A person would have to be pretty naive to imagine that there is no relationship between the ratings a publication gives a cigar and the advertising $$$ spent by that cigar's maker in the publication ... BUT, even IF there were no relationship, ratings would still be a very vague barameter at best ... who out there agrees 100% with the thumbs-up or thumbs-down ratings given to movies, with the reviews given to restaurants by the press or what the neighbors like on TV or what their political views are ... there's a crude old expression which says that "opinions are like ***holes; everybody has one" ... I smoked an absolutely wonderful cigar last night that I got in trade with another person on this board who found them too strong for his taste ... ask each of us for an opinion on that cigar, you'll get contradictory answers ... best advise is to forget ratings, try a variety of cigars, remember what you like (!), then buy those cigars in quantity ...