Who pays for this
Every way this site could take money from the businesses it lists, why it takes none of them, and the mechanism that makes that checkable rather than a thing you simply have to believe.
The five things we could sell, and do not
These are the standard revenue models of the category. How directories actually work takes each apart in detail. Every one of them can be run honestly and disclosed. We run none of them.
| Model | What it would look like here | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Paid inclusion | A business pays to appear in the register at all. | Never. There is no priced route into the register. |
| Paid position | A business pays to appear earlier, more often, or as 'featured'. | Never. There is no position to sell — nothing here is ordered by merit. |
| Lead sale | Your enquiry is captured and sold to businesses that bid for it. | Never. We capture no enquiries and operate no contact forms on behalf of listed businesses. |
| Affiliate | We earn a commission when you click through and buy. | Never inside a register record, category page, tombstone or the stumble. The site's preferred position is to have none at all. |
| Data resale | The register is licensed or rented as a lead list. | Never. Operator contact data is not a product and reselling the register is forbidden to us as well as to consumers of it. |
Why a promise is not enough
Every listing site says it is independent at the start. What makes the claim checkable is whether the thing is structurally possible, and here it is not — not because we are unusually virtuous, but because the machinery was built to refuse it.
- The record structure has no field for a rating, a rank, a tier, a sponsorship or a paid placement.
- The build rejects those field names outright, so a future editor cannot quietly add one and have the site publish.
- The rotation behind the stumble takes no commercial input, and its rules are published.
- Publisher-owned properties must be clearly disclosed under the published ownership policy, alongside the same evidence requirements as other entries.
None of that is impossible to circumvent, and we will not claim it is. What we would have to do to become the thing we criticise names the external signals you could watch for.
What we do earn from, currently
Nothing. The site sells nothing at present and carries no advertising, no sponsorship and no affiliate links.
If that changes, this page changes first, and the change appears here and on about this site before it appears anywhere else. It will never appear inside a register record.
What we might earn from later, and the rules attached
- No sponsored email service. Register records and editorial methods remain free to read on the site.
- Paid resources for operators, sold only on editorial pages. Buying one has no effect on register consideration, and that rule is written into the entry bar rather than only stated here.
- Reader support, if there is ever a track record worth supporting.
Each of those sits outside the register by construction. None of them creates a route by which a listed business can pay us for anything.
If a listed business offers us money
We decline. Not 'we disclose it' — decline. There is no arrangement available to a business in the register, including sponsorship of anything, because the separation stops working the moment there is one exception to point at.
Removal is free
Some listing sites charge to remove a listing, or make removal slow enough that paying feels easier. Request removal is free, immediate, requires no reason and involves no attempt to keep you. If you want out, you are out.
Questions about money
So how does this site pay for itself right now?
It does not earn anything. It is a small operation and the costs are correspondingly small. We would rather say that plainly than imply a business model that does not exist.
Would you take money to remove a listing?
No. Removal is free and unconditional. Charging for removal turns a register into a hostage situation, which is one of the specific patterns the directory literacy work exists to expose.
Can a business sponsor the site if it is not in the register?
No sponsored email service or paid register placement is offered. A business cannot buy consideration, inclusion, or priority.
Are there really no affiliate links anywhere?
There are none in any register record, category page, tombstone or on the stumble, permanently. Elsewhere on the site the position is to have none, and if one ever appeared it would carry a visible disclosure immediately next to it.
Do you sell or share reader data?
No. We do not sell, rent or share reader or operator data, and the register may not be licensed as a lead list by anyone, including us. The agent contract states that for machine consumers too.
Isn't refusing money just a way of having no business model?
Partly, yes, and we would rather be honest about the tension than pretend it is solved. The register is small and slow precisely because nothing is subsidising it.
How would I catch you if this changed?
Look for a rating field appearing anywhere, a 'featured' or 'premium' label, an affiliate link inside a record, or the publisher's own properties turning up in the register. Those are the tells, and they are listed on purpose.
This page is updated whenever a revenue source changes, before the change appears anywhere else on the site.