Robben Institute Monetization
Our goal is to help students in the United States and across the world to gain skills and live a better lifestyle, and in order to do this we strive to provide high quality content that is free to access. Unfortunately, high-quality content is not free to produce and Robben Institute has several other operational costs in order for us to accomplish our goal.
How does Robben Institute make money?
In order for the site to operate, and for Robben Institute to continue producing high-quality content, Robben Institute generates revenue through ads, sponsorships and lead generation.
We sell ad space on our website, where advertisers pay to target our readers. These ads can be in the form of banners, videos or sponsored placements. Our goal is to ensure, as much as possible, that the ads you see are relevant and provide you with offers that you may be interested in.
For lead generation, some of the content we produce may mention certain products and services that include a hyperlink with an asterisk (*) that takes the user to the advertisers’ website to learn more and possibly purchase a product. The asterisk means these links contain a code that enables Robben Institute to generate revenue from the advertiser for making a referral. This revenue is fully paid for by the advertiser and the user will never encounter any additional fees. Furthermore, we only use links that will give the user an identical (or better) deal than going directly.
Do advertisers influence the content?
No. Our editorial content and tools are an unbiased source for students to learn about personal finance, and so, it is only after the content is produced and independently edited that our commercial team will add monetization links when possible. If there is no monetization opportunity, the piece of content will remain untouched. If there is a monetization opportunity, it will not impact which products are listed or the order in which they are listed.
As in the past, if an advertiser wants to influence the content we produce, this will be clearly labeled as ‘sponsored’ and is not considered an editorial piece by Robben Institute.