you've found other videos promoting the same product with negative comments in them.

Also, comments often give hints on what's inside the product - something you can dig into and sometimes find more information Googling it.

Other Channels

YouTube isn't the only venue out there. There are websites, blogs, other video processing servuces, complaint boards, forums, press releases, even Google Alerts. Research both the content and the comments in all of these.

Let's take a look at affiliate networks, sometimes known as "processors..."