How we make money

ACIE takes part in affiliate programmes run by the marketplaces it lists. When you follow an outbound link and buy something, the marketplace may pay ACIE a commission. You pay the same price either way.

What that changes, and what it does not

It does not change the ranking. Commission is stored where the ranking code cannot reach it, and the order you see is the same order a visitor generates for a product ACIE earns nothing from.

Sponsored placements are the one paid surface. They are sold separately, appear in their own labelled block with the disclosure the programme requires, and are never mixed into the ranked results.

Outbound links

An outbound link carries a signed token identifying the offer you clicked and the programme it belongs to. That is what lets a marketplace attribute a purchase, and it is also what stops the link being edited into a redirect to somewhere else: a tampered destination or signature is refused rather than followed.