How Spotlight Listings Work
We let vendors pay for visibility next to our Buyer Guides — and we keep that visibility visibly separate from our independent analysis. Here is exactly what we sell, and what we don't.
Always disclosed
Spotlight Listings are clearly labeled as paid placements wherever they appear. They are advertising — not an endorsement, ranking, or recommendation by CIOPages.
Separated from editorial
Paid placements live only in their own bounded module — a side rail and a footer band. They never appear inside the guide itself or within our independent vendor analysis.
No influence on our analysis
Buying a placement never affects how — or whether — a vendor is covered in our editorial Vendor Landscape. Our evaluations are not for sale, and sponsors receive no preferential editorial treatment.
What a Spotlight is
On each Buyer Guide we offer a small, fixed number of paid placements drawn from our vendor Directory. A Spotlight Listingis one of up to five cards in the guide's Spotlight rail. A Featured Sponsoris a single, exclusive placement shown above the Spotlight cards. Both link to the vendor's Directory profile. The wording shown is limited to the same factual profile fields we already review for every listing — no superlatives.
How vendors qualify
A vendor must first claim and verify its Directory listing and hold an active Enhanced Listing ($299 / year). Placements are then sold only on guides relevant to that vendor's category, so a guide's Spotlight always reflects solutions actually in its space. Pricing is per guide: Spotlight is $99 / guide / year, and Featured Sponsor is $499 / guide / year (introductory).
Interested in a Spotlight?
Manage placements from your vendor portal, or learn more on the vendor page.
For Vendors →