Affiliate Disclosure
GrokTechGadgets is a reader-supported affiliate publisher. Some pages on this site include retailer links that pay us a small commission when you buy through them. This page explains, in detail, which retailers we work with, how the relationships are structured, how those relationships do and do not affect our editorial decisions, and how you can identify sponsored versus editorial content on the site.
We publish this disclosure in compliance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), which require material connections between publishers and merchants to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. Where applicable, we also follow the FTC's .com Disclosures guidance for online presentation of these connections.
What affiliate links do
They help fund site operations, hardware testing, research, and editorial updates. Affiliate revenue is the primary way an independent publication like ours covers the cost of producing rigorous AI hardware reviews and keeping content current as GPUs and laptops cycle.
What affiliate links do not do
They do not buy placement, override rankings, or change how we describe product weaknesses. No retailer or manufacturer has approval over our reviews, rankings, or recommendation copy. We do not accept payment for positive coverage.
Specific affiliate programs we participate in
GrokTechGadgets currently participates in the following affiliate and referral programs. Each one represents a material connection that we want readers to be aware of:
- Amazon Associates — Our Amazon tracking tag is
3824094b0d-20. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links account for the majority of our affiliate revenue. - Newegg Affiliate Network — We participate in Newegg's affiliate program for GPU, prebuilt PC, and component links.
- Best Buy Affiliate Program — We participate in Best Buy's program (via Impact) for laptop, GPU, and accessory links.
- B&H Photo Affiliate Program — Used for select professional and workstation-grade hardware.
We do not currently participate in direct affiliate programs with Lenovo, Dell, HP, ASUS, or Apple, although we link to those manufacturers for reference and may add direct programs in the future. When we do, this page will be updated to reflect any new material connections within seven days.
How affiliate compensation affects (and does not affect) our content
Commission rates vary by retailer and product category. Generally speaking, GPUs and laptops carry low single-digit commissions; accessories carry slightly higher commissions but represent a tiny share of our revenue.
Because commission rates vary, there is a theoretical incentive to recommend higher-commission products. We mitigate this risk in three ways:
- Editorial shortlists are defined before retailer links are added. Our recommendations are built around workload fit, GPU tier, VRAM, memory bandwidth, thermal headroom, value-per-dollar, and ownership quality. The shortlist is finalized before anyone on the editorial side reviews available commission rates.
- We disclose tradeoffs in plain language. If two cards fit the same workload, we describe who should pay more and who should not. We do not hide cheaper alternatives that would earn us less revenue.
- Negative coverage is not suppressed. If a recommended product develops a documented quality issue or pricing problem, we update or remove the recommendation, even when that costs us commission revenue.
How to identify sponsored versus editorial content
Every commercial link on the site uses rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" markup, per Google's webmaster guidelines and FTC disclosure best practice. In addition, the link text or surrounding context makes the affiliate relationship clear — for example, "Check current price on Amazon" or "View at Best Buy."
Each page that contains affiliate links also displays a short disclosure ribbon near the top of the article reading "We may earn affiliate commissions from retailer links, but paid placements do not control rankings." This is present on 81 of 81 commercial pages on the site.
If you ever encounter a recommendation on GrokTechGadgets that lacks a clear retailer-link disclosure, or where the editorial reasoning seems to follow a commercial incentive, please contact us at our contact page. We treat every report seriously and will update or correct as needed.
What this disclosure does not cover
This page covers material connections between GrokTechGadgets and the retailers we link to. It does not cover:
- Privacy and data practices — see our Privacy Policy.
- Editorial methodology — see How We Evaluate.
- Correction handling — see our Corrections Policy.
- Editorial standards (independence, fact-checking, sourcing) — see Editorial Standards.
- Site terms of use — see our Terms of Service.