Last updated: 20 September 2026
This page is short on purpose. The rules below are absolute, and there is no version of this publication in which they bend.
What you cannot buy
You cannot buy a review. Coverage is an editorial decision. Money does not get a tool onto this directory, and no amount of it gets a tool reviewed sooner.
You cannot buy a score. The five criteria are applied the same way to every tool, whatever the commercial relationship. No vendor has ever paid to influence a score, and none ever will.
You cannot buy a Top Pick or an Editor's Choice. Those are the two things on this site that carry the most weight with readers, so they are the two we guard hardest. They are earned on the criteria, including the Australian Fit gate, or they are not awarded.
You cannot buy placement. Position in a roundup, a comparison or the directory reflects our judgement, not a rate card.
You cannot buy the removal or softening of a negative review. A published piece stays published. If it's wrong it gets corrected in public; if it's unflattering it stays unflattering.
You cannot see a review before it runs. We don't send drafts to vendors for approval, comment or "fact-checking" ahead of publication.
You cannot buy a byline. No vendor-written content is published under our byline. Every piece is written and signed by the editor.
If a vendor proposes any of the above, the answer is no. We keep a file of those approaches, in case a pattern is ever worth writing about.
What we do sell, and how it is labelled
We are allowed to make money. We are not allowed to be quiet about it.
Sponsored content. If we ever run a piece paid for by a vendor, it carries the word SPONSORED in the headline. Not in a footer, not in small grey type under the fold. The sponsoring vendor is named at the top of the piece. It is not scored, and it appears in no roundup or "best of" recommendation. It never counts toward a Top Pick or an Editor's Choice.
Newsletter sponsorship and display advertising. These are sold separately from editorial, and an ad never runs alongside a review of the advertised product. Ads are visually distinct from editorial and labelled.
Affiliate links. Where an affiliate link exists, it is disclosed inline — beside the link, in the same paragraph, table cell or call to action. Every one is also listed on the Affiliate Disclosure page. As at the date at the foot of this page we hold no active affiliate relationships. No link on this site earns us a commission.
Sponsorship buys attention. It does not buy a verdict.
Briefings, demos and gifts
We accept vendor briefings and product demos. They are useful for context and they earn nothing. If a briefing informed a piece, we say so on that piece.
We don't accept press trips. We don't accept free hardware we don't return. We don't accept gifts beyond nominal value. Extended trial or review access is accepted where it is the only way to test a product, and it is disclosed on the review.
Why the line is drawn here
Reader trust is the only asset this publication has. A directory that sells its verdicts is worth nothing to a reader and, quickly, nothing to an advertiser either.
If we ever can't hold a line on this page, the honest move is to say so publicly rather than quietly stop applying it.
Advertising enquiries
Email adam@theaidirectory.com.au with PARTNERSHIP in the subject line. We'll tell you plainly what is and isn't available.
Related: Affiliate Disclosure · Editorial and Corrections Policy · Methodology
Last reviewed: 20 September 2026. This page is reviewed quarterly, and updated whenever a commercial arrangement is added, changed or ended. Next review due: 20 December 2026.
Update history
- 20 Sep 2026 — First version. Formalises the commitments previously stated on the Affiliate Disclosure and Contact pages.