TechSpot strives to produce original, enthusiast-driven content that is fair, accurate, and honest. For more than 25 years, TechSpot has been an influential voice in computer technology. Historically, we have primarily hired from within our ranks of IT professionals and tech enthusiast readers, who comprise the vast majority of our audience.

Throughout its history, TechSpot has maintained complete editorial independence, always being transparent about our practices and testing methods. Below are some of the fundamental ethical guidelines we follow:

Who We Are, How We Test, Our Experience

  • TechSpot writers are computer engineers, professionals with formal IT backgrounds, or technology enthusiasts with vast experience on the subject matter they report on.
  • If you're familiar with our editorial work, then you know we require our authors to possess profound understanding of technical matters and the ability to write about them with accuracy and authority. That’s what we strive for and that’s what our track record of publishing for over 25 years shows.
  • Whenever we conduct specific testing and benchmarks, we generally describe and provide the test scenario for the purpose of disclosure and replicability by our readers.
  • On occasion we have dedicated entire articles to explain how we test and why we do things in a certain manner. Here are a handful of examples:
  • Mistakes are inevitable and it is our policy to correct errors and communicate corrections to our readers as soon as possible.
  • For the purpose of reviewing and testing tech products, we will receive some of these products free of charge directly from the manufacturer or from retailers. In some instances, we will gain access to products before they are launched to the public. Our mission is to report back to our readers with full transparency about our opinions and findings. We do not allow any influence over our editorial decisions or coverage by third parties. This goes back to our track record of over two decades of experience and thousands of published stories.
  • All our editorial content, including news reporting, reviews, tech features, and buying guides, is written by humans. Embracing new technologies is in our DNA, of course, but we do not employ AI tools to generate new text. Using software tools to assist with proofreading, grammar, spelling, and punctuation is a standard practice in the industry.
  • TechSpot generates revenue from advertising, however our editorial team is separate from ad sales, which is outsourced to a specialized agent. The only times when some overlap may exist are in executive or administrative positions for the purpose of business planning, but this is managed entirely separate from editorial content.
  • Our editorial team does not handle sponsorships or any other form of compensation that could influence reporting. Whenever an editorial piece of content is made possible through the support of sponsors (advertorials), the content will be clearly presented with a message (“Presented by” / “In collaboration with” / “Brought to you by”) at the top of the content and at the bottom of the body text.

About Affiliate Commissions

Every time we link products to retailers -- in reviews, in news stories, or in the Product Finder -- we may receive a commission for sales generated from those links through affiliate programs.

Our editorial team does not deal with retailers or affiliate programs in any manner. When advertising is sold to any retailer, that’s taken care of by a different team. Furthermore, affiliate links are mostly automated through scripts and there is little human intervention in tracking those programs.

When we indirectly promote a certain product (through a positive review or news report), this is the product of organic reporting as a service to readers who may want to learn more about or buy such products. In the specific scenario where we are promoting a product or service as a sale and where we may directly generate a commission ("deals"), you will find a disclaimer alongside this promotion every time.

Software Downloads: Certified Clean Program

TechSpot's software section provides free downloads for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. We use our own servers to offer fast and safe downloads to our readers, with a selection of software aimed at power users -- in other words, we only list and recommend software we would use ourselves.

We launched our Clean Software Certification in 2018 as an additional security layer to protect users who download files from TechSpot. All software apps showing TechSpot's Certified Clean Badge have been scanned by our team with a security suite that includes but is not limited to Malwarebytes, Avira, and VirusTotal technology.

In addition to scanning files on a daily basis before publication, we perform biannual security audits to our entire file database.

We've been offering software downloads as a service to our readers for over a decade, with the guarantee that our downloads contain no bundles, and our focus remains exclusively on high quality software. TechSpot does not modify downloads or uses any other means of monetization besides the standard ad placements as shown across the entire website.