Last updated 1 January 2024
Editorial standards
Readers treat what appears in the guide as a recommendation from us. That only works while it’s true, so these standards apply to every placement regardless of what a business pays. They are also enforced in code — the automated check on every submission tests exactly the things listed here.
What we won’t publish
- Superlatives and comparative claims we cannot verify: "the best in the city", "cheapest anywhere", "number one".
- Guarantees of outcome, in any category.
- Health, medical or therapeutic claims.
- Anything involving prohibited categories: gambling, high-cost credit, cryptocurrency investment, adult services, counterfeit goods, or multi-level marketing.
- Anything with a destination link that does not load. We check this on every submission.
What always gets read by a person
- Your first submission, whatever it says.
- Alcohol promotions, cosmetic and aesthetic treatments, financial services, and anything health-adjacent.
- Every Spotlight, because the lead slot carries a write-up in our own voice.
Offers
- An offer must be real, available on the terms stated, and honoured for the period stated.
- "From" pricing must be genuinely achievable and reasonably available.
- Time-limited offers must have a real end date. We won’t publish permanent countdowns.
Paid placement is always disclosed
Every edition states plainly that featured businesses pay to appear. Directory ordering puts paid listings above free ones and we say so on the directory page rather than presenting the order as neutral.
We do not take commission on anything a reader buys, and no business can pay to have another business excluded.
Turnaround
We come back on every submission within 24 hours, and within 8 hours on plans that include priority review. If we decline something we tell you exactly what needs to change, and resubmitting costs nothing.
Reporting a problem
If a business isn’t honouring an offer we published, or something in an edition is wrong, email support@parade.example. We will investigate and, where necessary, remove the placement and refund readers’ trust the only way we can — by saying what happened in the next edition.