No more affiliate codes: advice paid by clients, not vendors

No more affiliate codes: if you pay us for advice, the advice cannot also be paid by the vendor. I spread my share of affiliate codes across the interwebz. That chapter ends here as a rule, not as a mood.

McGrinsey moved from a pure marketing shop toward a digital business consultancy people trust with real decisions. If clients rely on my recommendations and on the team's recommendations, the money trail has to be clean. Best possible solution for the client. No side deal that quietly pays more when we pick tool B over tool A.

Who pays for the recommendation

We get paid by the success of our clients, not by paid recommendations. That line is the whole policy. An affiliate link looks small. A percentage on someone else's checkout is still a second employer sitting in the room while you choose software, hosting, ads, or a course.

You can disclose affiliates forever and still warp the shortlist. The cleaner move is simpler: do not add new ones. If an old code is still floating somewhere, tell me. I will remove it when I can.

What this rule covers

• New posts, threads, newsletters, decks. No fresh affiliate codes.
• Client work. Stack choices follow fit and cost for the client, not a backend cut.
• Team voice. Same rule for anyone recommending under the McGrinsey name.

Old internet residue may still exist. Search engines and mirrors keep ghosts. The commitment is forward: no new codes, and cleanup on sight when a live one shows up.

Why draw the line in public

A private rule dies the first time a convenient link appears. A public rule gives clients and the team the same sentence to point at. If a recommendation ever smells like a kickback, you have a page that already said no. That is the point of purifying the trail: fewer explanations later, clearer choices now.

#MCG Rules of Acquisition differ from the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

Original stub: 2 June 2022. John's no-affiliate rule stays the spine of this piece.

Fact table

Claim	Basket	From where
Original stub published 2 June 2022, slug purified-integrity-no-more-affiliate-codes, id 142	Fact	McGrinsey magazine archive / batch3 source.
John's rule: no new affiliate codes; remove old ones when spotted if possible; pay from client success, not paid recommendations	Fact	Original body kept as policy text.
Affiliate incentives can warp shortlists even with disclosure	Thesis	This rewrite. Editorial reading of the original stance.
Some old affiliate codes may still exist on the open web	Hypothesis	Original stub said the same. Residual presence is possible, not inventoried here.