Sponsored Content & Link Policy

Compliance Consultant — Making Compliance Work

Version 1.0 · September 2026 · Next review: September 2027

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We receive frequent approaches from SEO agencies, link-building intermediaries and brands asking to buy guest posts, sponsored articles or link insertions on complianceconsultant.org. This policy sets out, publicly and in one place, what we will and will not do. It applies to every such approach without exception.

Why we publish this

We advise FCA-regulated firms on governance, financial promotions, compliance audits and regulatory risk. Our credibility is the product. We therefore hold our own website to the standard we expect of our clients, and we would rather state that standard openly than negotiate it case by case.

What we do not do

• We do not sell links that pass ranking signals. Every commercial link on this site carries a rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow" attribute. This is not a price point and it is not negotiable.
• We do not accept unlabelled advertorial. Paid content is labelled as sponsored, prominently and above the fold.
• We do not surrender editorial control. We retain an absolute and final veto over content, claims, anchor text and destination pages, before and after publication.
• We do not accept exact-match commercial anchor text. Anchors are branded or plainly descriptive, and a placement carries no more than two outbound commercial links.
• We do not host content that exists only to borrow our domain’s authority. If it would not interest our readers, it does not go on our site.

What we do accept

We accept a small number of clearly labelled sponsored placements each quarter, and we are always open to genuine editorial collaboration with people who have real expertise our audience values. Editorial collaboration is unpaid on both sides, and the link in it is earned rather than bought.

Paid placements are subject to our published rate card and to our Terms and Conditions for Sponsored Content and Paid Placements, both available on request.

Sectors we decline outright

We will not publish paid or sponsored content for, or link to, the following — at any price:

• Firms carrying on regulated activities in the United Kingdom without the appropriate FCA authorisation or registration, and firms not appearing on the Financial Services Register where the content touches regulated activity
• Contracts for difference, spread betting, binary options, foreign exchange, and “trading signal” or copy-trading propositions
• Cryptoassets, tokens, exchanges, wallets and related promotional content
• High-cost short-term credit, guarantor loans, rent-to-own and similar consumer credit propositions
• Claims management, debt advice and personal injury lead generation
• Gambling and gaming
• Wealth-creation, “passive income” and get-rich-quick schemes and courses
• Adult content, pharmaceuticals, essay mills and academic-integrity services

The regulatory reason, stated plainly

Under section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, a communication made in the course of business that invites or induces a person to engage in investment activity, or to enter into certain credit agreements, is a financial promotion. It may only be communicated by an authorised person, or approved by an authorised person holding the Financial Conduct Authority’s specific approver permission — a separate regulatory gateway since 7 February 2024 — unless an exemption applies. Communicating an unapproved financial promotion is a criminal offence under section 25 of that Act.

We are not an authorised person and we cannot approve financial promotions. That is the substantive reason behind the exclusions above, and it is the reason our editorial veto is absolute rather than negotiable.

Separately, marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such under rules 2.1 and 2.4 of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (the CAP Code), and failing to identify commercial intent is a banned commercial practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, whose unfair commercial practices provisions took effect on 6 April 2025. Labelling is therefore a legal requirement, not a courtesy.

Finally, Google’s own spam policies accept paid links only where they are qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow", and its site reputation abuse policy targets third-party content published on a trusted domain primarily to exploit that domain’s ranking signals. Our approach keeps us on the right side of both.

Existing content

All sponsored placements are reviewed at least annually. We reserve the right to amend, re-attribute, de-index or permanently remove any placement, without refund, where the client’s regulatory status changes, where the destination page changes materially, or where the content ceases to meet this policy.

Making an enquiry

Approaches that do not address the terms above will not receive a reply. If you have read this policy and still wish to proceed, please send us:

1. The name of the end advertiser and its beneficial ownership.
2. The destination URL and the proposed anchor text.
3. A content outline or draft.
4. Confirmation of the end advertiser’s FCA authorisation status, where the proposition touches on a regulated activity.

A non-refundable editorial vetting fee is payable before we assess any enquiry. It is credited in full against a placement that proceeds.

Contact

Web: complianceconsultant.org
UK: 0800 689 0190
International: 020 8243 8620
Discovery call: https://bit.ly/CCDiscovr

Compliance Consultant and Compliance Doctor are trading styles of UK Compliance Consultant Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 14805896, registered office 31 Woodside, Gosport, Hampshire, PO13 0YT.

This policy is a statement of our commercial and editorial practice. It is not legal advice and creates no contractual rights. Paid placements are governed solely by our Terms and Conditions for Sponsored Content and Paid Placements.