RustGamblingReviews earns money through affiliate links. This page explains exactly what that means, in plain English, so you can judge our reviews with all the facts in front of you.
How /go/ links work
The "Visit" buttons on our reviews, rankings and bonus code pages point to addresses on our own site that start with /go/, for example /go/rusteasy. When you click one:
- Our server records the click: which link, which page it was on, and when. Your IP address is not stored.
- It redirects you to the partner site using our referral link.
- The partner notes that you arrived through us, usually from a referral code in the address or a cookie it sets itself.
- If you create an account and play, the partner credits that account to us.
Promo codes work the same way. Most of the codes on our bonus codes page are our referral codes, so entering one at sign-up links your account to us even if you never clicked a /go/ link.
We never pass your name, email address or other details to partners. They receive only what any website receives when your browser visits it. Our privacy policy has the details.
How we get paid
Partners pay us in one of two ways, and some deals combine both:
- Revenue share. We receive a percentage of the net revenue a site makes from players we referred, usually for as long as the referred account stays active. Net revenue is roughly what those players lose, minus bonuses and certain costs.
- CPA (cost per acquisition). We receive a one-off fixed fee when a referred player meets a condition set by the partner, such as making a first deposit.
We want to be straight about the first model. Revenue share means our income goes up when the players we send lose money. We cannot remove that conflict, so we manage it in the open: we publish our scoring method, we keep saying that the house edge wins over time, and we point readers to our responsible gambling page rather than tucking it away.
It costs you nothing
Using our links or codes does not change the price of anything, the odds of any game or the fees you pay. You see the same site, the same games and the same terms as everyone else. In many cases the referral code is also what gives you the signup offer we list, so using it can leave you slightly better off than signing up without one.
Partners cannot buy rankings
The order of our rankings comes from the scoring method set out on our how we rate page: six criteria, fixed weights and the same tests for every site. Commission rates appear nowhere in that formula.
A partner cannot pay for a higher position, a better score, a softer review or the removal of criticism. Partners are re-checked on the same monthly schedule as every other site, and they lose points, or come off the list entirely, under the same rules. A site's score would be exactly the same whether it paid us a lot, a little or nothing at all.
Sponsored placements
We do not run sponsored placements at the moment. If we ever do, for example a paid banner or a featured slot, it will be:
- labelled "Sponsored" or "Advertisement" directly on the placement, where you cannot miss it
- kept separate from the ranked list and from all scores
- listed on this page, with the date it started
A paid placement will never be presented as an editorial pick, and paying for one will never change a site's score or its position in our rankings.
Questions
If something here is unclear, or you think one of our pages breaks these rules, email contact@rustgamblingreviews.com or use our contact page. Our wider standards are set out in our editorial policy.