Advertising Policy
Sentrly is reader-funded and ad-supported. This page documents how we handle advertising, sponsorships, and the firewall between revenue and editorial.
Last updated: 2026-05-02
Why we run ads
Independent journalism on privacy and security costs money to produce. We pay analysts, fact-checkers, editors, and infrastructure costs. Display advertising via Google AdSense funds the work and lets us keep the site free to read, with no paywall.
What kinds of ads appear
The site displays programmatic display ads served by Google AdSense. Ads are shown in clearly demarcated slots above, between, and below editorial content. We do not run autoplay video ads, audio ads, or full-page interstitials in the reading flow.
The specific ads any given reader sees are determined by Google's ad-serving system based on Google's understanding of that reader, not by us. We do not have a list of advertisers, do not approve individual creatives, and do not see a billing relationship with the brands shown.
Editorial firewall
This is the rule that matters: no advertiser influences any editorial decision on this site.
- We do not accept payment in exchange for editorial coverage, recommendations, rankings, or favourable mentions.
- We do not modify, alter, retract, or soften published content at the request of advertisers.
- If an advertiser pulls their advertising because of our coverage, that is the advertiser's choice and does not change our editorial.
- The editorial team cannot see which advertisers are bidding on which pages. Our writers and editors do not have access to advertising revenue data at the page level.
Sponsored content
If we ever publish sponsored content (we currently do not), it will be:
- Visually distinct from editorial — different layout, banner, or container.
- Labelled clearly with the word "Sponsored" at the top of the article.
- Excluded from category landing pages and search rankings within our site.
- Excluded from any "best of" or comparative editorial.
- Subject to our fact-check standards even when the sponsor wrote the first draft.
Affiliate links
See our separate Affiliate Disclosure. The short version: we may earn a small commission when readers buy products via our outbound links. The commission does not change which products we recommend, the order they appear in our comparisons, or what we say about them.
What we will not run
- Ads for malware, scareware, "PC cleaner" software, or fake antivirus.
- Ads for adult content or gambling on any page.
- Ads for cryptocurrency tokens, ICOs, or "trading signal" services.
- Native ads designed to look like editorial content.
- Pop-ups or pop-unders.
If you encounter an ad on this site that violates these rules, please report it via our Contact page with the page URL and a screenshot. Programmatic ads are dynamic, so individual creatives sometimes slip through Google's filters; we'll add the offending advertiser to our blocklist.
Reader controls
You can opt out of personalised ads at Google's Ads Settings and via the Your Online Choices portal (EU). Browser-based ad blockers are also fully supported — we do not detect or restrict access for ad-blocking users.
Questions or complaints
If you have questions about this policy, see something that looks like a violation, or want to report an issue with an ad shown on this site, contact us at hello@sentrly.com.