I am fortunate enough to hold the highest rated Rtings post in the site’s history, as of 2022. It was a simple two-word post: “Thank You.” It was addressed to Rtings’ entire workforce, for the work they did in supporting and being involved in the testing and disproving of, once and for all, the decades-long myth of headphone break-in. You can find it here: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/discussions/RzBnkWVHnRIDzvXd/thank-you

Myself, and everyone else whose vote lead the “Thank You” post to become the highest rated post on Rtings.com history, praised Rtings because they had earned it. Because they were the underdog, the entrepreneurial company that had risen up from the ground and earned loyal community support with unbiased, objective testing. In a world of articles written by biased journalists who are sent products for free by manufacturers almost daily, Rtings was the undisputed champion of the little guy.

That changed this month.

It is soul-wrenching to see Rtings making the decision to go insider-only, likely due to the cost overruns from branching out into too many product categories. What percent of site visitors regularly view “Blenders”? I cannot help but ask if it was worth branching out into these new categories, if it means soon shuttering access to the most important ones like TV and headphones, that likely outperform other categories multiple times over. Does taking this testing data private satisfy Rtings’ own mission statement of “[helping customers] find the best product to buy?” (This is the very first sentence on Rtings’ About Us page: https://www.rtings.com/company/about-us)

How can customers find the best product to buy on Rtings anymore if there’s no data to tell them? With the decision to take your data away from public view, for the vast majority of readers it will just be like the data never existed to begin with. And, in opposition to Rtings’ current mission statement, customers will have to research elsewhere, like Youtubers (many of whom receive free products without disclosure), to find the best product to buy.

Rtings became the powerhouse it is today because it never, ever stopped fighting for the little guy. I hope Cedric, Adam, and the rest of the excellent and talented team can recognize that the power that the site holds is highest when it is able to connect with the most users, when it is able to fulfill its mission statement of helping all customers find the best product to buy. To do that, with the exception of early testing and all other secondary site features, it is my firm belief that main product testing data should always remain public, and that such a stance is permanently codified into Rtings’ DNA. I continue to hold out hope that leadership can come to reach that same conclusion, and explore any of the several alternate streams of income, so that Rtings can continue to be a beautiful well that all can drink from.

Rtings itself started out as the “little guy,” a small but plucky review site among industry giants. If it makes the decision to stop fighting for the little guy at the dawn of 2023, what else is left?

Sincerely, A Rtings User Since the Very Beginning