DisclosureWhat is paid, what is not, and what it can never buy
How we make money, and what money cannot buy here
No outbound link on this site carries a referral arrangement today: nothing here earns SeaRates a fee when a reader clicks through. Referral links are the entire commercial model when they appear, and the terms below are the standing ones. Ranking order, inclusion in a list, and every published figure are decided before and independently of any payment. No company has paid to appear, to move position or to be removed, and none can.
What is paid and what is not
| Can be paid | Never paid, never for sale |
|---|---|
| A referral fee when a reader clicks through and transacts | Position in any ranking |
| A flat listing fee for a link marked as such | Inclusion in, or removal from, a list |
| The wording of a finding, or its removal | |
| Any figure, any measurement, any reading date |
Where a page carries a referral link, the rate is published on that page. A link without a published rate carries no arrangement.
Why this is stated so plainly
The Federal Trade Commission requires a material connection between a publisher and a seller to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, close to the recommendation rather than buried. This page is the full statement; the short form appears on every page that carries such a link.
There is a second reason, which is self-interested. A site whose whole claim is that figures are checkable cannot ask readers to take its independence on trust. Publishing the arrangement in full is the only version of that claim that survives being checked.
What to do if you think a finding was bought
Say so, and name the page. A correction that arrives with a source is published with the date it was made, and the original figure stays visible in the change note. That applies to a disputed finding exactly as it applies to a disputed number.
Nothing on this site is a recommendation to book with any company. A licence is a floor, not an endorsement: it excludes the counterparty that cannot be complained to, which is a smaller claim than a badge implies and a more reliable one.