---
title: How We Make Money | The Local List
url: https://readthelocallist.com/how-we-make-money/
updated: 2026-10-29
---

Updated October 29, 2026 All editions [How we choose](https://readthelocallist.com/how-we-choose/)

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1. [Home](https://readthelocallist.com/)
2. How we make money

Standards · Funding

# How we make money

Who pays us, how each kind of payment is labelled, and what money can never buy.

By the editors of The Local List Last revised October 29, 2026 Applies to every edition

Sponsored placements

Boxes marked “Sponsored” beside our lists, never inside them.

Enhanced profiles

Businesses can pay for extra photos and a quote button on their own profile page. The profile says so.

Quote referrals

When you request a quote through our forms, the business may pay us a referral fee. You choose who receives your details.

**What money can’t buy**

A place on a list. A better label. A changed sentence. Removal of a fair criticism. [How we choose](https://readthelocallist.com/how-we-choose/).

Readers ask

## Questions about our funding

### Does a sponsor get a kinder write-up?

No. Editors write about a business without knowing whether it buys anything from us, and a sponsored box never sits inside a list.

### How can I tell what’s paid on a page?

Anything paid carries a label: “Sponsored” beside a list, “Enhanced profile” on a business page. If it has no label, nobody paid for it.

### Who sees my details when I ask for a quote?

Only the businesses you tick on the form. That business may pay us a referral fee for the request, which is how a free guide like ours keeps the lights on.

Our standards

The same checks apply to every business, paying or not. [How we choose](https://readthelocallist.com/how-we-choose/).

[How we make money](https://readthelocallist.com/how-we-make-money/) · [Corrections](https://readthelocallist.com/corrections/)

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The Local List is editorially independent. We may earn a fee when you request a quote through our pages or when a business buys a clearly marked sponsored placement. Neither affects who appears in our guides or what we write about them. Ratings and review counts come from public sources and are rechecked regularly. © 2026 The Local List.