AGoodShampoo is an independent hair-care information website. Like many online publications, the site may earn revenue through advertising, affiliate links or other clearly disclosed commercial arrangements.
These financial relationships help support the costs of researching, maintaining and publishing the website.
They can also create financial interests that readers deserve to understand. This page explains how those relationships work and how we separate them from editorial judgments about shampoos, conditioners, treatments and other hair-care products.
How AGoodShampoo Makes Money
AGoodShampoo may generate revenue through one or more of the following methods:
- display advertising
- affiliate links to products or retailers
- sponsored content, if such content is accepted
- other commercial partnerships that are appropriately disclosed
Not every page contains advertising or affiliate links, and not every product mentioned on AGoodShampoo is connected to a commercial relationship.
A product may be discussed simply because it is relevant to the reader’s question, widely used, frequently searched or useful for comparison.
Our editorial standards apply whether or not a product, retailer or brand has a financial relationship with the website.
Affiliate Links
Some links from AGoodShampoo to products, retailers or other commercial websites may be affiliate links.
An affiliate link is a specially tracked link that can allow AGoodShampoo to receive a commission or other compensation when a reader completes an eligible purchase or other qualifying action after following the link.
In ordinary affiliate arrangements, using an affiliate link generally does not increase the price the reader pays. The retailer or affiliate program pays the publisher according to its own commission rules.
Affiliate relationships can create a financial incentive when readers purchase products through certain links. For that reason, they should not be hidden or confused with evidence that a product is better than its competitors.
The presence of an affiliate link does not mean:
- AGoodShampoo personally tested the product
- the product is medically effective
- the product is appropriate for every reader
- the retailer or manufacturer controls the review
- the product automatically receives a favorable recommendation
Our product analysis should still be based on relevant factors such as the current formula, ingredients, intended use, hair-type suitability, available evidence, limitations and value.
A product can receive a critical or mixed assessment even when an eligible affiliate link is available.
Similarly, products for which no affiliate relationship exists may still be recommended when the editorial analysis supports them.
Advertising
AGoodShampoo may display advertisements on pages across the website.
Display advertising is different from editorial product coverage.
An advertisement may appear beside, between or around editorial content, but the advertiser does not automatically determine what the article says.
Ordinary display advertising does not give a company the right to:
- choose the conclusion of a product review
- require positive coverage
- remove legitimate criticism
- change our ingredient analysis
- influence scientific interpretation
- demand that a competing product be rated less favorably
The appearance of an advertisement for a shampoo, conditioner, retailer or beauty company should not be interpreted as an AGoodShampoo recommendation unless the editorial content independently makes that recommendation.
Likewise, an article discussing a brand is not necessarily connected to an advertisement from that brand.
Advertising systems may also select ads independently of the article’s editorial conclusions.
Sponsored Content
AGoodShampoo may choose to accept sponsored content or other paid collaborations.
If sponsored content is published, the commercial nature of the relationship should be clearly identified so readers can distinguish paid material from ordinary editorial coverage.
Labels may include wording such as:
Sponsored
Paid Partnership
Advertisement
or another clear disclosure appropriate to the arrangement.
Payment for sponsored content does not turn marketing claims into independently verified facts.
Any factual claims included in sponsored material should still be represented accurately. Medical, scientific or ingredient-related claims should not be strengthened simply because a commercial partner supplied them.
Sponsored content should also not be disguised as an ordinary independent review.
If a company has paid specifically for publication, readers should be able to recognize that relationship.
Editorial Product Coverage
Editorial product coverage is content created because AGoodShampoo considers the product or topic useful to readers.
This may include:
- shampoo reviews
- conditioner reviews
- ingredient analyses
- brand comparisons
- hair-type recommendations
- product-selection guides
- treatment discussions
A brand does not need to pay AGoodShampoo to be included in editorial coverage.
Likewise, the existence of an affiliate relationship does not by itself determine whether a product appears in an article.
Editorial coverage should consider the same questions regardless of commercial status:
What is the current formula?
What does the manufacturer actually claim?
What does the ingredient list suggest?
What independent evidence is relevant?
Who is the product likely to suit?
What are its limitations?
Is the price reasonable when value is part of the question?
Are there more appropriate alternatives?
These questions are part of the editorial process, not advertising decisions.
Editorial Independence
AGoodShampoo’s commercial relationships can help fund the website, but they should not determine factual conclusions.
Advertising revenue, affiliate commissions or sponsorship opportunities should not change:
- verified ingredient information
- descriptions of product formulas
- scientific evidence
- safety limitations
- suitability for different hair types
- medical cautions
- known formula changes
- editorial criticisms supported by the available information
Brands cannot purchase a positive review through ordinary display advertising.
A company also cannot require us to remove a factual limitation simply because the company advertises on the site or offers an affiliate program.
At the same time, complete financial neutrality would be an unrealistic description of a commercially supported website. AGoodShampoo may benefit financially when readers interact with certain advertisements or affiliate links.
The important distinction is that the existence of that financial relationship should be disclosed, while the editorial reasoning should still be based on the product and available information rather than the potential commission.
Product Rankings and Recommendations
Recommendations and rankings should not be based solely on which product pays the highest commission or participates in an affiliate program.
When AGoodShampoo compares or recommends products, relevant considerations may include:
- formula and ingredient profile
- intended purpose
- cleansing or conditioning characteristics
- hair-type suitability
- scalp considerations
- manufacturer claims
- available independent evidence
- important limitations
- price and value
- availability
- realistic alternatives
Not every article uses all of these factors. The criteria depend on the question being answered.
A higher-priced product is not automatically better. A heavily advertised brand is not automatically recommended. A product without an affiliate link is not automatically excluded.
When commercial availability affects a recommendation, that factor should be considered separately from claims about product effectiveness.
Free Products and Other Brand Benefits
If AGoodShampoo ever receives a free product, payment, travel, gift or another material benefit connected to specific editorial coverage, that relationship should be disclosed when it could reasonably affect how readers interpret the content.
Receiving something of value does not prove that a product works, nor should it guarantee favorable coverage.
AGoodShampoo should not describe a product as independently purchased or independently tested unless that is actually true.
Where content is based on research rather than physical testing, the article should not imply otherwise.
Changes to Commercial Relationships
Advertising arrangements and affiliate relationships can change over time.
A retailer may close an affiliate program. A new commercial partner may be added. A product may stop being eligible for commission. Advertising providers may also change.
For that reason, an older article may contain a link that later becomes an affiliate link, stops being one or points to a different retailer.
AGoodShampoo may update commercial disclosures when the site’s monetization methods change materially.
Such changes do not necessarily require changes to the editorial conclusions of an article unless the underlying product information has also changed.
Readers should expect a simple principle from AGoodShampoo: commercial relationships may help fund the publication, but they should be disclosed clearly enough that readers can distinguish advertising, affiliate activity, sponsored content and independent editorial analysis.