Dovelyne costs money to run, so it has to earn. Being vague about how is the thing that makes readers stop trusting a publication, so here is all of it.
The rule that governs everything below
Commercial arrangements never change an editorial conclusion.
No advertiser, affiliate programme, sponsor or brand gets to decide what we recommend, how something is ranked, whether a limitation is mentioned, or whether a piece of criticism stays in. Revenue is never a factor in whether a product is included in a guide or where it places.
Nobody can buy a positive review. That is not available at any price, and the reason is simple self-interest: a recommendation you cannot rely on is worth nothing to you, which makes it worth nothing to us.
Affiliate commission
Some links to retailers are affiliate links. If you buy after following one, we may receive a small commission, and you pay exactly the same price as you would otherwise.
Where an article carries live affiliate links, it says so at the top. That notice is generated from the links actually on the page rather than written by hand, so it cannot be left off by mistake. An article with no affiliate links shows no notice, because it would not be true.
Affiliate arrangements do not influence rankings or verdicts. Full detail is in the affiliate disclosure.
Sponsored content
We may publish content that a brand has paid for. When we do, it is labelled as sponsored clearly and at the top, not in small print at the bottom.
Payment buys placement and disclosure. It does not buy a favourable conclusion, and sponsored content is still held to our evidence standards. We can decline a sponsorship, and we can decline to write the piece the brand wanted. Detail is in advertising and partnerships.
Advertising
We may run display advertising. Advertisers have no access to editorial decisions and no advance sight of articles. We do not accept advertising designed to be mistaken for editorial content.
Supplied products and samples
A brand may send a product for consideration. Receiving one creates no obligation to cover it, to publish anything, or to reach a particular conclusion, and we say on the article when a product was supplied.
If we have not used a product ourselves, the article says that plainly rather than implying otherwise. The terms we ask brands to accept before sending anything are on work with Dovelyne.
Digital products and other direct revenue
We may sell our own resources, such as planners, checklists and guides, and may offer paid products directly in future. Revenue that comes from readers rather than from brands is the least conflicted income a publication can have, which is why we would rather grow it.
We do not fabricate scarcity, countdowns, fake original prices or invented discounts, on our own products or anyone else’s.
What we will not do
We will not accept payment to remove criticism, to alter a ranking, to add a product to a guide, or to take one out. We will not publish undisclosed commercial content. We will not present an advertisement as an independent recommendation.
If you think we have fallen short of any of this, the corrections policy explains how to tell us.