The short version
- Some links on TechEngage are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
- As an Amazon Associate, TechEngage earns from qualifying purchases.
- Commissions never decide which products we recommend, how we rank them or what our verdict says.
- Sponsored content is always labeled.
TechEngage® is a reader-supported publication. Affiliate commissions help pay for our reporting, reviews and buying guides, and keep the site free to read. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires publishers to disclose these relationships clearly, and we want you to understand exactly how they work.
1. How affiliate links work
An affiliate link contains a tracking code that tells a retailer you arrived from TechEngage. If you make a qualifying purchase within the retailer’s tracking window, the retailer pays us a small commission. The price you pay is the same whether or not you use our link. We do not see your name, payment details or full order history; retailers report only products and order totals.
2. Amazon Associates
As an Amazon Associate, TechEngage earns from qualifying purchases.
As an Amazon Associate, TechEngage earns from qualifying purchases. Our current product-data integration is connected to Amazon’s Creators API. Product identity and editorial assessments are maintained separately from retailer offers. Unverified variants and missing or stale prices are labeled rather than treated as current recommendations. Links identify the Amazon store; international variants must be checked separately.
3. Other affiliate programs
We may also earn commissions from other retailers, software companies and service providers whose products we cover, either directly or through affiliate networks. These relationships work the same way: a commission on qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you, with no influence over our coverage.
4. How to spot an affiliate link
- Product boxes, tables and buy buttons that link to retailers such as Amazon are affiliate links.
- Article disclosures: buying guides and reviews that contain affiliate links carry a disclosure note near the top of the page.
- In the code: our affiliate links are marked with the
rel="sponsored"attribute, which tells search engines they are commercial links.
Not every link to a store is an affiliate link, and many products we cover earn us nothing.
5. Commissions never change our verdicts
Our editors choose which products to cover and how to rate them before and independently of any commercial consideration. We apply these rules:
- Commission rates, or whether a product has an affiliate program at all, play no part in rankings, scores or recommendations.
- We publish negative verdicts and point readers to cheaper or better alternatives, even when that earns us less.
- Retailers and brands do not review, approve or edit our articles before publication.
- Writers are not paid based on affiliate revenue from their articles.
- Products are evaluated through hands-on use where possible, manufacturer specifications, verified user feedback and expert sources, as described in our Reviews Guarantee.
These commitments are part of our ethics policy and our Editorial Standards.
6. Sponsored content and review units
Sponsored articles are paid placements. They are labeled “Sponsored” at the top of the page, and our newsroom does not present them as independent reviews. When a company provides a product or software access for review, we disclose it in the article, and it never guarantees coverage or a positive verdict. Companies interested in sponsorships can see our advertising options.
7. Why we disclose
We follow the FTC’s guidance on endorsements, which asks publishers to disclose material connections with sellers clearly and close to the recommendation. You can read the FTC’s explanation in FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking.
8. Privacy and cookies
Retailers may use cookies on their own sites after you click an affiliate link. Our product links do not require automatic country detection. See our Privacy Policy for the site’s other data uses.
9. Contact us
Questions about our affiliate relationships, or concerns that a recommendation looks influenced by commissions, can be sent to team@techengage.com. We take these reports seriously.
Price information and retailer terms
Prices may change. Check the final seller, condition, delivery charges, warranty eligibility and total price at the named retailer before buying. Where a verified offer price is shown, its verification time is displayed alongside it. A data refresh is not an editorial update and does not change the product being assessed.
Marketplace ratings are not TechEngage test scores. Review counts do not establish safety, reliability or that every reviewer used the same configuration. Budget and value recommendations require an editor-approved purchase range; automation does not select a replacement winner.
