I am happy to give a smart display a fair review. What I will not do is let the company selling it decide whether you get to see that review. That was the problem with the conditions Jado put to me when we discussed working together.
Their email offered an affiliate link and a discount code, and said they were flexible about the production timeline. So far, nothing particularly surprising. Then came the condition attached to publishing the video.
Jado wanted it uploaded to YouTube and initially set to Private. They would review it to make sure it contained nothing that could negatively affect the brand. Only once approved would I be free to make it public.
You can read their wording for yourself below.
What Exactly Was Being Approved?
For me, the most revealing part was their reason for wanting to see the video. They specifically referred to protecting the brand from content that could negatively affect it. That is a very different requirement from pointing out an incorrect specification or helping a reviewer understand a setting.
A fair review can negatively affect a brand. If a product has a weakness that matters to somebody spending their own money, explaining it may put that person off buying it. That is a useful outcome for the buyer, even if the manufacturer would prefer a sale.
How would an honest criticism be treated under the condition Jado proposed? The email does not say what changes they would ask for, and I am not claiming they actually edited one of my videos. The issue is that they wanted approval before publication, with protecting the brand as the stated purpose. I was not prepared to agree to that.
My Response to Jado
I replied that my reviews are independent and based on real-world use. If a product performs well, I will say so. If there are weaknesses, I will discuss those fairly too. That applies to every brand I work with.
I also made clear that I do not submit reviews for brand approval, alter content to protect a brand’s image, or make publication conditional on its feedback. If those terms were incompatible with how Jado wanted to work, I would rather not proceed.
Here is my full reply.
Another Creator Thought This Was Normal
I also asked another YouTube creator who had given one of Jado’s smart displays a glowing report about the approval process. He confirmed to me that he had followed it and regarded it as “normal”.
I thought that was a rather naive acceptance of the arrangement. A company asking to approve a review before viewers see it deserves more scrutiny than that, particularly when its stated concern is whether the content could negatively affect the brand.
That conversation does not tell me whether Jado asked him to change anything, or whether his opinion would have been any different without the approval process. He may have been entirely happy with the display. I cannot turn his confirmation into evidence that his praise was manufactured.
What it does show, based on what he told me, is that he accepted a condition I would not. As a viewer, I would want to know that a manufacturer had been given approval over a review before I watched it.
Where I Draw the Line
I use affiliate links in my work, and there is an obvious commercial interest when somebody buys through one. That makes keeping control of my conclusions all the more important. An affiliate arrangement does not entitle a manufacturer to decide what I say about its product.
I am happy to listen to a factual correction. If I have misunderstood a feature, I want to get it right. The decision about what goes into my review, and whether it is published, still belongs to me.
This exchange does not establish how good or bad Jado’s smart displays are. It does explain why I would not accept the review conditions they put to me. A good product should be able to earn a good review through use, with the reviewer free to discuss its shortcomings as well.
If you are spending your own money on a smart display, you deserve my honest assessment of it. I would rather lose a collaboration than agree to terms that put that assessment under the brand’s control.