Disclosures and affiliate policy
The short version
Some links on this site earn a commission if you buy through them. It costs you nothing extra.
Commission never changes a score, a ranking, or whether a product is recommended. Several of the highest-scoring products here pay nothing at all, and several that pay well are recommended against.
How the money works
When a link to a retailer or brand earns commission, that is an affiliate link. If you click it and buy, the retailer pays this site a percentage of the sale. The price you pay is the same either way.
Affiliate links on this site go through a /go/ path so they are identifiable, and they carry the appropriate link attributes for sponsored or affiliate content.
Not every link earns anything. Links to guidance from the NHS, the Lullaby Trust, Citizens Advice, the Competition and Markets Authority, Companies House and similar sources are there because they are the right source, and they earn nothing.
What commission does not influence
Scores. Every product is scored on the same criteria: support, pressure relief, motion isolation, edge support, temperature, durability and value. A commission rate is not one of them.
Rankings. Roundups are ordered by how well products meet the stated need, and several conclude that the reader should not buy the category at all.
Inclusion. Products are removed from recommendations when they stop deserving the place, regardless of what they earn.
Criticism. The products I will not recommend page names products and brands directly, including ones that would pay commission.
Concrete examples of that in practice: the lowest mattress score on this site is given to a product from one of the largest advertisers in the category, and the highest is given to a brand with a comparatively small affiliate programme.
What this site does not do
No paid placements. No brand can buy a position, a score, a mention or a recommendation.
No sponsored reviews. No review on this site has been paid for by the brand whose product is reviewed.
No copy approval. No manufacturer sees a review before publication or has the ability to request changes.
No pay-to-play roundups. Inclusion in a best-of list cannot be purchased.
No undisclosed gifts. Where a product has been supplied by a brand, that is stated on the review.
If a brand offers any of the above, the offer is declined and the fact may be noted on the relevant page.
How products are obtained
Products covered here are obtained by purchase, by hands-on assessment, or by detailed specification analysis, and which of those applies is stated.
Where a conclusion rests on published specification rather than hands-on use, the page says so. Where a brand does not publish a specification, that absence is stated rather than estimated, because an absent number is itself information. Foam density and spring count for a given size are the two most commonly withheld.
Prices move constantly in this category and most brands discount close to permanently, so prices are given as a guide and conclusions rest on construction rather than on a percentage off.
The rules this follows
UK advertising rules require that commercial relationships are made clear to readers. Guidance from the Advertising Standards Authority and the Committee of Advertising Practice covers affiliate marketing, and the Competition and Markets Authority has published guidance on online reviews and endorsements.
The approach here is to disclose plainly rather than minimally: this page, a statement on pages carrying affiliate links, and an identifiable link path.
If you believe something on this site is unclear or inadequately disclosed, tell us and it will be corrected. Corrections are logged publicly on the corrections page.
How to check any of this yourself
Read the considered and rejected section in any roundup. It names products that were assessed and left out, with reasons. A site optimising for commission does not write that section.
Compare the scores against the prices. If the most expensive product always won, that would tell you something. Here it does not.
Check the corrections log. A site that never corrects anything is not being read carefully by its author.
Related reading
Independence
Accountability
How this site works
Nothing here is paid for by a brand. No manufacturer has copy approval, a preview, or the ability to change a score, and where a link earns a commission that never changes a ranking.
Where a brand does not publish a specification, that is stated rather than estimated, because an absent number is itself information. The corrections log and the products I will not recommend page are both public.