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Advertising, guest and partner content

Cosmopolitan Courier is free to read because of our advertisers and partners. Here’s how we keep that relationship clear, so you always know what you’re reading.

Last updated: 24 October 2026

Three labels, used every time

Stories written by our editors carry no label. Anything else is labelled, every time.

Display advertising, such as banners and other placements bought by a brand, is marked Advertisement. Ads are visually separate from our stories, and links in them are marked as paid links for search engines. Advertisers don’t influence our editorial coverage.

Guest contributor

Some stories are contributed by guest writers or by brands. These are labelled Guest contributor at the top of the story, and the label names the writer’s business or the brand, for example “Guest contributor · Lana Trading”. Nothing is given in return for a guest contribution: no fee, no free stay or product, no advertising or link deal.

Guest contributions are edited to our standards. Our editors check them for accuracy and fit, and we decline anything we don’t think readers would value. Guest stories about money carry the same general advice warning as our Personal Finance stories.

Partner content

Partner content is Resort Series coverage where a property hosted our stay or we were compensated. Whenever that happens, the story is labelled Partner content at the top, on the card wherever the story is promoted on our site, and in any newsletter or social post that shares it. The label names the property and says what was provided, for example “Partner content: the resort hosted our stay”.

Partner content is still written by our editors, to our editorial standards. We say what we found, including what didn’t work.

Businesses that have worked with our publisher

Some of our stories feature businesses that have worked with our publisher, Done Digital. Those stories say so at the top, and it never affects what we choose to cover or what we say.

How The Resort Series stays independent

The properties in The Resort Series are chosen by our editors, never by advertisers. No hotel, resort, owner, management company or tourism body can buy a place in the series, sponsor it, or approve what we write. Where a property hosts our stay or we’re compensated, the guide is labelled Partner content, as above. Every other guide is plain editorial. How we choose explains how we choose.

Advertising beside the series

Advertising can appear on pages around The Resort Series, including from hotels and travel brands. An advertisement never affects whether a property is chosen or what we say about it, and an advertiser’s property isn’t added to the series because it advertises.

Links and commissions

Links in our editorial stories are chosen by our editors. Links to a guest contributor’s own business are marked as contributed links for search engines. Links to the property in Partner content and links in advertisements are marked as paid links.

Gifts and samples

From time to time, brands send products for consideration. Receiving something never guarantees coverage. If a product we were given is featured, we say so in the story.

Why we do this

Clear labelling is part of trust, and it’s also the law. Australian Consumer Law prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct, and that includes presenting paid or supplied material as if it were independent. We follow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s guidance and the AANA Code of Ethics on clearly distinguishing advertising.

Questions or concerns

If you think something on our site should be labelled and isn’t, please tell us through our contact form. Partnership enquiries are looked after by Annabel Vellacourt, Director of Editorial Partnerships: start on our Advertise page.