Pricing for Spotlight listings on Buyer Guides
CIOPages publishes Buyer Guides on various topics of interest to technology buyers in large enterprises.
A Spotlight listing is a sponsored card prominently and distinctly placed beside the buyer guide editorial. Vendors may purchase a sponsored Spotlight listing on guides of their choice. Remember, a Spotlight listing does not offer an editorial mention in the Buyer Guide. Editorial decisions are made independently and cannot be influenced by vendors.
This page lists the Spotlight and Featured Vendor prices, how to pay, and answers to common questions. Nothing is charged until an editor approves.
Buyer Guide placements
Your company beside the guide where CIOs compare your category. Each guide has 5 Spotlight cards and one Featured Vendor band. Every placement includes your claimed Directory listing.
| Spotlight, first guide | $499 / year | A card on the guide you choose, with your logo and a link to your site. Your Directory listing becomes yours to edit. |
|---|---|---|
| Each additional guide | $249 / year | The same card on another guide. Each guide has 5 Spotlight slots. |
| Featured Vendor | $999 / guide / year | One band above the Spotlight cards, one company per guide. Carries a document readers can request. Listing included. |
| Spotlight + Forum bundle | $1,499 once | A Spotlight card on one guide, Executive Forum membership, and 4 articles we write. 12 months. Paid by invoice. |
| Directory listing and corrections | Free | We list companies from public sources. Anyone can have an error corrected. |
Nothing is charged until an editor approves. Prices are fixed through December 2027. A subscription renews at the rate it was bought at.
What it looks like on a guide
Taken from the real pages. The companies are invented — SuperDuper IT Co and the rest are examples, not customers.
How to pay
- Pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or US bank account (ACH).
- Every charge comes with a Stripe invoice and receipt by email.
- The bundle is billed by invoice after approval. Pay it by card or US bank account (ACH) within 15 days.
- We don't accept PayPal.
What no price buys
- A place in the guide's vendor analysis, or a better position in it
- A guaranteed number of inquiries, visits or clicks
- A say in what our editors write about you or your market
- Rankings, review scores, or an editorial mention
Being listed, and correcting a listing, are free. Editorial policy · Directory Terms
Questions
Buying
Does a Spotlight listing include an editorial mention in the Buyer Guide?
No. A Spotlight listing does not offer an editorial mention in the Buyer Guide. Editorial decisions are made independently and cannot be influenced by vendors.
There's no guide for our category. Can we still buy something?
Placements open when we publish a guide for your category. Until then, your Directory listing and corrections are free.
Can our agency buy for us?
Yes. Use the client's company name and website.
Can we write the card ourselves?
Each card uses your logo and the summary line from your Directory listing, which our editors review. To change the card, edit your listing in the portal.
Can we add a data sheet or video?
Yes. You can add up to 3 PDFs and one video from the portal. A reader who requests a document gives their name, title, company and work email, and we send those to you.
What do you expect when a buyer contacts us?
A reply to each one. The portal shows how long each inquiry has been waiting. If buyers are repeatedly left without a reply, we may stop selling placements to that vendor. Directory Terms
Do you sell newsletter sponsorships or webinars?
We sell Spotlight and Featured Vendor placements on Buyer Guides, Executive Forum articles, and a bundle of both. Newsletter sponsorships and webinars are not available.
Billing
Can we pay by invoice, PO or bank account?
Placements and Forum membership are paid by card or US bank account at checkout, and Stripe emails an invoice with every charge. The bundle is invoiced, payable by card or US bank account (ACH) within 15 days.
Do you accept PayPal?
We accept card or US bank account at checkout, and card or US bank account (ACH) for the bundle invoice. We don't accept PayPal.
Can we cancel?
Yes, at any time, from the portal. Your placement stays live to the end of the current term and does not renew. Vendor portal
What is the refund policy?
If an editor declines your order, nothing is charged. Once a placement is live, the year is not refunded in part.
We've lost access to the portal.
You can reset the password from the sign-in page. If the person who bought has left the company, write to us from a company address and we will move the account to you. Vendor portal
Coverage and links
Can we pay to be added to a guide's vendor analysis?
Editors choose the vendors in a guide's analysis on market relevance, and the list is alphabetical. You can buy a labeled Spotlight card on the same guide, from $499 a year. Editorial independence
A guide says something wrong about us.
Please send us the page, the error and a source we can check. Corrections are free, for anyone. Send a correction
Do we get a link to our site?
Yes. Every Directory listing links to the company website, free, and so does each Spotlight card and Featured Vendor band. Links on placements and in Forum articles carry rel="sponsored". Links in our editorial writing are not for sale. Link policy
Can we have our listing removed?
Yes. Please send the request from an address on the company's domain. Contact us
Will you publish our press release?
If the news changes a fact in your Directory listing, you can send it to us as a correction, free. We don't publish press releases.
Spotlight + Executive Forum bundle: $1,499
One payment for 12 months. It does not renew by itself.
- A Spotlight card on one Buyer Guide for 12 months, with your claimed Directory listing
- Executive Forum membership for 12 months
- 4 Forum articles we research and write, one a quarter, under your executive's byline
- Order. Name the company, the guide and the executive who will sign the articles. No card.
- We review. An editor checks the company and the executive within 3 business days.
- Pay the invoice. Stripe emails it. Pay by card or US bank account (ACH) within 15 days.
- You go live. Payment publishes the Spotlight card and opens the Forum membership. One article a quarter after that.
The articles are about a problem your executive has worked on, not about your product. Unused articles end with the term.
As a PDF
For a budget holder. If a PDF and this page disagree, this page is right.
Something else? Contact us.