Affiliate Links Policy

[clementbiron]

Type name

Affiliate Links Policy

Alternative type names

Editorial Policy

Writer

service provider

Audience

end user

Object

use, disclosure, and earning from affiliate links

Examples

Example	Service Name	URL	Title	Jurisdiction
1	Ars Technica	URL 🔗	Affiliate Link Policy	-
2	PCWorld	URL 🔗	Editorial Independence	-
3	Well Life Therapy	URL 🔗	Affiliate Link Policy	-
4	Time	URL 🔗	Affiliate Link Policy	-
5	Coffee or Die’s	URL 🔗	Affiliate Links Policy	-
6	Wired	URL 🔗	Editorial Policy on Affiliate Links	-

References

No response

Comments

No response

[MattiSG]

This looks good! I'm not convinced by the alternate name “Editorial Policy” as it is too broad.

I wonder however if “affiliate links” are not just a specific technical implementation of product placement or advertisement policy, both of which we are lacking. For example, it could include “Branded Content Policy” (Instagram, TikTok, Twitch).

The generic type could be “Affiliate Content Policy” or “Branded Content Policy”. Though I agree that an affiliate link and a dedicated content are different and the usual policies are opposite, I feel they are close enough to justify unifying them. Are there cases where both policies would co-exist in the same service?

[MattiSG]

Checking on the examples, only “Coffee or Die” has both an Editorial Policy and an Affiliate Links Policy. All others have only an Affiliate Links Policy, which could thus be described as an Editorial Policy. For Coffee or Die and other similar services with both policies, one can just make a multi-document entry for Editorial Policy, thus including the Affiliate Links Policy.

I thus feel that #35 would be a more appropriate, broader terms type. I vote for including “Affiliate Links Policy” as an alternative name to #35 and closing #42.

[MattiSG]

Going through the examples in #35, I get reinforced in the idea that Affiliate Links Policy is a specific subset of Editorial Policy that should not have its own type:

Editorial Policy	Title	Service	Has Affiliate Links Policy
bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidelines	Editorial Guidelines	BBC	Yes, included in section 16.D
misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/editorial-policies	Editorial Policies	HKS Misinformation Review	No
bleepingcomputer.com/ethics-statement	ETHICS STATEMENT	BleepingComputer	Yes, included
lawandcrime.com/ethics-diversity-policy	Corrections, Ethics & Diversity Policy	Law&Crime	No
themarkup.org/ethics	Ethics Policy	The Markup	No
bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu/about-the-journal/editorial-policies	Editorial Policies	BioResources	No
washingtonpost.com/policies-and-standards	Policies and Standards	Washington Post	No

[clementbiron]

ok I agree with that

[clementbiron]

This suggestion has been rejected but please feel free to comment if you would like the community to re-evaluate this decision.

[MattiSG]

To be more specific: if you would like to use this terms type, the current recommended practice is to use Editorial Policy (#35) 🙂