Rossman and GN are among the best journalism out there - I love their content (especially GN) and they make it obvious how strong an effect money and 'free product for review' is affecting actual reviews.
I actually met Rossman during his RTR campaign, and he interviewed me for his video!
I can personally say that I’ve yet to get any pressure from a company to give a positive review. SFFN declines reviews that do that.
I did have one company request we expedite the review good or bad. We didn’t.
There have been companies that have declined to send items to SFFN due to our review policy. They wanted us to do more sponsored build content than review. I wouldn’t do a build if the item wasn’t properly and fairly reviewed first. If it can’t pass that, it’s not worth my time.
I have declined items that I knew were garbage due to other well known outlets like GN already reviewing it. This isn’t my job and I’m not paid so if I’m going to test something I prefer not to waste my time.
I have never reviewed vacuums. (It’s an old reference but it checks out.)
Personally, I prefer reviewing items we bought ourselves.
Interestingly, I have seen companies that want stats tracking reader engagement.