Realistically, all print media needs advertising not only to survive but to prosper and grow.
This has been the way of things for a very long time. The cover price simply isn't going to cut it.
Strong content is probably the single most difficult commodity for any publication to come by.
Good writers are difficult to find, excellent writers are both like gold-dust and frequently expensive. Hence the necessity to fill pages with professionally shot, high quality photography already paid for by advertisers. Which of us does not appreciate that gloss?
So, magazines get a large slice of pretty content and essential revenue to go with it. The quid pro quo, albeit sometimes tacit in nature although certainly not always, is that the magazine provides those advertisers with 'advertorial' - in other words editorial coverage of their products in the form of reviews, teasers, etc. I appreciate that 'advertorial' is not strictly correct in this context but it's close enough for jazz.
Much horse-trading goes on between advertisers and advertising space sellers and within this environment rates are negotiated for space, the positioning of the advertisement and so on. Product reviews can often come before any advertisement is placed with a publication and this process can be instigated by either the magazine as a come on or the would-be advertiser as a tester of market relevance.
All of this is everyday stuff in the publishing world as is the considerable additional content that product reviews provide and given that publications cannot sensibly exist without this symbiotic relationship with its advertisers and hoped-for advertisers it would be entirely unreasonable for any intelligent person to expect an editor to commit financial suicide by publishing a damning review of any product. I think the lesson, if there is one, is that we should, as readers, expect to see this type of coverage as a 'review' and not a critique. This type of content hopefully brings product to our attention in a positive and interesting fashion but we should always bear in mind the fine line being walked by those behind the writing. Also, well-written reviews may not come right out and say bad things about a product but where faults are to be found there is nearly always subtle and oblique terminology sufficient to alert most readers.
In short, read between the lines and for the real dirt look to the concensus of those who have bought and used the product but don't take that at face value either!
As always just a personal and completely unbiased perspective
ATB
Hombre
I'm not stuck in the past, I just prefer it.