Publishing standards

Sponsored content policy

How promoted placements are labelled, linked and disclosed, every time, without exception.

Last updated: EDITABLE: last updated date

Labelling

Every paid article carries a visible Sponsored or Promoted label above the headline, and the same label appears in every index listing, bulletin inclusion and social share.

The label is never abbreviated, greyed out or placed below the fold.

Links and search

All outbound links inside sponsored articles carry rel="sponsored nofollow".

Sponsored articles are excluded from the news sitemap and are marked in structured data with a sponsor attribution.

What paid placement buys

Guaranteed publication, guaranteed placement, a scheduled date, control of the client message and copy approval, plus the amplification stated in the tier.

It does not buy editorial endorsement, favourable coverage elsewhere, or influence over unrelated reporting.

Compliance

Disclosure is designed to meet Australian Consumer Law requirements on misleading and deceptive conduct, and search engine guidance on paid links.

If a placement cannot be disclosed clearly, we do not run it.