Commercial transparency

Sponsored content & paid partnerships

Short version: Brands can pay Proof & Merit for clearly labeled sponsorship, advertising, production and distribution. They cannot buy a positive review, a #1 ranking, a predetermined comparison winner or hidden influence over editorial conclusions.

What a sponsor can buy

  • Clearly labeled sponsored product education.
  • Sponsored research or launch coverage.
  • Paid distribution across appropriate Proof & Merit channels.
  • Clearly separated advertising or featured sponsor modules.
  • Category sponsorship where editorial independence is preserved.
  • Lead-generation campaigns with clear user consent and privacy disclosure.

What a sponsor cannot buy

  • A guaranteed positive review.
  • A predetermined “best” position or winner.
  • Removal of material limitations or substantiated criticism.
  • Claims of hands-on testing that did not occur.
  • Undisclosed commercial placement.
  • Paid links designed to pass search-ranking credit.

Sponsored comparisons

A company may fund the production of a comparison or category study. Funding does not give the sponsor control of the criteria, winner or final conclusion. The sponsor may provide documentation and flag verifiable factual errors before publication. Proof & Merit retains control over methodology and final wording.

Disclosure

Material commercial relationships are disclosed where readers or viewers can reasonably see them. We use direct language such as Sponsored, Paid partnership or a plain-language explanation of what the brand provided.

Free product access, review credits, paid travel or other material consideration may also require disclosure when relevant to how readers evaluate the content.

Paid links

Links created as part of paid sponsorships or compensation agreements are qualified with rel="sponsored" and may also include nofollow. Affiliate links are likewise treated as commercial links and disclosed near the relevant content.

Testing and product experience

We do not claim hands-on product experience when a page is based on documentation or research only. A sponsor providing access does not automatically produce a positive conclusion.

Corrections

Commercial partners may request correction of verifiable factual errors. They may not request removal of an accurate negative finding merely because it is commercially inconvenient.

Paid social and video

Sponsored social and video content carries a disclosure within or immediately alongside the content. We do not rely only on a generic profile or policy page to explain a paid relationship.

Interested in working with us?

Proof & Merit offers sponsored research, launch campaigns, distribution packages, transparent sponsor placements and selected performance partnerships.

partners@proofandmerit.com See partner information

Policy references: Proof & Merit follows the principle that material commercial relationships should be clear to readers and that paid outbound links should be appropriately qualified. See the FTC's current endorsement/disclosure guidance and Google Search Central's outbound-link guidance for external standards. This page describes Proof & Merit's own commercial policy and is not legal advice.

Last updated: 9 October 2026.