How Radar finds sponsorships, and how to read the numbers

Everything in Radar starts with real newsletter issues. Here is how it works, in plain words.

Where the data comes from

1. Radar reads newsletters. It reads public newsletter archives, and it subscribes to newsletters like a normal reader would.
2. It spots sponsors. In each issue, it looks for sponsored sections: ads, "presented by" messages and paid mentions.
3. It writes down the facts. For each sponsorship it records who paid, which newsletter, which issue, and the date.
4. It connects the dots. Over time, this builds a history: which companies sponsor which newsletters, and how often they come back.

Every sponsorship has proof

You can open a sponsorship and see the issue it came from and its date. If Radar cannot point to the issue, it does not count it as a sponsorship. This way you can always check the facts yourself.

Unknown is not zero

If a newsletter shows few or no sponsors, it does not always mean nobody sponsors it. It may mean Radar has not read enough of its issues yet. Radar keeps reading older issues, so counts can grow over time.

Two kinds of information

• Seen in an issue: Radar found the sponsor inside a real newsletter issue. This is the strongest proof.
• Web research: found by searching the web when Radar had little data on a competitor. Useful, but always marked separately.

Common questions

I spotted a mistake. What should I do?

Message us with the newsletter or company name and what looks wrong. We check every report.

Does Radar know how much sponsors paid?

Radar shows what it can prove: who sponsored, where and when. Where a newsletter publishes its own ad prices, Radar may show them, but most prices are private between the publisher and the sponsor.

Can I see the newsletter issue myself?

Yes. Open the sponsorship to see the source issue and date.