When I used to be active in local politics and we tried to understand what was happening with an issue or why a person said or did something, a good friend always said that “It’s all about who’s ox is getting gored.”

In the world of local political campaigns, that meant we needed to be aware of who was really being impacted by acts or omissions. Sussing out exactly who owned the proverbial ox being gored by whatever pointed remark or snub was key to placing it into proper context.

The same maxim holds true in the world of online recommendation sites which purport to provide unbiased, independent analyses of products or services.

While they may legitimately analyze products and services, the way recommendations are presented pulls back the curtain on exactly what game they’re playing.

They care only about getting paid rather than helping people make sense of complex systems.

To see this in action, look no further than how recommendation site PCMag presents its best password managers of 2026.

The Dog Not Barking

While reading a PCMag article about using a spreadsheet to generate unique passwords — bad idea by the way — I noticed a list claiming to present the best password managers tested.

It caught my eye because the manager I use and recommend to people, Bitwarden, apparently didn’t make the list.

What in the world?

When I dug in and found the actual PCMag listing of top password managers, again, I didn’t see Bitwarden.

Until I scrolled.

And then, second to the end of the list, I found it. But it looked different than the others.

Do you see it? The dog not barking. The listing contained no link to the Bitwarden site.

So why no link and why, when PCMag rated Bitwarden higher than 1Password, Keeper, and LogMeOnce, did it appear after each of them?

It’s all about the Benjamins.

The Devil is in the Details

Suspicious, I copied the link for NordPass from the story, and asked Claude to decode it:

Long story short, a click on this link tells PCMag what specific action you took and where. It also signals to NordPass which website referred you so, if you start a NordPass subscription, it knows who gets paid.

So then why no link on the Bitwarden listing?

It’s simple and clarifying.

Bitwarden has no consumer referral program. There’s no benefit to PCMag to provide a link.

Which is exactly why I want you to be completely aware of this chicanery PCMag and similar site engage in with recommendations. If you’re oblivious to it, you could be the ox getting gored by choosing the wrong tool to manage your passwords.

Lessons Learned

So, we learned a few things from looking at how some recommendation sites put their digitals thumbs on the scale as you weigh alternatives:

1. Just because a product or service appears higher in a list does not mean it is better. It may simply be paying the website more for a referral.
2. If you don’t see a link in a listing, it’s because there is no benefit to the site to provide one.
3. Before you click links on sites like this, be aware you’re handing over a lot of data.

That third lesson is you can act on now with a tool like Clean Links, a new app I learned about recently.

In active development now, it says it strips trackers, unwraps short links, and shows you the actual destination behind a QR code before you click.

Check out the free app. I’ve been using Clean Links for a few days, and think you’ll like what you see.

And, no, I’m neither getting paid to mention Clean Links nor do I have an affiliate deal with Bitwarden. When I find quality tools that do what they claim, I recommend them.

Which is why you should engage me to help you set up Bitwarden. Sign up to get started now if you are one of the two-thirds of adults who still don’t use encrypted, secure technology to retain logins and credentials because my approach goes deeper

I dont just set up your account and call it a day. Instead, I understand that using a password manager involves changing habits and committing to a new way of interacting with digital tools.

It can be tough, so I guide you through the rocky patches and make sure you’re better prepared so you’re a harder target for hackers and other bad actors.

Just like you’re now also wiser about what PCMag and similar sites are doing.

Don’t get gored by a compromised password. Book your session with me today.