How we're funded
Updated
Seoul Palette is free to read. This page explains where our money comes from, how we label it, and what money is not allowed to change. When any of that changes, we update this page and the date at the top.
Where our money comes from today
As of the date at the top of this page, nothing. Seoul Palette shows no ads, has no paid links, and has no sponsors. No company has paid us, or given us anything for free, to appear in an article.
How we plan to earn money
We plan to add two kinds of income:
- Booking commissions. In some practical guides — getting from the airport, transit passes, eSIMs, tours, and tickets — we may link to a booking site that pays us a commission when you book through that link. You pay the same price you would pay without the link.
- Display ads. We plan to show ads from Google AdSense on article pages only, not on the home page, hub pages, or pages like this one. The Google code that ads need will run on every page except our Privacy Policy and the 404 error page, even where no ad appears; our Privacy Policy explains what it collects. Ads will appear only after Google approves our application, and no earlier than November 30, 2026.
No ads are shown on Seoul Palette yet, and no advertising code is loaded. On October 11, 2026, we added the advertising details to our Privacy Policy, including the cookies ads use and how to turn off personalized ads. When we start loading Google’s advertising code, even before the first ad appears, or when paid links start, we will say so on this page and change its date.
How we label paid links
Paid links will be labeled in the article itself, not only on this page. Every article with at least one paid link will open with this box, above the first paragraph and above the first paid link:
Disclosure: Seoul Palette earns a commission if you book through some links in this article, at no extra cost to you. We say why we recommend an option and name an alternative.
Every paid link will be followed by the words “(paid link)”. If the link is a button, the same words sit directly above or below it. If we ever share a paid link on social media, the first line of the post will read “Ad · paid link”.
This page is a summary. It does not replace the labels inside each article.
What money does not change
- What we recommend. We recommend options for reasons we state, and we name the alternative. If the official seller is cheaper, or a free option does the job, we list it first — even when it earns us nothing. See How we recommend.
- How we compare. In a comparison, we don’t praise only the options that pay us.
- What we say we checked. We say we checked something only when we actually did — an official page, a price, a set of conditions. We don’t write as if we tried a product we haven’t tried, and we never use a retold traveler story as a reason to book through a paid link.
- Which products we link. We link only products whose price and conditions we have checked ourselves.
- Which articles carry paid links. Paid links go only where you actually need to book something, one link per recommendation. Articles that explain why things work the way they do, with nothing to book, carry none. Neither do articles on law, health, visas, or taxes; those point to official information only.
What we don’t accept
We don’t publish sponsored articles. We don’t accept money, free tickets, free tours, or free stays in exchange for coverage.
Spot a problem?
If a label is missing, or a paid link looks out of place, please tell us. Our Editorial & Sources policy explains how to report it, and How we research explains how we check what we publish.