Review Ethics
Editorial independence isn't a marketing phrase to us — it's the reason this site exists. Most GPS tracker "reviews" are sponsored, affiliate-driven, or written by people who've never installed a tracker in their lives. This page documents exactly what we do differently, and why those decisions cost us money.
If You Read Only One Sentence
Every product we recommend was bought with our own money and tested in a real vehicle for at least 90 days — and if a product isn't worth your money, we say so even if it pays well.
Our Five Editorial Principles
Every tracker on this site was purchased with our own money — at retail, wholesale through DHgate, or secondhand. We've turned down hundreds of "review sample" offers. It costs us thousands per year, but it's the only way we can guarantee that we're not unconsciously favoring products we got for free.
Instead of linking to a specific Amazon ASIN (which can go out of stock or change sellers overnight), we link to a filtered search result showing multiple sellers of the same product. This is slightly worse for our tracking, but better for you — the link survives when a listing changes.
When a tracker we recommended fails at month 14, we don't quietly remove it from the site. We publish a retraction, explain what we got wrong, and update our testing protocol so it doesn't happen again. We've done this twice in the site's history.
Every affiliate link on this site is disclosed. We don't hide them, we don't use link cloakers, and we don't pretend that our recommendations are purely editorial. We earn commissions; we still tell you what's not worth buying.
Three of our best-informed revisions came from readers who had real-world data we didn't. If you disagree with a review — especially if you can back it up — email us. We've revised scores publicly, credited the reader who prompted it, and updated our test protocol accordingly.
What This Costs Us
Editorial independence is expensive. Here are the numbers, roughly annualized:
• Buying trackers at retail: ~$3,800/year
• Testing time (unpaid labor): ~600 hours/year
• Sponsored content we turned down: ~$45,000 in forfeited revenue/year
• Affiliate commissions we forfeited by recommending cheaper alternatives: ~$8,000/year
We mention these numbers not to brag, but because editorial independence is often claimed and rarely costed. This is what ours actually costs.
Related Pages
All Ethics & Policy Articles
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Frequently Asked Questions
No. Every tracker we review has been bought with our own money — sometimes at retail, sometimes at wholesale through DHgate, sometimes used. We don't accept manufacturer samples under any circumstances.
Because specific product listings go out of stock, change sellers, or get discontinued — often within weeks. Search links survive those changes and let you see all the sellers of the same product. We tell you what filters we've applied so you know what you're looking at.
No. There is no price at which we will write something we don't believe. We turn down sponsored content requests on a weekly basis — in 2025 alone, we declined over $45,000 in sponsored offers.
We publish a retraction, explain what we got wrong, remove the affiliate link, and update our test protocol to catch that failure mode in the future. We've done this twice: both for trackers that failed at month 14 in ways our 90-day testing didn't catch.
Yes, and we've revised scores three times because of reader feedback. Email hello@trackandreact.com with "Correction" in the subject. If you're right — and sometimes you will be — we'll update the review and credit you.