Advertising Disclosure

BestGuide is free to use. We keep it free by earning money from some of the companies we write about. This page explains how that works and how it affects what you see.

How we make money

Some companies pay us when you click a link, call a phone number, request a quote or submit a form through BestGuide, or when you buy something after visiting their site from ours. Some of those links and forms are on BestGuide pages built for a single company, where you can ask that company for a quote. When you submit a form, we share the information you enter with the company or companies you choose, as described on that form and in our privacy policy.

We may also be paid a flat fee to feature a company in a clearly labeled spot that sits outside the ranking.

Partner labels

A company that pays us is a BestGuide Partner. Wherever a paid link or button for that company appears, it is labeled “BestGuide Partner,” and the link is marked as sponsored for search engines. Some links to retailers and shopping sites, such as Amazon, can also earn us a small commission on a purchase; those links are marked as sponsored for search engines.

Effect on rankings

Verified partners are scored on our partner verification program and can be listed first in a ranking; they are always labeled BestGuide Partner. Other companies are listed by their rating, and our editors break ties. Compensation can affect which companies have a paid “Get started” button and which companies appear in a labeled featured spot. It does not change what a review says about a company’s fees, terms, complaints or regulatory record.

Effect on ratings

Tax relief. Every company is scored on the same six published factors with published weights. Verified partners can be listed first, as described above. Companies we have not verified directly are scored from public records only. See how we score tax relief companies.

All other categories. Ratings come from the editorial scoring described on our how we rate page, which weighs reputation, services, transparency, customer satisfaction and scale. Companies cannot pay to raise a rating.

When paid buttons are removed

We do not show a paid “Get started” button for a company when our own review warns readers off it or when the company carries a status banner (closed, changed hands, recall or enforcement action). In those cases the page keeps the review and a plain link, or no link at all.

What we don’t do

• We don’t accept payment to change the facts in a review or to remove negative information.
• We don’t present paid placements as rankings or as editorial findings.
• We don’t let companies review or approve pages before publication.
• We aren’t a lender, insurer, law firm, tax firm, medical provider or government agency, and we don’t provide financial, legal, tax, insurance or medical advice.

Awards and badges

“Best for” badges name the use a company fits best, chosen by our editors from the facts on the page. In tax relief, the badge goes to the ranked company with the highest sub-score on that factor. A company that uses a BestGuide badge or ranking in its own advertising must state the year, link to this page and disclose that it pays BestGuide.

Questions

Contact us at [email protected].