Skimlinks factsheet What is it? Plus full Q&A;

Update 19 April 2013: We are currently running a one month trial extension of Skimlinks to five pure-money boards: Credit Cards, Savings, Insurance, Loans and Budgeting and Bank Accounts. There is no other change to how it works, and everyone can still opt out if they wish. We will evaluate whether to continue with this in a month�s time.

Skimlinks is commonly used on many forums � it tracks links to some retailers and service providers, and if that click then generates revenue, this site is paid.

In April 2012 we turned Skimlinks on for some users in a few non money boards. In April 2013, we extended this to a few boards in the money section of the forum for a one month trial.

Importantly the links don't change the content, what you see nor track individual's personal data � but do help fund our free forum.

• Site visitors: Skimlinks is turned on as a default

• Logged in registered members: For forum members who registered before 20 April 2012, Skimlinks is turned off as a default, but there's an option in the�user control panel�to turn it on - which we hope you will do.
  
  For forum members who registered after 20 April 2012, it is pre-ticked as on, but you can deselect this as you register, or any time afterwards.

If you have Skimlinks turned on and you are in a board where it is active, we have added the phrase 'Skimlinks is turned on' in the right hand side of the page in green.

What is Skimlinks?Back to top

Skimlinks is a software company used by websites like Mumsnet, AVForums, TechRadar and Telegraph.co.uk.

Its software turns some standard weblinks, for firms Skimlinks has a relationship with, such as www.amazon.co.uk, in some of our forum boards into tracked links.

They then mark it as coming from this site. If Skimlinks receives a lead generation fee, MoneySavingExpert gets a proportion of this.

Important: Skimlinks also has a separate Skimwords software, which is intrusive and adds links to keywords. We're not using that software, so please don't confuse the two.

It doesn't change the post content or link destination Back to top

Forum posts will remain as they were originally written. We won't be altering the content at all. If Skimlinks is switched on, ie, links you view on the forum may be Skimlinked for you, when you click a link you will go to exactly the same place as the original poster intended � so if it's a ballpoint pen on Amazon, it's the same ballpoint pen.

The only difference is it invisibly sends you via a Skimlink, so that the retailer knows that the person came from MSE. No personal information which could be used to identify any user who has posted it or clicked on it is tracked.

This is deliberate so that we are not interfering with the content or views of our users � the content is still user-generated and independent from the views of MoneySavingExpert.com.

Skimlinks is default off for registered members (pre-April 2012), on for visitors Back to top

Logged-in, registered forum members (if they registered before 20 April 2012) will have Skimlinks turned off as a default so any links they see on MoneySavingExpert won't be Skimlinked. We want to give people who already contribute to our forum a choice via their control panel.

We hope they'll chose to switch it on, as it helps contribute towards the running costs of our free forum.

To turn skimlinks on

Visitors to the site (those who aren't logged in), as well as logged-in forum members who registered after 20 April 2012, will have Skimlinks turned on by default, but they can choose to turn it off by registering or logging into the forum.

New forum members will be able to choose as part of the registration process. The box will be automatically ticked, but they can choose to turn it off.

It is only on some boardsBack to top

Skimlinks is turned on in 21 of our boards

We will always note when Skimlinks is active for a given user on a given board (i.e. they are in a board with Skimlinks is turned on, and Skimlinks is switched on for their account).

We may choose to add it to additional boards at a later date - if we do, this factsheet will be updated and an announcement will be made in that board.

Which companies does Skimlinks track? Back to top

The arrangements made by Skimlinks means that the providers they include regularly change, and are too numerous for us to keep a full list up to date.

As an example, the following were all part of Skimlinks as at 19 April 2013:

Skimlinks is a reputable company. If you notice any issues, please let us have as much info as possible so we can look into it. Please email skimlinks@moneysavingexpert.com.

Cookies (files) are sent to your computer or other access device when you click through, as they do when you click a paying link on our main MoneySavingExpert.com site. See more about these in the Skimlinks cookies page and privacy policy.

I use cashback sites. How will this affect me? Back to top

We spoke to cashback sites following user concerns Skimlinks may lead to clicks not being tracked. They told us they operate on a 'last cookie wins' basis, so provided you click through to the retailer via the relevant cashback site, it should work like normal.

For belt 'n' braces, if you're planning to buy via a cashback site then use one browser for cashback sites and a separate one for the forum, or alternatively cutting and pasting the link into your internet brower address bar, as then it won't be Skimlinked (see below for why).

You may also want to clear the cookies on your computer before clicking through to the cashback site (see more about cashback sites in the Cashback Guide).

Can I tell if an individual link is Skimlinked? Back to top

No. In a trial of this software in 2011, the link would change, but we had many user complaints that they couldn't then copy and paste the original link, or see where it was going.

So we have tweaked the software, and the tracking is now added only once you actually click. This also means people can simply copy a link and paste it in their browser if, for some reason, they didn't want it to be Skimlinked (or even more easily, register on the forum and turn Skimlinks off).

We will also be telling users who have Skimlinks on when they are in a board where it is switched on.

Will MSE team links have a *? Back to top

Yes. In any content written by Martin or the MSE Team, we denote all affiliate links by adding a * to the provider's name (fully explained in the How This Site's Financed guide).

The reason for this is to be transparent, so everyone knows when there is a link that helps the site. If a team member posts a link which is affiliated, we will add a star to it.

Why do we use Skimlinks? Back to top

The simple answer is because we believe it's a clean way to generate revenue that falls within our ethical stance (see How This Site's Financed).

This forum is massive. It's one of the UK's biggest social networking sites. It has no adverts, and no-one can pay to be on the site.

But it comes at a large cost to pay for servers, our forum team, and specialised forum developers. We also have an in-house lawyer, who spends a great deal of time dealing with legal letters arising from posts made by forum users, so that we can continue to allow people to have their say about issues that involve big companies.

Currently, these substantial costs are met by the success of the main site. Hopefully, this move will allow the forum to cover some of its own costs.

Skimlinks does have relationships with a small number of providers who we would not wish to receive income from, such as payday lenders or secured loan companies. As we do not control what any forum members post or click on, nor the providers who sign up with Skimlinks, we will be donating any Skimlinks revenue from companies of these types to the MSE Charity.

The no spamming rules will remain unchanged Back to top

The rules remain the same as now. No spamming and no referral links (barring the Referrers board, where Skimlinks will always be turned off). See our Forum Rules and Terms & Conditions for a reminder.

We would also ask that you continue to only post genuine MoneySaving deals, and don't pay a second's notice to whether they help the site or not.

To suggest further questions for this factsheet please email skimlinks@moneysavingexpert.com.

Skimlinks will not be turned on for the Referrers board

As outlined above, only 21 forum boards have Skimlinks turned on, and the Referrers board is not one of them so it will continue to operate within the same rules as it always has.