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No one can pay to get into our picks, move up in them or change what we say. Today The Ynez has two kinds of affiliate link: the Booking.com and Expedia buttons in the "Check rates (affiliate)" row on our Solvang hotels, Los Olivos hotels and pet-friendly Solvang hotels guides, through our partner Stay22, and "Also bookable on Viator" links on some tour company cards in our Santa Ynez Valley wine tours and Solvang ghost and food tours guides, and on our Highline Adventures guide. Every page with these links says so in one line under the byline, and the links carry rel="sponsored". The business's own site comes first, and for chain hotels that's the brand's official booking page, which pays us nothing. Tour companies made that guide before we looked for any link, and the ones without a Viator listing get the same write-up. We have no ads and no sponsored posts. If we add any of them, they'll be labeled where you see them, and the rules on this page apply.
How picks get made
Every place in a guide is there because it's worth your time, judged from the business's own published information, critic scores and press, and Tony's own visits where they're marked as owner picks. See how we verify. Money doesn't come into it. A business can't pay to be added, to be left out of a "skip it" line, or to see a page before it goes up.
Affiliate links
Some sites pay a small commission when a reader books or buys through a link. If we use those links (for hotels or tours, say), the price you pay stays the same, and the page will say near the top that it contains affiliate links. We pick the place first and look for a link second. A place without an affiliate program gets the same write-up as one with.
The "Book" and "Website" buttons you see now are plain links to each business's own site or booking page. We count the taps so we can tell businesses how many visitors we send, and nobody pays us for them.
Sponsored and partner content
A business or brand might one day pay for a story, a newsletter spot or an ad. When that happens:
- it's labeled "Sponsored" or "Partner" at the top, and in the weekend note too;
- it sits apart from the guides and never appears inside an editorial picks list;
- it never buys a review, a place in our picks or a higher spot on a list;
- the sponsor doesn't get to edit our guides.
Free meals, stays or tastings count as payment here. If a business ever hosts us, the page that mentions it will say so.
Tony's agency work
Tony Michael, who founded and edits The Ynez, also runs several marketing and advertising agencies. Some of their clients could be businesses in the valley. When a page covers a business that is, or recently was, a client of one of Tony's agencies, the page says so next to the mention. Client status never gets a business into the picks, and it doesn't keep a "skip it" line off the page.
Questions
Think we've missed a label, or want to ask about advertising? Email hello@theynez.com. Spotted a wrong fact instead? Use Corrections. What data we keep about readers is on the privacy page.