Advertising
Paid display inventory or clearly labeled promotional placements.
COMMERCIAL POLICY
Paid activity should be obvious and separate
PFA can sell advertising, partnerships, data services or other commercial products. Those relationships must not be confused with an editorial endorsement or with the data that drives rankings and Intelligence.
Clear labelingEditorial separationEvidence unchanged
Commercial formats PFA may use
Sponsored content
Content funded by a commercial party and labeled so readers can identify the sponsorship. Editorial claims still require an agreed standard and cannot masquerade as independent research.
Affiliate relationships
Tracked referral links that can generate compensation after a qualifying action.
Partnerships
Commercial or operational arrangements that can include campaigns, data access, integrations or other services.
Firm submissions
Rules, promotions, corrections, company information or evidence supplied by a firm. Submission gives PFA a source to review, not automatic publication.
Data and API services
Commercial access to PFA data products where offered. Client status does not change the public evidence or ranking methodology.
The separation rule
If removing the payment would change the editorial conclusion, the separation has failed. A commercial team can explain the product being sold, manage contracts and deliver labeled advertising. It should not instruct an editor to raise a score, hide an evidence record or change a supported conclusion.
Editors can know that a commercial relationship exists because disclosure can be relevant context. The existence of the relationship is not a scoring component.
What advertising cannot purchase
Ranking position
Weights and ranking inputs are published separately.
Trust or Firm Health score
Scores must come from the defined data and methodology.
Complaint status
A payment does not turn an unresolved complaint into a resolved one.
Evidence verification
Verification follows source quality and claim fit.
Correction outcome
Supported corrections are free; unsupported requests do not become valid through sponsorship.
Silence
Advertising does not create a veto over news, research, rule history, complaint evidence or other material supported coverage.
Firm submissions and access
Firms often know about a new product or policy before third-party sources do. PFA can accept those submissions and use them as leads. Current rules still need the appropriate official source, and a submitted marketing claim stays a claim until the evidence supports a stronger label.
Verified representatives can respond to eligible records through PFA. Their response is attributed to the firm. Representative access does not grant editing control over PFA’s independent pages or evidence database.
Sponsored research and branded studies
If PFA ever produces research with commercial funding, the funding relationship should be disclosed prominently. The methodology, sample and limitations should remain visible. A sponsor should not be allowed to preselect a conclusion and then present the result as independent research.
Where the commercial constraints prevent a fair analysis, the output should be treated as branded or sponsored material rather than independent PFA research.
Sales and editorial roles
Commercial staff can explain available inventory, pricing, campaign requirements and reporting. Editorial staff decide whether a factual claim is supported and whether a development deserves coverage. On a small team, one person may sometimes perform both jobs; the standard still requires the decision to be made under the correct role.
A campaign deadline is not a reason to bypass fact-checking. A negative editorial finding is not a reason to cancel an agreed advertisement unless the advertisement itself violates a separate suitability rule.
Campaign and promotion submissions
Prop firms can submit promotions and giveaways for consideration. PFA checks the offer details, dates, code, eligible products, country limits and source before a campaign is treated as current. A submission can be rejected or left pending when the terms are unclear.
Historical campaign data can remain in the evidence system after an offer expires. That historical record supports research into promotion frequency and discounts without turning an expired offer into a live advertisement.
Commercial policy questions
Can advertisers choose where their ad appears?
Placement can be part of an advertising product, subject to PFA’s inventory and suitability rules. Placement does not convert the ad into an editorial recommendation.
Can a firm sponsor its own review?
A firm can advertise on PFA, but the independent review should not be sold as sponsored coverage. Sponsored material needs a separate label and format.
Can a commercial partner submit data directly?
Yes. Submitted data can improve speed and accuracy, but it is still scoped, verified and labeled under the same methodology before it becomes public PFA data.
What if an affiliate link and an advertisement appear on the same page?
Both commercial mechanisms should remain identifiable. The page’s rankings, evidence and editorial statements should still be produced independently.
