Advertising disclosure
How BizInsuranceCompare makes money, what our commercial relationships look like, and why they don't influence our ratings or recommendations.
The short version
BizInsuranceCompare.com earns money in several ways, including commissions when readers click our links and purchase insurance coverage from the carriers and brokers we cover. This is standard in online publishing, and it's how we fund the research, writing, and editorial work that makes this site useful.
We disclose this clearly so you know what you're reading. We maintain editorial independence from the companies that pay us, which means we publish our honest analysis. Including criticism of carriers and products we earn commissions from when the facts support it.
If you ever believe a piece of content on this site was influenced by our commercial relationships, email editor@bizinsurancecompare.com. We take that seriously.
How we make money
BizInsuranceCompare.com generates revenue through the following channels:
1. Affiliate commissions
When you click a link on our site that takes you to a carrier, broker, or aggregator, and you subsequently purchase coverage from them, we may earn a commission. This happens automatically through tracking cookies or referral codes. You don't pay more because you arrived through our link, and the commission comes from the carrier's customer acquisition budget, not from you.
Typical commission structures in our category include:
- Per-lead payments: the carrier or aggregator pays us a flat fee when a reader fills out a quote request
- Per-bound-policy payments: the carrier pays us a flat fee when a reader actually purchases coverage
- Revenue share: the carrier or broker pays us a percentage of the first-year premium on coverage purchased through our referral
Specific commission amounts vary by carrier and program.
2. Lead-generation partnerships
For some content, we partner with insurance aggregators and quote engines to present multiple carrier options in a single form. When readers use these tools, we may receive payment based on whether a quote was requested, whether the lead was sold to a carrier, or whether a policy was ultimately bound.
When you use a quote tool on our site, you can see the aggregator partner's name in the tool's branding or disclosure. We only partner with aggregators that we believe deliver legitimate quote comparisons and reasonable data privacy practices.
3. Sponsored placements
Some placements on BizInsuranceCompare.com are paid for by the carriers or brokers featured in them. When a placement is paid, it's clearly labeled "Sponsored" or "Paid Placement" on that specific location. We don't disguise sponsored content as editorial content.
Our editorial team does not accept sponsorship in exchange for positive coverage in non-sponsored editorial content. Sponsored placements are commercial transactions distinct from our editorial coverage.
4. Newsletter sponsorships
Our email newsletter occasionally includes sponsored messages from carriers, brokers, or adjacent small business services. Sponsored messages are clearly labeled as such within the newsletter.
5. Direct broker commissions (when applicable)
If and when BizInsuranceCompare.com becomes a licensed broker of record on policies sold through the site, we'll earn standard broker commissions on those policies. This will be clearly disclosed on relevant pages and at point of sale.
How commercial relationships affect our content
They don't, in terms of what we publish.
Commercial relationships affect two things only:
- Whether we have affiliate links for a given carrier. Some carriers we cover have active affiliate programs; others don't. This affects whether a carrier's mention includes a clickable link, not whether or how we cover them.
- Whether a placement is "Sponsored." Paid placements are explicitly labeled. Unsponsored editorial is explicitly not paid.
Commercial relationships do not affect:
- Our overall ratings. A carrier's rating reflects our analysis against our published methodology, not the commission they pay us.
- Our rankings. When we rank carriers within an industry or category, the ranking reflects editorial judgment applied to our methodology, not commission structure.
- Our criticism. We publish negative findings about carriers and products we earn commissions from when the evidence supports it. Complaint data, coverage limitations, pricing issues, and customer experience problems are published regardless of whether we earn commissions from the carrier in question.
- Which carriers we cover. Our coverage decisions are based on reader demand, market relevance, and data availability. Not on commission potential.
- Our recommendations. When we recommend a carrier for a specific use case, the recommendation reflects our analysis, not commission considerations.
Concrete example
If Carrier A pays us a $200 commission per bound policy and Carrier B pays us $50 per bound policy, but Carrier B is a better fit for a specific industry based on our methodology, we will rank Carrier B higher for that industry and recommend them accordingly. This is the entire point of maintaining editorial independence. Readers can trust our recommendations because they're not up for sale.
What "disclosed per FTC guidelines" means
The Federal Trade Commission requires that affiliate relationships be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. The FTC guidelines require that disclosures:
- Be made close to the relevant content (not hidden in fine print)
- Use clear language (not vague phrases like "may receive compensation")
- Appear before the reader would need the information (before, not after, the affiliate link)
- Use a reasonable font size and color contrast
- Apply across all platforms (website, email, social media)
BizInsuranceCompare.com complies with these guidelines by:
- Displaying a disclosure banner on every page that contains affiliate links
- Including clear disclosure language on pages with affiliate content
- Labeling sponsored placements explicitly as "Sponsored" or "Paid Placement"
- Disclosing our revenue model on this dedicated disclosure page
- Including disclosure language in our newsletter communications
- Complying with platform-specific disclosure requirements when we share content on social media
Cookies and tracking
When you click an affiliate link on BizInsuranceCompare.com, a tracking cookie may be placed in your browser by the carrier, aggregator, or affiliate network. This cookie is how we receive credit (and commission) if you complete a purchase.
Cookie durations vary by partner. Typical ranges are 7 to 90 days. If you disable cookies in your browser, our affiliate links may not track properly, but you can still navigate to any carrier's site directly.
We do not sell personal data to third parties. For details on our data handling, see our Privacy Policy.
Why we disclose this voluntarily, beyond the legal requirement
We believe readers who know exactly how we make money are better positioned to evaluate our content. A reader who knows we earn commissions can weigh that information against our published methodology and editorial independence commitments.
Hiding our revenue model, or downplaying it with vague language, would undermine the trust that makes this site useful. We'd rather be direct:
- We make money when readers purchase coverage through our links.
- We make money when readers use our quote tools.
- We make money from sponsored placements that are clearly labeled.
- We do not adjust our editorial analysis based on these revenue considerations.
- You can verify this by looking at how we cover carriers we earn commissions from. We publish their weaknesses alongside their strengths.
If this is a deal-breaker for you, we understand. There are other resources on small business insurance that don't have commercial relationships. Some are more useful than others, and all of them have different tradeoffs. If you find one you like, use it.
Questions
If you have specific questions about our commercial relationships, how we handle a particular piece of content, or whether a specific relationship influenced our coverage, email travis@bizinsurancecompare.com. We respond to substantive questions within five business days.
Legal note
BizInsuranceCompare.com is an independent editorial publication. It is not an insurance carrier, not a licensed insurance agency (at this time), and not a broker of record on policies sold through the site (at this time). When we refer you to carriers, brokers, or aggregators, you are transacting with those entities directly. Their terms, privacy policies, and customer service policies apply to your relationship with them.
For full terms governing your use of this site, see our Terms of Use. For information on how we collect and handle personal data, see our Privacy Policy.