The rule
Every comparison post on MOTCost ends with a verdict. The affiliate slot in the same post — the "Mobile mechanic" or "Used-car warranty" link — points at a product matched to that verdict's winning car, computed from the same data path that picked the winner.
The slot product is the output, not an input. We cannot pick the affiliate first and shape the verdict to fit.
How it works in practice
A comparison post declares two cars. The build pipeline reads the live MOT record, picks the winner by first-time pass rate plus cohort consistency, and surfaces that car's top failure category. The affiliate slot then renders the product matched to that failure category — first from our trade product feed, otherwise a fallback retailer search, otherwise the slot stays empty.
An empty slot is the right outcome when no good product matches the winner's top failure. We'd rather earn nothing on a post than break the rule above.
Why we wrote it this way
Editorial-vs-commercial separation is usually a policy: an editor promises not to let advertisers shape coverage. Every reader has to take the editor's word for it. We didn't want to ask for that trust — domain's too young, stakes are too clear when the data points one way and the cheque points another.
So we wired the rule into the build. The slot's product is a function of the same numbers that produced the verdict. They cannot disagree because they come from the same path.
What this means for readers
- The product we link is the one our model points at, not the one that pays best.
- If we have nothing useful to recommend, the slot stays empty.
- Long-reads carry no commercial slots by default. Linkbait integrity matters more than per-post revenue.
- Newsroom data drops carry no commercial slots. Pure news, on purpose.
What this means for advertisers
You cannot buy a placement on a comparison post. You can join our product feed. If the data points your way on the winning car, the slot is yours; if not, it's not. The decision is the data's.
Disclosure
Affiliate links are flagged inline as "Affiliate · we earn a small commission". Sitewide footer disclosure lives on every page. Editorial relationships are documented per post in machine-readable JSON-LD; we don't hide a partnership in a footnote.
Corrections
Spotted a verdict that contradicts the underlying data, or an affiliate slot that doesn't match the winning car? Email [email protected] — we treat that as a build bug, not an opinion difference, and fix it same day.