Affiliate Disclosure

Some links on this site earn us a commission. This page explains exactly which links those are, who pays, and what that does — and does not — influence what we publish.

The short version

Gouwu3 is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you click a product link on this site and go on to buy something, Amazon may pay us a small percentage of that sale. The price you pay is exactly the same whether you use our link or not.

Which links are affiliate links

• Links that point to Amazon carry an affiliate tracking tag in the URL.
• Links to other retailers may be part of a similar affiliate program. Where that is the case, the same rules described on this page apply.
• Links to a brand’s own website, an airline’s baggage rules page, or a standards body are not affiliate links. We receive nothing for them; they are there because the article needs a source.

What a commission does not buy

• It does not buy a recommendation. Products are included in an article because they answer the question the article is about, not because they pay a higher rate.
• It does not buy a ranking. Where a product is listed first, the reason is stated in the surrounding text — a specification, a price band, a warranty term.
• It does not buy silence. If a product has a documented weakness, the article says so, including products we link to.
• It does not change the price you pay. Affiliate commissions are paid by the retailer out of its own margin.

Why the disclosure exists

Because a reader is entitled to know when a link is commercial. Regulators in the United States (the Federal Trade Commission) and in the European Union require this kind of disclosure to be clear and placed before or near the link, and Amazon’s own operating agreement requires associates to state their participation. The same statement appears in shortened form in the footer of every page on this site.

Editorial independence

Revenue from affiliate links covers hosting, research time and the maintenance of this site. It does not create an obligation to any brand, and no brand has editorial input into any article published here. If a company has ever provided a product, a sample or a discount for the purpose of an article, that fact is disclosed inside the article itself.

Questions

If it is unclear whether a particular link on a particular page is commercial, ask: editor@gouwu3.com, quoting the page URL. We will answer with the specific program involved.