OUSBI can earn advertising or other commercial revenue without selling its factual conclusions. The rule is simple: money cannot change an official fact, verification label, complaint analysis, page-quality gate or user-report moderation decision.
Advertising, affiliate monetization, paid placement and Experiences are off in this initial release. The principles below govern any separately approved future commercial feature. OUSBI is an independent private informational service and is not affiliated with a government agency.
Advertising separation
Ads must be visually separated from source/evidence labels, action tools and user-submission forms. The launch architecture keeps search, Experience submission and privacy/consent surfaces ad-free. Reserved ad space should not obscure the next action or make a sponsored message look like a regulator/institution instruction.
What cannot be bought
Paid placement cannot purchase a better OUSBI verification/status, deletion of accurate negative information, a positive Experience, higher placement in complaint/experience tables, or a favorable interpretation of official data.
Affiliate/referral policy
If OUSBI later uses affiliate/referral relationships, the relationship must be disclosed and cannot determine the factual order/ranking of institutions. Affiliate relationships are a possible later addition and require disclosure before use. Pay-to-rank and sale of Experience submissions/leads are prohibited.
Institution participation
A bank or credit union can point out an error, provide an official source, dispute a user report or explain a policy. The same correction/evidence rules apply regardless of whether the institution advertises or has any commercial relationship with OUSBI.
No hidden score manipulation
OUSBI does not create a secret commercial quality score. CFPB complaint data remains contextual; Experiences remain separately labeled; official account rules come from official/regulator sources.
Changes to commercial model
If OUSBI adds a new monetization model that could create a material conflict—such as comparison/referral products—the editorial-independence disclosure should be updated before that model goes live.
Sources and versioning
Related policies: /methodology/, /corrections/ and /experience-policy/. Commercial relationships follow the same evidence and correction rules as all other coverage.
This policy is reviewed when the evidence methodology, data coverage, moderation, commercial relationships or privacy practices change. The policy published at launch must describe the features and controls that are actually available.
Example: affiliate conflict
Imagine OUSBI later earns a referral fee when a reader opens Account A. The factual page cannot move Account A above Account B, hide complaint/fee data, improve a verification label or remove a negative Experience because of that fee. The referral relationship must be disclosed where relevant, while the methodology/ranking—if OUSBI ever creates one—must use published non-commercial criteria.
Frequently asked questions
Can an advertiser buy a better OUSBI status? No. Can a bank sponsor removal of accurate negative material? No. Can ads appear everywhere? Launch policy keeps search, Experience submission and privacy/consent surfaces ad-free. Are affiliate links prohibited forever? No, but they require explicit disclosure and cannot control factual ordering. Does AdSense influence complaint analysis? No. Can OUSBI sell Experience submissions as leads? The launch policy prohibits that.
Commercial change control
Any new revenue model that touches comparison, account selection, leads or sponsored placement requires a conflict review before launch. The editorial-independence page and relevant page disclosures must be updated at the same time, not after monetization has already begun.
Related guides
How OUSBI verifies banking information: /methodology/
Privacy and data handling: /privacy/