Store links and commissions
Some of the Go to links in Shopping are affiliate links: if you follow one and buy, the store may pay 4Search a small commission. You pay the same price either way. Shopping says this beside its links, and the full terms are in the site's Affiliate and Advertising Disclosure.
#What you see on the page
The notes under the store prices: the Amazon link with its required sentence, and the commission line with How this works.
- 1A link to Amazon's own search page
- 2Disclosure: commission, ordering, and a link to how it works
- Under the results and under every product's table: "We may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no cost to you. Order is by relevance and price, never by commission." How this works opens the full disclosure.
- Beside the Amazon link: "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."
#What the disclosure says, in short
- Some outbound shopping links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, 4Internet, LLC (the company behind 4Search) may receive a commission from the retailer, at no additional cost to you.
- The store is still the seller. A commission does not raise the price, does not make 4Search the seller, and does not move the store's obligations to 4Search. Price, availability, shipping, returns, warranties and safety are the store's.
- Ranking is not for sale. Shopping results are ordered by how well they match your search and by price, never by the commission a store pays. Compensation does not buy a favorable description, ranking or recommendation.
- Prices and ratings are shown as the store gives them. Each price shows when it was checked, and the store's price at checkout applies. A rating beside an offer is that store's own rating, credited to it.
- Links pass through 4Search. A Go to link goes through a 4Search address on its way to the store, so that a store's commission report can be matched to the click. The click is recorded (the product and store, your search words, where the link was on the page, the site and the time) without a cookie or other identifier and without your IP address, as the Privacy Policy explains.
- Ads are labeled. Sponsored placements, when used, are marked "Ad", "Sponsored" or something equally clear.
- You decide. Check the product, the seller, the price and the terms before you buy; a search result or an AI overview is not a warranty or an endorsement.
Questions about an affiliate relationship can be sent through the advertising contact form.
#Common questions
Do I pay more when I buy through a link?
No. A commission, when there is one, comes out of the store's side, and the price you pay is the store's normal price.
Are the results sorted by who pays most?
No. The order is by how well a product matches your search, and then by price. Commissions play no part.
Which links earn a commission?
It depends on the store; not every store has an affiliate program, and some links earn nothing. The commission line appears beside all store links, so you are always told it may apply.
Does the link put a tracking cookie on my computer?
Not from 4Search: the click is recorded without a cookie or other identifier. Once you arrive, the store's own site follows its own privacy rules and cookies.