Disclosure
How Counterweight gets paid
The commercial arrangement behind this site, in plain language, as required by the Federal Trade Commission and as a matter of basic courtesy to readers.
The short answer
Counterweight makes money through affiliate commissions. When a review links to a manufacturer's official website and you buy something after clicking, that manufacturer pays us a percentage of the sale. You pay exactly what you would have paid without us. That is the entire business model. We do not sell advertising space on the reviews, we do not take payment for a review, and we do not sell email addresses or reader data to anyone.
Which links are affiliate links
Every button and link that sends you to a product's official order page is an affiliate link, including the buttons in the verdict box, the pricing table, the price bar at the bottom of the screen and the product image. They are marked for search engines with the sponsored attribute and they open in a new tab. Links to research sources, government health agencies and our own pages are ordinary links and pay us nothing.
What the money does not buy
It does not buy a score. We are paid the same commission rate whether we score a product 4.6 or 2.1, and a negative review that convinces you not to buy costs us the same as a positive one that does not convert. That symmetry is the whole reason we can afford to publish criticism. Brands do not see reviews before publication, cannot request changes, and are not given the chance to buy a better rating. If a brand ever asks, we will publish the request.
Why we use affiliate links at all
The alternative models are worse. Display advertising pays badly enough to require the sort of traffic that rewards volume over care. Sponsored content means the brand pays directly, which is exactly the conflict readers should worry about. Paywalls do not work for a site people find once through a search. Affiliate commissions at least align our incentive with being useful enough that you trust the recommendation.
Compliance
This disclosure exists to satisfy the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 CFR Part 255, which requires that a material connection between a publisher and a seller be disclosed clearly and close to the recommendation. That is why a banner sits near the top of every review, why microcopy sits under the buttons, and why this page exists.
Independence
Counterweight is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any manufacturer whose product we review, including the maker of SodaSlim. We are not the official site for any product. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used here for identification.
Questions
If something about the arrangement is unclear, write to [email protected] and we will answer. Counterweight Media Group, LLC, Peoria, Illinois.