The arrangement
Links from our shortlist to a casino carry tracking parameters so the operator knows the visit came from us. If you go on to open an account, the operator may pay Payline Bureau a commission — typically either a one-off fee or a share of their marketing budget attributed to that account. You pay nothing extra in either case, and your terms with the operator are identical to those of someone who arrived any other way.
What the money influences
Which operators we can afford to keep reviewing, and how much time each review gets. That's the honest answer. Running accounts, sitting in support queues and re-reading offer terms monthly costs time, and commissions pay for that time.
What it never touches
- Order and scores. Ranking follows the published methodology; commission rates appear nowhere in it.
- Wording. No operator reviews, edits or previews a write-up. Criticism stays in whether a partner likes it or not — the PlaceBet entry on our own shortlist is the standing example.
- The shortlist itself. Operators are chosen for review before any commercial conversation. An operator with no affiliate programme can still be listed; one with a generous programme can still be left off.
How you can tell
Every outbound casino link on this site is marked rel="sponsored" in the page source, the funding note sits directly above the shortlist on the homepage, and this page is linked from the footer of every page. If you ever find a page where that's not true, tell us and we'll fix it publicly.
Not an operator, ever
For completeness, the other half of the statement: Payline Bureau runs no games, holds no player funds, processes no transactions and is not licensed to do any of those things — by design. We review and compare. Everything else happens on the operator's site, under the operator's UKGC licence.