NerdBible

Editorial Policy

This page explains how NerdBible decides what to publish, where our information comes from, how our rankings are made and how we keep our commercial relationships away from our editorial judgement. It applies to everything we publish: comparisons, reviews, guides, news and opinion.

Independence from advertisers

NerdBible is funded by affiliate commissions. That means a provider may pay us when a reader clicks one of our links and buys. It does not mean a provider can buy a score, a better position, a kinder sentence or the removal of a criticism. Advertisers and affiliate partners do not see our articles before publication and do not approve, edit or sign off on what we write.

When a commercial relationship affects what you see on a page, we say so. Our advertiser disclosure explains how we make money and what that can and cannot change.

How we choose topics

We cover categories where people make a real buying decision and where a clear comparison saves them time: security software, business tools, online services and similar. Within those categories we pick topics by asking what a buyer needs to know right now: a new product or plan, a change in pricing structure, a regulator's action, a recurring question from readers, or a practice that affects what people pay or how their data is used.

We do not cover a topic because a provider asks us to, and we avoid medicines and tax entirely.

Sourcing standards

We work from primary sources first. For a product, that means the vendor's own pages: plans, features, policies, security documentation and help centre. For news, it means the company's own announcement, the regulator's notice, a court filing or official data, supported by reputable reporting. Independent lab results and audits are used where they exist.

  • Every article lists its sources, so you can check our work.
  • If we cannot open and read a source, we leave the claim out rather than repeat it second hand.
  • We do not invent statistics, quotes or prices. A price we mention in an article is described as correct at the time of writing and comes from the vendor's page.
  • We do not claim hands-on testing in a research-based review. Those reviews say what the vendor, the labs or reputable sources report, and attribute it.

News, guides and opinion

We publish three kinds of article, and each is labelled so you know what you are reading.

  • News reports a recent event from primary sources and explains why it matters to a consumer or small business and what to do about it.
  • Guides are evergreen buying and how-to articles for a category. They aim to be practical and balanced, and they say when a free or cheaper option is enough.
  • Opinion is the editors' argued view on a practice or trend that affects buyers, such as auto-renewal pricing or subscription traps. Opinion pieces are clearly labelled as opinion, state one position early, give the strongest counter-argument fairly and source every factual claim. They criticise documented practices, not individuals, and never contain a call to buy anything.

Reviews and rankings

Our rankings and scores follow the methodology we publish on How We Rate: core performance, features, ease of use and value, weighted for each category. The written reviews explain the reasoning behind a product's place: what it is, who it suits, its key features, how its plans are structured, its privacy and security or support, what could be better and who should choose something else.

Product cards on our comparison pages highlight strengths. Trade-offs and limitations are covered in the buyer's guides, the methodology and the full reviews, and a review always names real downsides.

AI and research tools

Research and drafting at NerdBible may be assisted by software, including AI tools. Software does not decide what we publish. Every article is drafted as an unpublished draft, and an editor reviews it against its sources before it goes live. The same sourcing standards apply however a draft was produced, and anything that cannot be verified is removed.

Health, legal and money topics

NerdBible does not give medical, legal, tax or financial advice. Where a product touches health or money, we describe the product and report what official bodies and regulators say, and we tell readers to speak to a qualified professional before making a decision that depends on their own circumstances. We do not publish articles about medicines or about tax.

Conflicts of interest and affiliate relationships

We may have affiliate relationships with many of the providers we compare, and sometimes with several competitors in the same list. Having a relationship with a provider does not earn it a place, and lacking one does not keep a product out. A provider that wants to be reviewed can contact us, but inclusion is never guaranteed and scores are never for sale. Full details are in our advertiser disclosure.

Bylines

Our content is published under a collective byline: the NerdBible Editorial Team, the News Desk or the Editorial Board. We do not use individual bylines. Responsibility for every piece rests with NerdBible as a publication. The publisher's details are on our legal notice.

Corrections

When we get something wrong, we fix it and show when the page was updated. Our corrections and updates policy explains how to report an error and how we handle it.