About the Reviews team at Business Insider (original) (raw)
Members of the Reviews team test cashmere sweaters, espresso machines, and run software tests on newly launched TVs. Gabrielle Chase; Isabel Fernandez; Les Shu/Business Insider
Business Insider Reviews is dedicated to helping you spend your money wisely and save time researching what to buy.
We are a team of service journalists who independently test and review nearly a thousand productsa year across home, tech, pets, style, travel, and more to find what's actually worth buying (and what isn't). Our mission is to provide shopping advice that cuts through noise and marketing spin with clarity, honesty, and real-world testing insights.
Our editors and writers only recommend the products that meet our standards for quality, value, and usefulness, so you can make confident decisions without wasting time or money. We're committed to editorial independence, transparent testing methods, and earning your trust with every recommendation.
Who we are and what we cover
The Reviews team is a group of editors and reporters who have spent years researching, testing, and writing about consumer products. Our in-house teams and contributors are experts in their subject areas. We have dedicated editors who specialize in home, kitchen, style, beauty, tech, pets, deals, event tickets, and streaming.
Collectively, our in-house team has over 70 years of experience testing and reviewing products.In addition to topical experts, our medical review board vets our health-related coverage to ensure accuracy.
Learn more about how we test clothing, shoes, and bags, home and kitchen products, pet products, and tech products.
How we test products
For our luggage testing, executive editor Sally Kaplan starts by packing each check-in suitcase using a standardized packing list, rolls it along uneven walkways and different floor surfaces, and throws it down the stairs five times to assess scratches and durability. Sally Kaplan/Business Insider
We test products in real life, not in a lab. Our in-house team and contributors test items in their own homes, offices, and routines to simulate real-world performance. Every product we review is used the way you would actually use it — we sleep on every mattress for at least 14 nights, walk miles in every sneaker, and mount TVs on our own walls. Our writers photograph products themselves in their own homes, mess and all.
For every guide we publish, we:
- Research the product category to identify key features, commonuse cases, and worthwhile products for consideration.
- Consult subject-matter experts — including doctors, veterinarians, makeup artists, and home/product safety experts — to define what "best" means in a given space.
- Design testing rubrics tailored to each category and conduct hands-on, side-by-side comparisons.
- Try products with a diverse range of testers, especially when making recommendations across various body types and lifestyles.
- Document results through data collection, observation, and real-life use over days, weeks, or months.
- Continue using winning products in our everyday lives to collect data on long-term durability and performance.
When hands-on testing isn't possible or practical, we interview industry experts to establish criteria for our selections. You can see examples of this approach in our guides to the best dog food and best roach killers.
We also draw on on previous experience testing brands to inform research-based picks, particularly for style coverage. For instance, if we have tested sweaters from a brand's cashmere line, but those particular styles are sold out, we may update the story with a different cashmere sweater from the brand based on our experience with the material quality.
Whenever we make a health-related recommendation for you or your pet, the article is reviewed by a qualified medical or veterinary professional before publication.
Our editorial standards
The many pets of our in-house and contributor staff help test jackets, cat towers, and no-pull harnesses. They are compensated with treats. Elizabeth Holbrook; Janelle Leeson; Jackie Brown/Business Insider
We serve our readers, not brands. We never accept payment in exchange for positive reviews. Here's what that means:
- No brand or advertiser influences what we cover, how we test, or what we recommend.
- We may request testing units from brands, but we never promise coverage (positive or otherwise).
- We return or donate items after testing. Our reporters and editors may only hold onto items for long-term durability testing.
- Occasionally, we may be paid by brands we've already independently tested and written about to resurface our existing coverage, test new products for updates, or add a product we've recommended from a review or buying guide into a gift guide. In the case of sponsored inclusions in gift guides, we always include a sponsorship disclaimer.
- Our editorial and business teams operate independently. Financial and advertising relationships never influence our recommendations.
How we make money
In our testing, the Mission cooling hat registered 23 degrees colder when wet, while a regular hat cooled by just about 3 degrees under the same conditions. Sally Kaplan/Business Insider
Our editorial team operates independently from our business teams. Reviews earns money in four primary ways:
- Affiliate links: When you purchase a product we recommend through the links in our reviews, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect which products we write about or recommend.
- Display ads: Like many publishers, we serve ads on our pages via third-party networks. Our editorial team does not control ad content.
- Licensing: Brands may license our logos or badges to promote accolades from our reviews. This is managed through a third-party licensing partner, and editorial teams are not involved in this process.
- Sponsorships: Occasionally, a brand may work with our partnerships team on sponsored placements, such as promoting their product in one of our gift guides. Sponsored content is always labeled as such, and we maintain full editorial oversight and control. We never accept sponsorships from brands we haven't already tested and recommended.
Contact us
For accolade licensing queries, please click here.
We welcome reader feedback, product suggestions, or questions. You can reach us at reviews@businessinsider.com. Stay connected through Instagram.
You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.
Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.