Sponsored content policy.

Sponsorship pays for part of what we do. These rules exist so that readers always know what they are reading and who paid for it.

Always labelled

Sponsored articles carry a “Sponsored” label on cards, in the page header and in a notice above the text. Sponsored banners and newsletter placements are marked with the sponsor’s name. Nothing sponsored is presented as news.

Reviewed like everything else

Sponsored pieces are written or edited by our staff and go through the same review and approval steps as our reporting. For sponsored content, the person who approves a piece cannot also publish it. Sponsors may check facts about their own company but cannot edit the text or approve it for publication.

Kept apart from reporting

A sponsorship never changes what our reporters cover or how they cover it, and sponsors do not choose the stories placed next to theirs. Sponsored links are marked so that search engines do not treat them as editorial endorsements.

Questions

If you think something is not labelled properly, tell us through the contact page and we will look into it.