Editorial policy
The rules every IoT Crest article follows, including the sponsored ones. They are short on purpose so a reader can check them in a minute.
Sponsored content
A sponsored article is one a company has paid for. It carries a "Sponsored" label at the top of the page, before the headline, naming the sponsor. A paid link inside an existing article is disclosed in that article with a short note. Every paid link carries the rel="sponsored" attribute so that search engines treat it as what it is; the label on the page is for readers and the attribute on the link is for machines, and a placement needs both. The sponsor is also named in the article's structured data, which is an extra and not a substitute for either. Sponsors can choose the subject and the page we link to. They cannot change a fact, remove a limitation we would otherwise mention, or ask for a claim we cannot check.
We refuse sponsorship from gambling, adult, pharmaceutical and crypto-scheme businesses, from anyone who wants a link that passes ranking credit, and from anyone who wants a product described as doing something it does not do. What is included in a sponsored post is set out on the advertise page; how placements are labeled and marked is on the disclosure page.
Facts and numbers
An article states a fact only when it is well established: the name of a protocol, what a standard requires, how a mechanism works. Where the behavior depends on the product or the installation, the article says so instead of picking a value.
We do not invent statistics, market sizes, survey results or quotes, and we do not repeat them from vendor marketing. If a number would help and we cannot stand behind it, we describe the size of the effect in words ("a few meters", "most of the battery budget") or leave it out.
Product mentions
Products are described generically ("a Zigbee coordinator", "an I2C humidity sensor") unless the product is widely known and naming it helps the reader, for example a common development board or a long-standing sensor part number. A named product is not a recommendation, and no article is written to favor a sponsor's product over an equivalent.
Scope of each article
Every article opens with a line that says what it covers and what it does not cover. That line is part of the article, not an afterthought: if a subject is outside it, we would rather send you to a better page than pad the one you are on. Articles are written for one search question each, with headings in the words people use for that question.
Corrections
If something is wrong, tell us through the message box in the corner of any page. A confirmed error is fixed in the article and the "Updated" date in the margin changes; a correction that changes the article's advice gets a note in the text saying what changed.
Who applies this policy is on the about page. The policy is reviewed when the site's funding or scope changes.