Advertising and Sponsorship Policy

As of July 2026, The LA Actor Guide carries no advertising, no sponsored content, no affiliate links, and no paid placement of any kind. Nobody has paid to appear on this site, and no coverage here was bought. This page sets the rules in advance, so that if revenue ever arrives, the standards were written before the money was.

What we take today

Nothing. No ads, no sponsorships, no affiliate commissions, no paid reviews, no paid links, no fees from schools, agencies, platforms, or photographers. No business has editorial influence here, because no business is paying for anything.

The one commercial relationship, disclosed

The site's editor, Joshua Michael Shelton, owns Headshots LA, a Los Angeles headshot studio. This is not advertising; it is ownership, which is a stronger conflict, so it gets stronger handling:

• Headshots LA is mentioned only on the three headshot education pages, each carrying a visible disclosure box.
• It is always described as the editor's own studio, never as an independent recommendation, and never entered into a comparison as a neutral option.
• Links to its booking or pricing pages are marked rel="sponsored", the honest label for a link that benefits the publisher.
• Independent photographers' published pricing appears alongside ours, so our numbers are never the only reference.

Full detail is in the review and ranking methodology.

The rules if advertising is ever introduced

1. Editorial is never for sale. No advertiser, sponsor, or partner will influence, preview, edit, or veto any article. Not the topics, not the conclusions, not the words.
2. Ads look like ads. Any paid unit will be visually distinct from editorial and labeled in plain language ("Advertisement", "Sponsored"). No native advertising styled to read like a guide.
3. Paid links get marked. rel="sponsored" on every paid link, without exception, including our own.
4. No pay-to-rank, ever. Paid placement will never be presented as, mixed into, or allowed to influence any evaluation, comparison, list, or ranking. If a business advertises and is also covered editorially, the coverage will say so on the page.
5. Disclosure precedes revenue. This policy page updates before the first paid unit appears, not after.
6. Affiliate links, if ever used, would be disclosed at the top of the page carrying them, marked rel="sponsored", and never allowed to determine what we recommend or how we rank anything.
7. We will decline advertising from businesses whose practices harm actors, including anyone charging actors to audition, guaranteeing representation or work, or operating outside California's talent scam and talent agency laws. Revenue does not outrank the readers.

What we will never do, at any price

• Sell a mention, a position, a link, or a kind word
• Publish a "best of" list influenced by payment
• Accept free products or services in exchange for coverage
• Let a sponsor read a guide before publication
• Remove accurate criticism because it costs us money
• Publish fake reviews, fake testimonials, or fake ratings

Why say all this with nothing to disclose

Because a policy written when there is money on the table is worth less than one written when there is not. Actors are marketed to constantly, often by people whose interests are hidden. If The LA Actor Guide is going to be worth trusting on which platforms deserve your money, it has to be clear about where its own money comes from, including when the answer is nowhere.

Questions about this policy, or a business relationship you think we have failed to disclose? Tell us. If we ever fail to disclose something, that is itself a correction, handled under the corrections policy.