How the site is funded
Affiliate commission: when you open an account with an operator through one of our links, the operator may pay us. You pay nothing extra, and the offer is the same one available directly. Every page with such links carries a disclosure before the links.
We do not sell display advertising, sponsored articles or paid placement today. If that changes, the change will be visible on this page before it appears anywhere on the site, and the rules below will still apply.
What money cannot buy
- A conclusion, a score or a position on a page.
- A page. We cover operators we choose, not operators who ask.
- Removal of a negative finding or a caveat.
- Coverage of an operator that excludes the reader's state.
- Language that presents a redemption as a guaranteed payout.
We have declined programmes that asked for approval over copy or placement. The commercial relationship is a link, not an editorial seat, and a programme that wants the seat is a programme we do not join.
Disclosure placement
Disclosure appears before the first affiliate link, in text a reader can see without interaction, not hidden in a footer, not inside a tooltip, not in a collapsed section. On pages where every outbound operator link is an affiliate link, the disclosure says so once, clearly, rather than repeating it beside every button.
Where a page contains no affiliate links, there is nothing to disclose, and we do not add a disclosure to create the impression of transparency where no commercial relationship exists.
Claims we will not publish
- Guaranteed wins, risk-free profit or "beating the system".
- Guaranteed payouts, instant redemption or "always pays" claims.
- Fake urgency, invented countdowns or manufactured scarcity.
- Bonus terms described without their play-through, cap or expiry.
- Testimonials from people we cannot identify and have not spoken to.
- Any suggestion that a VPN makes a restricted state eligible.
The test we apply is simple: would a reader who understands the model feel misled by this sentence? If the answer is yes, the sentence does not run, regardless of how well it converts.
State restrictions
We do not promote an operator in a state its own terms exclude. When a state is closed, the page says so and does not route the reader to a sign-up that cannot complete. That is stricter than much of the market, and it is the only defensible position: a conversion that cannot pay out is not a conversion, it is a complaint waiting to happen.
We also do not run advertising that targets closed states, and we do not use language that implies availability where the operator's own list says otherwise. Where a state's status is contested or changing, the page says that instead of implying certainty.
Age and audience
Sweepstakes products are 18+ or 21+ depending on the operator and state, and we write for an adult audience. We do not target minors, we do not use creative that appeals to children, and we do not place gambling content in contexts aimed at young audiences.
Where an operator sets a higher minimum age than the state, we describe the operator's rule, not the state's floor. The stricter number is the one a reader needs.
Editorial separation
Commercial and editorial work are separated. The people who negotiate affiliate terms do not write or approve coverage, and the people who write coverage do not know the commission rate for the brand they are covering. That is a small structural safeguard, and it is more than most sites in this category can claim.
When a page mentions an operator with no affiliate programme, or a brand we cannot link to, the page still covers it if it is relevant. Coverage is not conditional on monetisation.
What we will not accept
We do not accept payment for a mention, a link placement inside body copy, a quote attributed to us, or a "review" written by the operator's own team. We do not accept exclusivity agreements that would require us to remove a competitor, and we do not accept language that presents a bonus as cash.
We also do not accept programme terms that require us to hide the state restrictions. If a programme asks us to promote a brand in a state its own terms exclude, we decline the programme, not the disclosure. That has cost us partnerships, and it is the cheapest way to keep the site honest.
Third-party links and sources
Links to regulators, statutes and research are not affiliate links. They are there because the claim needs a source, and they carry no tracking parameter. If a source disappears, the page is updated rather than left pointing at a dead link.
Complaints
If you believe an advertisement or a page breaches this policy, write to editorial@casinotrustcenter.com with the URL and the specific claim. We investigate, correct where we are wrong, and publish the correction with a date. The editorial policy explains how corrections work.
See also the affiliate disclosure and responsible play. A policy that is never applied is decoration; this one has declined programmes, removed pages and ended relationships, and it will do so again.
Why this site does not rank brands
A ranking is the most commercially valuable page a gambling site can publish, and it is the one this site does not have. The reason is not modesty. A ranking requires a sample, a criterion and a measurement, and with two full terms audits and sixteen first-party reads we still have no way to measure payout behaviour and no observation of a single redemption.
The commercial pressure points the other way. A ranked list can be sold by position, an unranked reference cannot, and a page that says “we could not measure this” earns less than one that says “best in 2026”. That is precisely why a ranking on a site this size would be a marketing product rather than a finding.
What we do instead is describe each operator against the same criteria and let a reader compare. The criteria are published, the description is dated, and the conclusion is the reader's. That is a worse product commercially and a better one editorially, and the choice is deliberate.
What the affiliate relationships do not cover
A commercial relationship with an operator does not buy a place in a state table, a mention in a guide or a change to a description. The state table is computed from the operator's own list, and the guides cite regulators and statutes rather than brands.
It also does not buy silence. Where an operator's terms are thin, contradictory or unavailable, the page says so, and a reader who has read a brand page will find the same cautions whether or not there is a commercial relationship behind it.
The one thing a relationship does buy is a route to ask questions. An operator that wants coverage can answer a support ticket like anyone else, and the answer is treated as an operator claim rather than as evidence.
Advertising we would accept, and advertising we would not
We would accept a clearly labelled placement for a licensed product in a jurisdiction where it is lawful, with the terms of the offer stated and a link to the operator's own terms. We would accept a sponsorship that is disclosed on every page it touches.
We would not accept a placement for a product we cannot describe, a claim we cannot source, a bonus described without its conditions, or a payment conditional on a favourable assessment. We would not accept any arrangement that required us to remove a page or soften a caution.
That list is short because the market is small and the offers are few. If it grows, this page will grow with it, and the line between a placement and an assessment will stay where it is.
How a reader can tell an advertisement from a page
Every commercial link on this site is labelled, and the label names the relationship rather than hiding it behind a footnote. A link with no label is not commercial, which is the useful default for a reader to assume.
The second tell is the destination. A commercial link goes to an operator's own sign-up page with a tracking parameter; an editorial link goes to a regulator, a statute or another page here. The two behave differently and the difference is visible before the click.
The third tell is the claim. A page that describes what an operator's terms say is editorial; a placement that says a brand is the best is advertising, and this site does not publish the second in an editorial slot.