Paid reviews are, in my opinion, more ethical than scripted celebrity ads…so long as they are honest reviews. The biggest problem, though, is that if someone sees that a review is paid, they tend to trust it less. However, here is my thought: If the author is disclosing the fact that the review is paid, shouldn’t that make it more reputable? They care enough to say that the review is sponsored, instead of hiding the fact. Doesn’t that seem more reputable to you?

I see it very similar to celebrities doing advertisements. If we think that those are ethical, where the celebrity is paid to say scripted things about the product, why is it not ethical to be paid to review a product in an unscripted fashion?