Editorial Process
Our Editorial Mission
In a digital world, information only matters if it's timely, relevant, and credible. We promise to do whatever is necessary to get you the information you need when you need it, to make our opinions fair and useful, and to make sure our facts are accurate.
If a popular product is on store shelves, you can count on CNET for immediate commentary and benchmark analysis as soon as possible. We promise to publish credible information we have as soon as we have it, throughout a product's life cycle, from its first public announcement to any potential recall or emergence of a competing device.
How will we know if we're fulfilling our mission? We constantly monitor our competition, user activity, and journalistic awards. We scour and scrutinize blogs, sites, aggregators, RSS feeds, and any other available resources, and editors at all levels of our organization continuously review our coverage.
But you're the final judge. We ask that you inform us whenever you find an error, spot a gap in our coverage, or have any other suggestions for improvement. Readers are part of the CNET family, and the strength of that relationship is the ultimate test of our success.
How we test products
CNET Labs' testing methods are the result of years of experience and research, employing the expertise of CNET's Labs staff and editors, as well as feedback from the manufacturers whose products we review, and also feedback from users. Our objective, precise, and repeatable testing methods--which use tests developed by CNET Labs, as well as industry-accepted benchmarks--provide the comparative data and quantitative results that feed the technical analysis of our product reviews. This, combined with the qualitative analysis from the hands-on evaluations of our expert editors, gives our users everything they need to know to make informed buying decisions.
More in-depth information about our specific testing methods is available using the links below:
Antivirus software / Blu-ray players / Browsers / Cameras / Cars / Cell phones / Desktops / Laptops / Monitors / Networking devices / Printers / Storage devices / Tablets / TVs
Disclosure statement
In order to prevent any real or perceived conflict of interest, we will not review any product or service that is currently involved in active litigation with CBS Corporation (the parent corporation of CNET) with respect to the legality of the product or service. As of January 23, 2013, the products or services that have a conflict are Dish Hopper and Aereo. CBS Corporation owns a bunch of websites; we may or may not write about these properties and will be transparent when we do so.
Affiliate disclosure
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay.
