Coast Radar publishes reviews of a variety of products and services. Our selections are unbiased and are made independently, and sometimes, we earn a small commission (also known as “affiliate revenue”) when a reader clicks a link in our content and buys a product that we have featured.
Our articles are never influenced by advertisers and are not written to promote a product. We add links that may or may not be affiliated and provide relevant information to the topic discussed in the article.
When we are reviewing a product in an article and offering an opinion, we will clearly state this relationship in the article itself.
What is affiliate revenue?
Affiliate revenue is a small percentage of commission shared between retailers, publishers and affiliate networks that connect them.
How does it work?
Coast Radar works with Skimlinks, which has a relationship with thousands of retailers.
When a product is linked from an article, Skimlinks automatically places a tracking code to the retailer link if the retailer has an affiliate programme. When a reader clicks on an affiliate link, the tracking code places a cookie on the reader’s device that can confirm if the reader makes a purchase from the retailer’s website. Skimlinks then attributes a commission from the sale to Coast Radar.
How will reader data be used by Skimlinks?
Third-party affiliate technology providers use cookies and device identifiers. The data collected by these technologies is used solely to track a purchase. Further information on what data is collected and how it is used can be found below. Coast Radar does not share any of its own data with Skimlinks or the third-party websites that a reader visits when following an affiliate link. The following information refers to Skimlinks.
- Skimlinks collects, stores and uses data about:
- the websites that users visit if these contain affiliate links;
- the affiliate links that users click on;
- and whether they make a purchase.
- Further information about the cookies Skimlinks uses to collect this information can be found here.
- Skimlinks stores users’ IP addresses to determine a user’s approximate location (e.g. country or region). Skimlinks may use this information to provide geographically relevant affiliate links. This data is also used to provide aggregate reporting to Coast Radar and the retailer on the location of users visiting sites with affiliate links. Skimlinks also uses IP addresses to reduce fraud and identify non-human browsing patterns.
- Skimlinks store information about the device, browser type, and version used to access sites where affiliate links are used. This helps Skimlinks to diagnose and fix browser compatibility issues and provide aggregate reporting.
- As well as the information available in standard web server logs (i.e. IP address, date/time page requested and referrer page), Skimlinks also stores information about the web page with the affiliate link that the user clicked.
- Skimlinks collects information on visits and sales on sites to which the affiliate links lead, including but not limited to: order value, products bought, and order identifiers. These are used to help publishers, merchants and advertisers make better marketing and content creation decisions.
If you do not want Skimlinks to store data about the websites you visit, the links you click and the merchants you buy from, you can opt-out here. This will mean Skimlinks will not place its cookies when you browse websites with affiliate links.
Thank you for being so supportive.