How we keep the lights on.

Previously participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you click an Amazon link on Previously and make a qualifying purchase, we may earn a commission.

We also participate in similar affiliate programs with other retailers, streaming services, and ticket sellers. The same principle applies everywhere: if a link on Previously earns us a commission, it is covered by this disclosure, and it never costs you extra.

Some links on Previously — to retailers, streaming services, ticket sellers, and gear — are affiliate links. They look and behave like normal links: they take you to the retailer's ordinary product page, where you shop exactly as you normally would. If you complete a purchase (or sign-up) after clicking, the retailer pays us a small commission out of their own margin.

It never costs you extra. The price you pay is identical whether you use our link, type the address yourself, or arrive from a search engine. The commission comes from the retailer's side, not yours. Using our links is simply a way to support Previously at zero cost to you.

Commissions are typically a small percentage of the sale — a few percent on most retail, sometimes a flat fee for trial sign-ups. No single click makes us rich; the model works in aggregate, across thousands of readers buying things they were going to buy anyway.

You will encounter affiliate links in a few predictable places:

• Gift guides and product roundups — like our Holiday Gift Guide, where every pick links to where you can actually buy it.
• Gear and setup coverage — headphones, soundbars, streaming devices, and other gear our writers cover.
• Streaming and ticket links — "where to watch" buttons, trial sign-ups for streaming services, and ticket links for concerts and events.
• Editorial product mentions — when a story mentions a book, album, game, or gadget, the link to buy it may be an affiliate link.

Charts, rankings, scores, schedules, and news coverage do not carry affiliate links — there is nothing to buy from a box-office chart. Affiliate links appear only where a purchase is the natural next step.

This is the part that matters most: commissions do not influence our charts, rankings, reviews, or picks.

Our Top 10s and charts are calculated from audience and cultural data — streaming numbers, box office, social conversation — as described on our How We Rank page. Not from which links pay best. A title cannot buy its way onto a Previously chart, and no advertiser or affiliate partner gets a say in editorial coverage.

Our writers operate behind a firewall: they do not know — and do not care — which products carry affiliate links or what the commission rates are. When we recommend something, it is because we think it is worth your time or money. The affiliate relationship is disclosed here and on the relevant pages so you can judge for yourself.

If we ever publish sponsored content — where a brand pays for placement — it will be labeled as sponsored, unmistakably, at the top of the piece. Sponsored content is rare, and it never appears in our charts or rankings.

Affiliate links go to the retailer's normal product page — there is nothing unusual about the destination, which is exactly why disclosure matters. We mark affiliate relationships in context where practical (for example, a note at the top of gift guides), and this page serves as our standing disclosure across the site, as required by the FTC's endorsement guidelines.

If you would rather not use an affiliate link, you can always navigate to the retailer directly — we will not know, we will not mind, and the price is the same. The disclosure exists so you can make that choice with full information.

Running Previously costs real money: servers and CDN, sports and entertainment data licenses, and the writers and engineers who keep everything current. We had a choice in how to pay for it — charge readers, or earn from the commerce our recommendations naturally create.

We chose the second. A paywall would mean the charts, the guides, and the Rewind are only for people who can pay. Affiliate revenue lets us keep everything free while staying independent: no single advertiser funds us, no investor dictates coverage, and readers never pay a cent for access.

Advertising (display ads) covers part of the bill; affiliates cover another part. Together they keep the lights on without compromising the work.

Wondering whether a specific link is an affiliate link, or want to suggest a retailer we should work with? Write to us through our contact page. And for the broader picture of how we handle your information, see our Privacy Policy.