Affiliate disclosure

1. The short version

AD-MEN runs client infrastructure on products from hosting, cloud, security, email and software providers. Some of those providers run partner or affiliate programmes, directly or through affiliate networks, and we take part in some of them. When you follow one of our links to such a provider and buy something, we may receive a commission. You pay the same price either way. We disclose this on every page where such links appear, and we do not let it influence what we deploy for a client.

2. Which programmes

We participate, or have applied to participate, in affiliate and referral programmes operated by providers we list on the stack page, including cloud and managed hosting providers, domain registrars, CDN and security vendors, email and CRM platforms. Several of these programmes are run through affiliate networks such as Impact, PartnerStack and ShareASale, which handle the tracking and payment on the provider's behalf. We update this list when programmes are added or removed; a link that is not an affiliate link today may become one in future, and the marking in section 4 will reflect that.

3. Where the links are

Affiliate links appear only in editorial and reference contexts: the stack page, where we describe the tools we use, and our guides, where we sometimes point to a provider as an example. They do not appear in our plans, order form, terms or support communications, and we do not use them inside client deliverables.

4. How links are marked

Every page that contains affiliate links shows a disclosure notice above the content, before the first such link. In the page code, each affiliate link carries the attribute rel="sponsored", which is the standard way to tell search engines and browsers that a link is commercial. We do not disguise affiliate links as plain text, and we do not use affiliate links in places a reader would not expect a commercial relationship.

5. What it costs you

Nothing. Affiliate commissions are paid by the provider out of their own margin. The price you see on the provider's site is the same whether or not you arrived through our link. Occasionally a programme gives us a discount code or a trial extension to share; where that applies we say so next to the link.

6. How we keep recommendations independent

Our business is operating infrastructure well, and our reputation depends on choosing the right tool for each client. So:

• Fit decides. The provider we deploy for a client is chosen on region, workload, cost, support quality and our operational experience, and the reasoning is written down in the client's audit and infrastructure document.
• We use what we list. A provider appears on the stack page because we run client workloads on it today, not because it has a programme. Several providers on that page have no programme at all.
• Commission is not visible to the engineer choosing. The engineer making the recommendation does not see partner reporting, and recommendations are reviewed against the stated criteria.
• Negative findings are published. Where we stop using a provider, we remove it from the stack page and say why in the relevant guide, programme or not.

7. Client work and pass-through costs

When we open an account with a provider on a client's behalf as part of a plan, we do so in the client's name and bill any provider charges at cost with no mark-up, as the terms describe. If a provider's referral programme pays a commission on an account we open for a client, we tell the client in the infrastructure document and, where the provider allows it, pass any sign-up credit to the client rather than keeping it. We never choose a provider for a client in order to earn a commission.

8. Tracking and privacy

Affiliate tracking works by the provider or network recording that a click came from our site, usually through a cookie set in your browser when you follow the link. We receive aggregate statistics about clicks and commissions, not your identity. The provider's and the network's privacy policies govern that data; our own privacy policy describes what we see. Nothing on ad-men.org itself sets an affiliate cookie.

9. Questions

If anything on this page is unclear, or you believe a link is not disclosed as it should be, email contact@ad-men.org and we will fix it.