When I was looking for a new book to read I used to go on to amazon or goodreads or other blogs or youtube and read a few reviews, or get a recommendation. Now when I do this I always have this doubt in the back of my mind about the legitimacy of the reviews I am reading as so many seem to be sponsored, or by vine reviews. They were sent the book by netgalley or the publisher. So are these reviews actually genuine reviews or are they adverts? I have certainly read quite a few books where the reality did not tally at all with the glowing reviews the book had online.
I could say the same for other products as when you read them so many say "product received as part of a promotion" I know some will be honest but many will be kept positive-ish so that they aren't kicked out the programme where they get free stuff.
I suppose the same could be said for all sorts of reviews places like social media where people are reviewing things online in the hopes of being offered sponsorships.
I know back in the earlier days of the internet people used to provide their genuine opinion on things on forums and message boards, and google even had a really helpful "search forums and blogs option" but they did away with that apparently because it drove people away from their higher paying customers.
I just wish there was a review space free from sponsored content which most of the time is bound to be biased.