Last updated: 11/08/2026
SmallBizFunding is free to use. Here’s how we’re able to keep it that way, and how that affects — and doesn’t affect — what you read on this site.
How We Make Money
We may earn revenue in a few ways:
- Display advertising, including ads served through Google AdSense, which pays us based on ad views and clicks
- Affiliate partnerships, where we may earn a commission if you click a link to a lender, financial product, or service and go on to sign up, apply, or complete another qualifying action
- Referral or lead arrangements, where a lender or partner may compensate us for connecting them with a business owner who requests more information
Where these relationships exist, they don’t cost you anything extra — commissions and fees are paid to us by the partner, not added to your cost as a borrower.
What This Means for Our Content
Some of the lenders, products, or services mentioned on this site are companies we may have a business relationship with. This can influence:
- Which lenders or products we’re able to write about, since not every lender offers an affiliate or referral program
- The order in which options sometimes appear in a comparison, in some cases
This does not influence:
- Whether we describe a product’s downsides. Our reviews and comparisons include the drawbacks of every option we cover, including partners, and we’ve turned down or deprioritized partnership opportunities that conflicted with giving readers an honest picture.
- Our conclusions or recommendations. We don’t accept payment in exchange for a specific rating, ranking position, or positive review.
- Our editorial guides. Educational content — like our explanations of how SBA loans work or how to calculate loan affordability — is written independently of any partnership.
How to Tell What’s Sponsored
We aim to keep this simple:
- Standard display ads (through Google AdSense) are visually distinct from our written content and are not written or selected by our editorial team.
- Any content that is directly sponsored or paid for by a specific company (rather than a standard affiliate link within an independently written article) will be clearly labeled as «Sponsored» or «Advertisement.»
- Everything else on this site — including our lender reviews and comparisons — is independently researched and written by our editorial team, whether or not an affiliate relationship exists with the companies mentioned.
Our Independence
We are not owned by, and do not exclusively represent, any bank, lender, or financial services company. We’re not a lender ourselves, and we don’t process loan applications. Our goal is to give you an accurate, useful picture of your financing options — the revenue described above is simply what allows us to keep doing that for free.
Questions?
If you ever come across content on this site that you feel doesn’t live up to this standard, we want to know. Reach out through our [Contact Us] page.
For more on how we collect and use information, see our [Privacy Policy]. For the terms governing use of this site, see our [Terms of Service].