Ownership & Funding
Why we publish this
When you read a review of a CBD oil or a profile of a strain, the first question a careful reader should ask is: who pays these people, and what does that money want? CBD STRAINS ONLY answers that question in public, on this page, because trust in our reporting depends on you being able to see the incentives behind it.
Who owns this site
CBD STRAINS ONLY is an independent publication, owned and operated by the small editorial team that produces it. There is no parent media group, no cannabis industry owner, no dispensary chain, no seed bank, no CBD brand, and no outside investor holding a stake in this site. No company we cover holds any ownership interest in us, and no member of the team holds an undisclosed financial interest in a company we cover; where any potential conflict exists, the person involved is recused from the coverage, as our Editorial Standards require.
What independence means in practice
Independence is not a mood, it is an operating constraint. It means a poor lab result gets reported even when the product came from a brand that advertises with us. It means no one outside the editorial team sees articles before publication. It means coverage decisions are made on reader interest and evidence, and there is no internal mechanism, formal or informal, by which a commercial relationship can change a conclusion, a score, or a headline. If that ever ceases to be true, this page will be the first thing that has to be rewritten, which is precisely why it exists.
Where the money comes from
Running the site costs money: hosting, tools, product purchases for review, and the team’s time. Revenue comes from two sources, both disclosed.
Advertising
Display advertisements appear on the site, served through advertising networks and, occasionally, booked directly. Advertisers buy space and audience; they do not buy coverage, favorable treatment, advance sight of articles, or protection from criticism. Sponsored material, where it exists at all, is clearly labeled as such and is never dressed up as an independent review or profile. The rules advertisers agree to are on our Advertise With Us page.
Affiliate commissions
Some articles contain affiliate links: if you click one and make a purchase from the third party retailer, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Three rules keep this honest. First, disclosure: every page carrying affiliate links says so, plainly, where you will see it. Second, sequence: editorial evaluation happens first, affiliate arrangements second; we do not choose what to review by what pays. Third, indifference to outcome: a product’s affiliate program has no bearing on its score, and we link to products we criticize as readily as products we praise when the link serves the reader. Commissions come from retailers; they do not change what you pay.
What we do not take
- No payment for reviews, rankings, or coverage of any kind, per the no pay for praise rule in our Editorial Standards.
- No payment to remove, soften, or bury published work.
- No undisclosed sponsorships, no undisclosed free products, no undisclosed anything.
- No investment or revenue from companies in exchange for influence over the publication.
And to be clear, we sell nothing ourselves
The site sells no cannabis, no CBD, no seeds, no merchandise. We are not a storefront and we are not a broker. Every transaction that begins with a link on this site happens on a third party’s site, under their terms, as our Disclaimer explains.
If this page changes
Ownership and funding arrangements can change, and if ours do, this page changes with them, dated. A reader comparing this page over time should be able to trace exactly how the publication is financed at any point in its history. Questions about anything here: support@cbdstrainsonly.com.
