Editorial

How these pieces are made

Last updated October 6, 2026.

AdSectator reads one ad or campaign at a time. These are the rules each piece is held to, so you can tell what I'm reporting from what I'm arguing.

Sources

Every factual claim traces to a named, linked source in the list at the foot of the piece. When I couldn't open a source, because it was paywalled or blocked, I say so there, and I don't cite what I haven't read. Where a piece rests on a source with a clear point of view, the piece says that too.

Allegations, claims and findings

A complaint, lawsuit, accusation or demand letter is reported as what it is, an allegation, until a court or regulator rules. Numbers a company or official gives about their own results are labelled as self-reported. When outlets disagree on a figure, the piece shows both and says they differ.

Two questions, kept apart

The marketing question is whether a campaign worked, for whom, and at what cost. The ethical question is whether it should have run. I answer them separately and say which one I'm on, because collapsing them into one verdict makes both answers worse.

My read versus the record

When a sentence is my reading of an ad and not a reported fact, it says so. When I haven't seen the thing itself, I say that as well. Before a piece goes up, each quote, number and date is checked against the source it cites.

Corrections

If something is wrong, write to hello@adsectator.com. A correction goes at the foot of the piece with its date and what changed. I don't edit a mistake out quietly. No piece has needed a correction so far.

Independence and disclosure

AdSectator is my own project. Nothing on it is sponsored, and it isn't client work. I build websites and web strategy for a living at thisismyurl.com, and where that experience bears on a piece, I say so in the byline note. More about me is on the author page.