Affiliate Disclosure
Some links on this site earn us a commission. None of them change what we conclude.
Second City Standard is independent and reader-supported. Part of that support comes from affiliate links: when you buy something through certain outbound links — a book, a dataset subscription, a piece of training equipment — the retailer may pay us a small commission at no additional cost to you.
This page exists so you never have to guess whether money is involved. It also satisfies the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's endorsement guidelines, which require material connections to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously.
How we handle affiliate links
Any article containing affiliate links carries a disclosure at the top of the page, before the first link — not buried in a footer note after the sale.
Affiliate links carry rel="sponsored nofollow" so search engines and readers can identify them programmatically.
A product, book, dataset, or tool is recommended because it survived the same evidence test as everything else we publish. A commission cannot buy a mention, a ranking, or a kinder conclusion.
We do not accept payment for inclusion in a list, for a specific score, or for the removal of criticism. Paid promotion, if we ever run it, is labelled Sponsored and is never presented as an investigation.
An affiliate link never costs you more than going to the retailer directly. The commission is paid by the merchant out of their margin.
Clicking an affiliate link does not send the retailer your name, email, or newsletter preferences. What happens after you land on their site is governed by their privacy policy.
Programs we may participate in
We participate, or may participate, in retailer and publisher affiliate programs — including Amazon Associates, Bookshop.org, and equipment, software and data-provider programs relevant to the subjects we cover. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Advertising served on the site is separate from affiliate links and is covered by our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.
What we will not do
- If revenue and the reader's interest conflict, the reader wins — every time.
- If a recommendation stops holding up, we update or retract it, whatever it earns.
- We never add an affiliate link to an existing article and leave it unlabelled.
- We disclose commercial relationships even where the law does not require it.
Questions or complaints
If you believe a link is unlabelled, a recommendation looks bought, or a disclosure is missing, tell us at corrections@2ndcitystandard.com or through the contact page. We treat a missing disclosure as an error and fix it under our Corrections Policy.
Every policy governing this publication is indexed in the Transparency Center.