In short.
- Some content on our Sites is paid for by a third party. We always tell you when it is.
- You will see a clear "Sponsored" marker next to the byline, on listing cards, in our RSS feeds and in our newsletters.
- Sponsored content is not editorial. The position taken in it is the sponsor's, not Disrupts Media's.
- We hold sponsored content to the same legal standards as editorial — it must be accurate, decent, lawful and compliant with the UK advertising codes.
- Editorial decisions are made by editors and are not influenced by who pays for sponsored content. See the Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy.
1. Why this policy exists
Our journalism is funded by sponsorship, advertising and events rather than by reader subscriptions. That is a deliberate choice (see the Email Gating Policy). The trade-off is that some of the content on our Sites is paid for by a third party — and readers must be able to tell, at a glance, which content that is.
This policy is how we make that visible. It also sets out what sponsored content is, what it isn't, and how to complain about it.
In this policy "we", "us" and "our" mean Disrupts Media Limited, the publisher of the Sites.
2. What we mean by sponsored content
Sponsored content is editorial-format content (an article, analysis piece, video, podcast, webinar or newsletter item) that has been paid for, in money or in kind, by a third party. The sponsor has commissioned the piece, supplied content for it, or otherwise influenced its production in a way that goes beyond ordinary advertising.
It includes, on our Sites, any of:
- Sponsored articles — pieces commissioned by a third party and produced to a brief agreed with that third party;
- Partner content — pieces produced jointly with a third party, where the third party has editorial input;
- Native advertising — advertising designed to sit in editorial-format slots;
- Paid event coverage — coverage of events in which we have a commercial relationship that materially affected the coverage.
It does not include:
- Display advertising — banner ads, leaderboards, side units, in-article ad slots — which are clearly visually distinct from editorial content and which are not in editorial format;
- Editorial coverage of a paying advertiser or sponsor — i.e. coverage that the sponsor has not commissioned, paid for, briefed or had editorial input on. This is editorial, not sponsored content, and is subject to the disclosure rules in §6 below.
3. How sponsored content is marked
Every sponsored piece carries the same set of markers, across all four publications.
- A "Sponsored" badge in the byline area. A small visual pill, styled distinctly from the rest of the byline so it reads as disclosure, not decoration.
- A "Sponsored" badge on listing-page article cards. Wherever the piece is surfaced — sector page, format page, topic page, homepage, search results — the badge follows it.
- A "Sponsored" marker in the RSS feed. Each sponsored item carries a
<category>sponsored</category>element (or equivalent in the live feed shape), so subscribers' feed readers can filter on it. - A "Sponsored" badge in the newsletter. When a sponsored item appears in a newsletter issue, the badge appears next to it in the issue layout.
- A "Sponsored" line in the body text of the piece where helpful — for example, the first line of a sponsored article may begin "This article is sponsored by [Sponsor]."
The sponsor's name is disclosed in or near the badge. The role of the sponsor (commissioned, paid partnership, sponsored series, etc.) is disclosed in the body where it would not otherwise be obvious.
4. What sponsored content must still meet
Sponsored content is paid for, but it does not get a pass on basic standards. Every sponsored piece on our Sites must be:
- Accurate. Numeric claims, citations, named-person quotes and product descriptions must be true and capable of being substantiated.
- Decent, honest and truthful within the meaning of the UK advertising codes — the CAP Code (for non-broadcast advertising), administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
- Legal. It must not breach UK law, including (where relevant) sector-specific rules — for example, financial promotion rules under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 for sponsored content in The Fintech Times, or medicines-advertising rules under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 for sponsored content in The Biotech Times.
- Compliant with our Acceptable Use Policy. No content that would breach §2 of that policy if a user submitted it can run as sponsored content on our Sites.
We retain the right to refuse or pull sponsored content that we conclude does not meet any of the above, even after the piece has been signed off and paid for.
5. Who decides what runs as sponsored content
- Commercial teams sell sponsorship and agree the commercial terms. They do not commission editorial coverage.
- Editorial reviews every sponsored piece before publication. Even where a sponsor has supplied the copy, an editor checks the piece against §4 above and may require changes.
- Sponsors do not have approval rights over the rest of the publication. A sponsor's decision to commission, withdraw or refuse to pay for a piece does not affect editorial coverage elsewhere on the Sites. The full position on editorial independence is in the Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy §2.
6. Editorial coverage of advertisers, sponsors and commercial partners
A sponsor or advertiser may also appear in our editorial coverage — for example, as the subject of a news story, an analysis piece or an opinion column. That is editorial, not sponsored content, and is subject to our normal editorial standards.
Where a commercial relationship is material to a piece of editorial coverage, we disclose it in the body of the piece. For example: "[Company] is a Disrupts Media event partner." The relationship does not buy favourable coverage and does not exempt the company from scrutiny.
7. AI and sponsored content
The same AI Use Policy applies to sponsored content as to editorial. Where AI has been used to draft or substantially edit a sponsored piece, the AI disclosure tier applies in addition to the "Sponsored" markers in §3. A piece that is both AI-drafted (Tier 3) and sponsored is marked as both, side by side.
8. Cross-publication appearance
Where a sponsored piece appears in cross-brand surfaces — for example, in the umbrella feed that surfaces stories from the four specialist publications on Disrupts — it carries the same "Sponsored" markers it does on its home publication. We do not strip the marker on syndication.
9. Reader complaints about sponsored content
If you believe a piece of sponsored content on our Sites:
- breaches any of the standards in §4 above;
- has not been marked clearly enough; or
- has caused you specific harm,
please tell us. Write to corrections@disruptsmedia.com with the URL of the piece and your concern. The corrections process described in §7 of the Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy applies.
You may also have rights to complain to:
- the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) —
asa.org.uk— for any sponsored content you believe breaches the CAP Code; - a sector regulator where the content concerns a regulated activity (e.g. the Financial Conduct Authority for financial promotions, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for medicines advertising).
10. Contact us
Editorial complaints: corrections@disruptsmedia.com Sponsored content enquiries: hello@disruptsmedia.com Post: Disrupts Media Limited, 41 Luke Street, London EC2A 4DP, United Kingdom
11. About Disrupts Media
Disrupts Media Limited Registered in England & Wales — Company No. 09447878 Registered office: 41 Luke Street, London EC2A 4DP, United Kingdom
12. Document history
| Date | Version | Change | |---|---|---| | 2026-05-14 | 1.0 | Initial public-facing sponsored content disclosure. Defines sponsored content vs display advertising vs editorial coverage of paying parties. Multi-surface marker rules (byline, listing card, RSS, newsletter). Standards every sponsored piece must meet (accuracy, CAP Code, sector regulation, Acceptable Use Policy). Editorial-independence boundary. AI-disclosure interaction. Complaint route to corrections@disruptsmedia.com, ASA and sector regulators. Cross-references Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy, AI Use Policy and Acceptable Use Policy. |