Just a thought: understandably, with a younger audience, I imagine that most of your users are not going to be conscious or care about conflicts of interest. I am curious though, did you and your fellow reviewers disclose your roles in your reviews?

I don't think that your case is particularly malicious or anything, but it makes me wonder how easily similar tactics could be used in larger websites or about more serious topics. Thinking along these lines, it feels very "real" how quickly things like payola came about in past media formats, and how what was old is new once again.