You made an excellent point that I had thought about - ie. something obvious but not verbalized. The testimonials are naturally rigged. Your own (Hopinso) experience would never make be part of it since they are only looking for positive reactions. In many ways the testimonials are a natural extension of the Ask ML forum itself. No dissenting opinion is tolerated.
As a rule, relying in testimonials is bad. Has it been so long that we have forgotten cigarette testimonials of smooth taste, enjoyment and health benefits?