Every other forum I have ever been a member of other than DashCamTalk has a dedicated "review" section rather than allowing them to be posted anywhere and everywhere. Most forums have a special vendors forum for sales promotions that is always completely separate from the main discussion forums. More importantly, there are almost always specific guidelines and rules governing the general content of reviews. Also, NO other forum I am or have ever been a member of allows vendor links, affiliate links or discount codes to be included with a review. This way, objectivity can be maintained and no reviewer even has the possibility of appearing to be a shill or biased promoter . The review is supposed to be about the product itself not the sale of the product.
Here is a "borrowed" boiler plate example of what the guidelines often look like at other forums:
"Members who receive free products from a dealer or manufacturer for review purposes and post reviews in the proper forum are allowed and encouraged to add a single line down at the bottom of the review in regular font that has no link and no URL identifying the dealer or manufacturer who provided the product. For example, "Camera by X Company or X Vendor for review." Any further promotion of the company or links within the review thread will be removed. Dealers and manufacturers with the proper permissions to advertise in the appropriate forums may post a link to the review".
Let me address your points:
1) Dedicated review section vs product / manufacturer forums. I have a personal preference of having all content from a particular manufacturer posted in its own section. I'll think about having a dedicated review section, but the counter side to that is information on a particular product will be posted in multiple spots. So the best review on a particular product won't even be in the section for that camera. I don't know what dash camera will become popular but usually a review starts and the thread grows very long. I typically split it off in a sub-forum at that point. In a forum with a dedicated section for reviews, helpful information on a camera will be split in multiple locations (huge review thread and subforum).
Take a look at the largest camera forum on the internet.
http://www.dpreview.com/forums
No dedicated review section, but sections for cameras. I would argue that there is a split between forums that offer a dedicated review forum vs including reviews in the relevant manufacturer section. Pros and cons for both. A dedicated review section isn't always the case or necessarily better.
2) We also have a special vendors forum for sales promotions completely separate from the main discussion forums. 1 thread per vendor. Unlike most forums that have paid sponsors, any manufacturer or retailer can post here. Not sure how unbiased a site is when there are a subset of paid sponsors.
3) Pretty much every review site (non forum) I have come across includes links (affiliate or non) with their reviews. For forums, I would argue most allow links as well. In the dash cam market, there is the unfortunate situation where the same camera model can be completely different internally (some sellers have multiple listings of the same model with different internals). Without indicating where that dash cam is purchased, there will be an increase in "I bought camera XYZ like your review but the quality is horrible". I have no problem with discount codes as well. If our members can save a few bucks, I don't see what the problem is.
Not sure how disallowing links will ensure "objectivity can be maintained and no reviewer even has the possibility of appearing to be a shill or biased promoter". If the reviewer still got the product for free, wouldn't they be biased to the same degree?
I googled that boiler plate example to see what another site is doing and came up with this forum (note I have not visited that site prior).
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forum.php
Some observations:
1) 12 ads on the main page. Note that these are not Google Adsense ads (max of 3 per page) but bought directly from the site. The first question I would ask is there any special treatment for these paid advertisers. See their Ad policies here to see how much they are making
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/AdPolicies.html
2) Only lists 12 manufacturers in their commercial corner. Why so few. Check the Ad Policies again. To be listed there you need to spend $65 to $75 a month. If you don't pay the monthly fee, you can forget about selling or advertising your product there. And if you want a subforum you better have an "established relationship and reputation of good standing with CPF/CPFMP". Translation you should have paid your fees for a long time
3) I also like "Dealers and manufacturers with the proper permissions to advertise in the appropriate forums on CandlePowerForums.com may post a link to the review." So some people are allowed to post links in their reviews if they ponied up the cash for it
4) Fees for members as well. The more you pay the more you get.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/IconLegend1.html
5) They also appear to be charging for their classified / mall section
All that with a cursory look. I'm sure if I spent some time there I would see many other practices I would not be keen on.
Overall, the grass may not be greener on the other side.
