Partners and disclosure
How Merxtio makes money, and the rules that constrain it.
The three labels we use
Every commercially affected article carries one of these at the top of the page, above the article body. They are set in the article’s source file and rendered automatically, so an article cannot be published without the right one.
Affiliate
The article contains links that pay us a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. We use affiliate links in buying guides and reviews, which is most of what the Shopping desk publishes.
What this does not mean: it does not mean a product was chosen because it pays more. Recommendations are decided before links are added, and we regularly recommend products with no affiliate program at all.
Sponsored
A company paid for the article to exist. We name the sponsor in the banner. The copy is written by Merxtio editorial staff, and the sponsor does not see it before publication and cannot request changes after it.
We do not publish sponsored content that reads as independent coverage. If it is paid, it says so at the top, in the same place every time.
Gifted
A product was provided free of charge for review. Receiving one guarantees nothing: not coverage, and certainly not a favorable verdict. We return or dispose of review units after the review period and do not keep hardware we did not pay for.
Outbound commercial links
Links to commercial partners carry rel="sponsored nofollow", which tells search engines the relationship is paid and withholds ranking credit. This is applied automatically by the site to any link matching our list of partner domains — it is not something a writer has to remember, and therefore not something a writer can forget.
Some commercial links are routed through /go/ addresses on this domain so we can change a destination without editing published articles. Those addresses are excluded from search engines.
What we refuse
- Payment for a positive review, or for the removal of a negative one.
- Sponsor approval over editorial copy.
- Affiliate arrangements that would not be disclosed.
- Links inserted into existing articles after publication by a third party or automated monetization service.
- Coverage of a product we have not used, presented as though we had.
Questions
If a disclosure on this site looks wrong, incomplete, or missing, please get in touch. We would rather hear it from you than not hear it.