It is that time of year again. CommunityVotes graphics begin flooding social media feeds, businesses start urging customers to “vote daily,” and window decals promising “Best of” recognition reappear across Sarnia. And so, here we are again, having the same conversation about what CommunityVotes actually is and what it is not. CommunityVotes markets itself as […]
It is that time of year again. CommunityVotes graphics begin flooding social media feeds, businesses start urging customers to “vote daily,” and window decals promising “Best of” recognition reappear across Sarnia. And so, here we are again, having the same conversation about what CommunityVotes actually is and what it is not.
CommunityVotes markets itself as an “official” voting platform and frames its results as grassroots recognition. But its own Sarnia campaign pages show the business model plainly: the public does the nominating and voting, while businesses are encouraged to pay for “Profile Packages,” “Banner Ads,” “Featured Supporter” placement, and discounted “Winners Awards.”
That is not a problem because it is “marketing.” It is a problem because the marketing is designed to look like something it is not. This site is a marketing gimmick, with the only real winner being CommunityVotes themselves.
CommunityVotes’ Promotion Terms identify the “Promotion Host” as CommunityVotes Inc. In other words, the Sarnia campaign is run by a corporate host, not a locally owned Sarnia entity. CommunityVotes operates in hundreds of cities across North America, collecting cash from thousands of businesses through a standardized, repeatable marketing model.
From there, the strategy is familiar to anyone who has watched online “awards” proliferate:
Step 1: Invite the public to nominate favourites and “add to our list of businesses,” rapidly expanding the database of local names.
Step 2: Trigger a voting period that encourages repeated, high-volume sharing: “Vote for your favourites,” log in, and cast votes once per registered email address. Businesses then flood social media with “please vote” posts because votes require active campaigning.
Step 3: Monetize the traffic and competitive anxiety by selling upgrades that improve visibility during the campaign.
On the Sarnia “Promote Your Business” page, CommunityVotes explicitly pitches paid add-ons: a “Profile Package,” an option to add a “Banner Ad” to “SUPERCHARGE your profile,” and an option to “Become a Featured Supporter.” The entry price is marketed as low, with profile pages “starting at only $49,” and “Winners Awards” starting at $39.
The “Featured Supporters of the Campaign” module on the Sarnia site is presented as a limited inventory advertising slot, with “Only 2 spots remaining!” and a direct prompt to “Promote Your Business.”
This is the heart of the controversy: the contest is structured to create an attention economy, then sell the tools to compete inside it.
CommunityVotes’ own terms state that “No purchase is required to participate, be nominated, cast a vote, or secure a win in the Awards.”
Legally, that matters.
Practically, it does not erase the pressure system the platform creates, because the paid products are tied to competitive advantage and post-win monetization. Paid profile packages make it easier for voters to “find and vote,” and are marketed as a way to “tell the community about your business.”
Banner ads and “Featured Supporter” placement increase on-site exposure during the exact window when votes are being solicited.
Purchasers are offered “20% Discount on Winners Awards,” directly linking promotional spend with cheaper trophy-and-badge merchandise.
The site also maintains a public index of “Businesses with Profile Packages,” underscoring that paid accounts are a formal tier within the ecosystem.
So yes, you can win without paying. But the platform is engineered to make “not paying” feel like fighting with one hand tied behind your back, especially for small businesses watching competitors buy visibility.
CommunityVotes does not measure product quality, safety, customer satisfaction, regulatory compliance, pricing, staff treatment, or ethical business practices. It measures one thing: the ability and willingness to garner clicks quickly.
It is a marketing campaign rather than a meaningful award, pointing to self-nomination, social-media vote harvesting, and upsells for promotion and physical awards. This model sells the illusion of prestige, because the word “award” implies an evaluation process that does not exist here beyond tallying clicks.
The optics matter in a place like Sarnia, where small businesses are already stretched thin and where residents want to support local. People see a badge in a window, or a name on a list, and assume an independent endorsement. What they may not see is the machinery behind it: profile packages, ad inventory, upsells, and award merchandise.
If CommunityVotes wants its results to be taken seriously as recognition, it would publish the basics people reasonably expect from an awards brand:
clear governance and corporate disclosure (who runs it, where, and under what ownership structure),
category rules that limit spam and self-nomination,
auditability (how votes are verified, what fraud protections exist, what gets removed and why), and
separation between paid promotion and voting visibility.
Instead, the CommunityVotes Sarnia campaign pages emphasize promotion and scarcity marketing (“Only 2 spots remaining!”), while the terms emphasize the host’s discretion to reject or modify submissions and the platform’s control over the contest environment.
CommunityVotes Sarnia is not a scam in the strict sense. It is more polished than that. It is a marketing product designed to feel like public honour. CommunityVotes is indifferent to who wins, so long as the voting drives traffic to its platform and results in revenue from the thousands of local businesses it targets.
If you are a voter, treat it like what it is: a popularity contest on a commercial platform.
If you are a business, be honest about what you are buying. You are not buying credibility. You are buying exposure inside CommunityVotes’ ecosystem, and possibly a plaque to display afterward.
And if you are a community member who cares about local excellence, do not let a paid badge replace your real indicators: consistent service, fair treatment, community contribution, and trust built over time.
That is what “best in Sarnia” actually means.
