How we work
Editorial Policy
How picks are chosen, what 'Last verified' means, how often each kind of page is checked again, and what happens when we get something wrong.
Last updated 2026-09-08
How picks are chosen and ranked
Every ranked page runs through the same published scoring rubric. Six axes, each fed by a published manufacturer figure, with any axis lacking a published input dropped and the remaining weights re-normalized. The axes, their weights and their per-category bands are set out on how we research, and the working for every score is printed underneath the score itself.
Where the rubric produces an order we disagree with editorially, we do not override the number — we say so in the prose and explain why. The top pick named in a page’s opening verdict is always the product the rubric ranks first, and where a page recommends something different for a specific reader, that reason is stated in the same sentence.
Commission never affects rank
There is no commission field in the product data and no commission term in the rubric. It is not weighted at zero; it is absent, which is a stronger guarantee because there is nothing to change.
Several products on this site are sold direct by manufacturers whose affiliate programs we have not joined. Where one of those is the right answer, it is named as the right answer and the page states plainly that a click there earns us nothing. That is the test of this policy and it is why those products are present at all.
Every ranked page names something to skip
At least one product on every roundup is one we recommend against, with the specific reason, in the context of that page’s question. A roundup where every product wins is an advertisement wearing a review’s clothes, and naming a skip is the cheapest credible signal available to a site that cannot claim testing.
A skip is not a claim that a product is bad. It is usually a claim that it is the wrong purchase for the question the page is answering — a professional-line product for somebody with one car, a kit whose contents are unpublished, a machine whose maker publishes two specifications when a cheaper one publishes five.
What “Last verified” means
It means somebody opened every source cited on that page on that date and confirmed the figures still match. It does not mean the page was published then, and it does not mean the date was bumped because the page was edited for style.
Four of the ten competitor pages surveyed before this site was built carried the current year in their titles on content that was stale or entirely undated. That is the failure this policy exists to avoid, and it is why the date on our pages is labeled “verified” rather than “updated”.
Re-verification cadence
| Page type | Re-verified | What gets checked |
|---|---|---|
| Ranked picks | Every 90 days | Product still sold, specifications unchanged, no newer model, links resolve, top pick still correct |
| Head-to-head comparisons | Every 120 days | Both products current, no new model in either line, figures unchanged |
| Guides | Every 180 days | Technique still current, product links resolve, referenced figures still published |
| Trust pages | Every 180 days, and immediately on any policy change | Accuracy of every claim about how we work |
| Glossary | Every 180 days | Terms still current and correctly defined |
Corrections
Errors are fixed in place. The page is corrected, the Last verified date is updated, and where the correction is material a dated note is added saying what changed. Nothing is silently deleted, and no page is quietly unpublished to make an error go away.
- A wrong figure: corrected, with a dated note if it changed a recommendation.
- A changed manufacturer specification: updated, dated, and the scoring recalculated if the change affects it.
- A discontinued product: marked on the page and replaced in the ranking at the next verification.
- A page we can no longer source properly: the gap is stated on the page rather than filled from elsewhere.
What we will not publish
- A claim that we tested, owned, used or measured any product.
- Any credential, qualification, tenure or expertise claim for our author.
- A rating, star count or review score we did not produce, or any structured-data Review markup at all.
- A testimonial. This site sells nothing and has no customers, so there are none to have.
- A price from memory. Prices come from a live data layer with a 48-hour freshness gate or the button says 'Check price'.
- A figure without a source, in any table, on any page.
Sponsorship, free product and paid placement
None accepted, ever. If that changes, the change will be published here first and disclosed on every affected page before anything else. The site’s only revenue is Amazon Associates commission, described in full on the affiliate disclosure.