What does the Amazon Associates program mean for you?
The Amazon Associates program means that when you follow a product link on AquaCompat and then buy something on Amazon, Amazon may pay AquaCompat a small percentage of that sale. You pay the same price you would pay by going to Amazon directly. Commissions are currently the site's only income, and they pay for hosting, source research and keeping the fact files up to date.
Affiliate links appear only on pages that recommend equipment: the aquarium equipment buyer guides, tank setup pages and a few health or setup guides where a specific product is part of the task, such as a test kit or a water conditioner. Species profiles, compatibility guides and tank mates hubs carry no product links.
How are affiliate links marked?
Affiliate links are marked in three ways, so you always know when a link can earn a commission.
- In the page. Product boxes carry a disclosure line stating that AquaCompat earns from qualifying purchases, placed above the products, and each product link is a labelled button that reads "Check price on Amazon".
- In the code. Every Amazon product link carries the attributes
rel="sponsored nofollow", which tell search engines the link is paid and should pass no ranking credit. - On every page. The site footer repeats the Amazon Associate statement, so the disclosure is visible even on pages without products.
Links to Amazon that appear in a page's source list, for example a manufacturer listing used to confirm a product specification, carry the same sponsored marking.
Why does AquaCompat not show prices?
AquaCompat does not show prices because Amazon's rules for displaying them cannot be met by a static website. Amazon requires any price shown by an affiliate to carry the time it was checked and to be removed or refreshed once it is more than 24 hours old. AquaCompat pages are built ahead of time and served as fixed files, so a printed price could go stale without warning. Product boxes therefore say "Check price on Amazon", and the button opens the current listing, where the price you see is the one Amazon is charging at that moment.
For the same reason, AquaCompat shows no star ratings, review counts, deal badges or "best overall" labels.
Do commissions influence verdicts or product choices?
No. Commissions do not influence compatibility verdicts, scores or the criteria used to pick products.
- Verdicts and scores come only from the species fact files and the published formula on the methodology page. No product or commission enters that calculation.
- Products are chosen by comparing manufacturers' published specifications, such as a heater's rated tank size or a filter's flow rate, against the need a guide covers. AquaCompat does not test equipment and does not claim to have used it.
- Listings are matched to the exact model and size named by the manufacturer. Bundles, kits, renewed items, accessories and listings from third-party sellers whose brand does not lead the title are rejected, even though they could earn a commission.
- Limits are stated alongside strengths. Each product note says who should avoid the product, based on its specifications.
No manufacturer, retailer or brand pays AquaCompat for placement in a guide or for a place in a product list.
Where do product images come from?
Product images in product boxes are loaded directly from Amazon's image servers, using the image Amazon supplies for that listing. When a page with a product box loads, your browser requests those images from Amazon, as it would for any image hosted elsewhere. The AquaCompat privacy policy explains what that request involves. Species photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under the licence credited beneath each photo and have nothing to do with the affiliate program.
Where can you ask about this disclosure?
If a link looks unmarked or a product note seems to favour a product without a reason in its specifications, report it through the contact page with the page address and the product name. The About AquaCompat page describes how the site is run and funded more broadly.
More on how the site works is on the about page and the AquaCompat editorial team page.