Reviewer guidelines

How paidmedia.ca/ expert reviewers keep every article accurate, useful and independent. These guidelines apply to every reviewer and every article.

What your review means

When your name appears as the reviewer, readers take it to mean that a practitioner with at least 5 years of hands-on experience checked the article and believes it's accurate and useful as of the review date. paidmedia.ca/ Editorial stays responsible for everything we publish.

The review standard

Check every draft against these eight points before you mark it reviewed.

1. Every platform claim is true today. Open the official source for each claim: Google Ads Help, Meta Business Help Centre, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help, Microsoft Advertising Help or Google Analytics Help. Feature names, menu paths, limits and requirements must match what you see in the platform this week.
2. The sources hold up. Each link opens and actually says what the article says. Official documentation comes first, then official announcements, then research that explains its method. Replace or remove blogs, forums and vendor marketing used as proof.
3. Canadian details are right. Costs are in Canadian dollars, spelling is Canadian, and CASL, PIPEDA and Quebec’s Law 25 are described correctly without overstating them. If a French term needs checking and you don’t work in French, say so in your note.
4. The steps work. Someone with two years of experience could follow them, in this order, in the current interface. Add any missing step.
5. Nothing is overpromised. No guaranteed results, and no “always” or “never” that experience says is false. Benchmarks are either sourced or clearly labelled as examples. Check the arithmetic.
6. Risks and trade-offs are included. Add the caveat a careful practitioner would give: budget minimums, learning periods, policy risks, or when not to do this at all.
7. Experience is added where it helps. A practical tip from your own work makes an article better. Describe it in general terms, with no client names and nothing that could identify a client.
8. It reads like paidmedia.ca/. Plain language, short sentences, Canadian spelling, no hype. Fix what’s wrong, but don’t rewrite for personal style.

How to edit a draft

• Edit the draft directly. Keep the structure: title, summary, key takeaways, sections, checklist and sources.
• Update the last line, “Platform details as of”, to the current month.
• Use the note to the editor for anything big: what you changed, what you’re unsure about, or where you disagree.
• Don’t change the title, web address or topic without explaining why in your note.
• If the article can’t be fixed, for example because the feature has changed or been removed, don’t mark it reviewed. Leave a note and email us.
• Only review drafts in the areas you were approved for.
• Meet the due date, or tell us early enough that we can reassign the draft.

Independence and promotion rules

Readers trust paidmedia.ca/ because no one can buy or slip their way into an article. These rules are firm.

• Never promote anything you’re connected to. That includes your employer, your own business, any client from the past two years, partners, sponsors, affiliate programs and companies you own shares in. No links, brand mentions, screenshots, examples or case studies that point to them.
• No self-promotion inside articles. Don’t add links to your own website, content, courses or social profiles. Your LinkedIn link belongs on your reviewer profile, and that’s where readers find you.
• No affiliate links, referral codes, tracking parameters or paid placements, ever.
• Disclose before you review. If a draft names a company you’re connected to, or a direct competitor of one, tell the editor before you start. We may reassign it or add a disclosure. Never remove or soften a fair mention of a competitor.
• No payment for influence. Never accept money, gifts or favours from a company in return for how an article treats it. If anyone offers, tell us.
• Keep your disclosure current. Email us when your employer, clients or business relationships change.

Confidentiality

Drafts are confidential until they’re published. Don’t share, screenshot or post them, and don’t paste them into public AI tools. Never put client data or anything confidential from your own work into an article.

A note on AI-assisted drafts

Our editorial team uses AI-assisted tools to research and write first drafts. You are the human check, so verify claims against the sources yourself rather than asking an AI tool whether the draft is right.

Recognition

• Your name appears as “Reviewed by” on the article once you mark it reviewed and it’s published.
• Your reviewer profile lists every article you’ve reviewed, and you’re listed on our reviewers page.
• After 10 published reviews you become a paidmedia.ca/ Certified Expert Reviewer. We email you a link that adds the certification to LinkedIn with your credential ID. Anyone who clicks “Show credential” sees your reviewer profile.

When we remove a reviewer

We remove reviewers who break the independence and promotion rules, share drafts, repeatedly miss due dates without telling us, or haven’t reviewed anything for six months. Their login is turned off, they’re taken off the reviewers page and their profile shows they’re no longer active, so they should also remove the certification from LinkedIn. Their name stays on articles they reviewed, because that’s an accurate record.

Questions about these guidelines? Contact us.