Contributor article. Tier 1. Sponsored versus branded. Syndication. These words decide what you are actually buying, and most of the people using them would rather you did not ask. Here is each one in plain English, with the nuance a one-line definition cannot carry.
An advertorial is advertising written and laid out in the style of an editorial article.
The oldest of the disclosure labels. Print titles still use it. Many digital publications have retired the word for softer alternatives like partner content, though the arrangement is much the same.
Read the full explanationBranded content is material produced by a publication's commercial studio on behalf of a brand.
Usually higher production value than a plain sponsored post. Several major outlets run named studios for this work.
Read the full explanationA byline is an article you wrote yourself, published under your own name.
It demonstrates expertise rather than notability. Most contributor columns are bylines. For immigration petitions this matters: a byline is material by you, not about you.
Read the full explanationA contributor article is a piece published by an outlet but written by somebody outside its newsroom.
The writer is not staff. Most guaranteed press placement, from most providers, is contributor content in some form. The honest question is whether a provider tells you that without being asked.
Read the full explanationA do-follow link is an ordinary hyperlink that passes ranking signal to the page it points at.
Most press coverage carries no-follow or sponsored links instead, which do not pass that signal. Coverage still helps you in other ways, so treat links as a bonus rather than the reason to buy.
Read the full explanationEarned media is coverage a journalist decided to produce on their own, without payment.
The most valuable kind and the only kind nobody can sell you. It requires genuine news, a relationship, or a pitch good enough to survive without one.
Read the full explanationAn embargo is an agreement that a journalist will not publish a story before an agreed time.
Used so several outlets can prepare coverage of the same announcement and publish together. It depends entirely on trust and has no force beyond the relationship.
A feature is a full article about you, your company or your work, written by somebody else.
The strongest format when earned. What varies is how it came about, which is the question worth asking before you buy one.
Read the full explanationGuaranteed placement means a provider commits to your article being published on a named outlet.
Possible because the placement runs through commercial channels rather than a newsroom decision. Legitimate when described accurately. Not legitimate when a masthead nobody can guarantee is on the list.
Read the full explanationA masthead is a publication's name and brand as it appears on its own pages.
Used as shorthand for the publication itself. When people say a masthead carries weight, they mean readers recognise the name.
A no-follow link carries an attribute telling search engines not to pass ranking signal through it.
Standard on most press coverage, and increasingly on any link a publication considers commercial. It does not make the coverage less useful for credibility or search visibility of your name.
Read the full explanationPartner content is a disclosure label signalling a commercial relationship without specifying its shape.
The softest of the labels. It can mean paid placement, a content-sharing arrangement, or syndication, depending on the outlet.
Read the full explanationA press release is a formal announcement written by an organisation and distributed to media.
A release is not coverage. It is an input journalists may or may not act on. Wire distribution puts it on many sites automatically, which is distribution rather than editorial pickup.
Read the full explanationA publicist works media relationships on behalf of an individual or a small number of clients.
Closer to a person than a firm, usually specialised in one world. What you are buying is their relationships, which are real and scarce.
Read the full explanationA quote is your comment appearing as a source inside somebody else's article.
The smallest format and the only one that reliably proves an independent journalist made a judgement about you. Cheap in money, expensive in time.
Read the full explanationSponsored content is an article disclosed as paid for by a brand.
The article may be written by the brand, an agency, or the publication's commercial team. The label discloses that money changed hands, nothing more specific.
Read the full explanationSyndication is the republication of an article that first appeared on another outlet.
How coverage reaches MSN, Yahoo Finance and Apple News. Those are distribution platforms rather than newsrooms, and syndicated copies can be removed later while the original usually stays.
Read the full explanationTier 1 is an informal label for the largest and most widely recognised publications.
No governing body defines it, which is why the label gets stretched. The useful test is whether a stranger recognises the name without explanation.
Read the full explanationTier 2 is an informal label for established publications operating a step below tier 1 in scale.
Regional dailies, trade titles and sector publications. Often worth more than tier 1 for a specific business, because relevance beats reach when your buyers are a defined group.
Read the full explanationNearly every term on this page exists to describe the same boundary: whether a journalist independently decided to write about you, or whether the article was arranged. Both are real. Only one can be bought.
So whatever anybody is selling you, ask which side of that line it sits on. A provider who answers plainly is one you can work with.