A Toolradar sponsored box is a paid box, labelled Sponsored, that sits above the ranked list on one alternatives page or one best-of category page. A vendor asks for a specific page from its company dashboard, the price and dates are agreed directly with Toolradar, and an admin switches the box on. The box never changes a position in the ranked list, the comparison table or a tool's score.
Toolradar runs this directory and sells placements, including sponsored boxes and paid positions in buyer guides. Toolradar is part of Dupple, which sells newsletter sponsorships. This page describes how the box works today. Read how we make money and the editorial policy for the rules that apply to every commercial placement on the site.
What a sponsored box is
The box shows one product from a verified company. It carries the product's logo, name and tagline, taken from its Toolradar listing, with a Visit button and a link to the product's review page. The vendor does not write the box text. Editing the listing changes what the box shows.
The box is rendered on the server, so it is part of the page HTML that crawlers and AI assistants read. A crawler that does not run scripts, or that identifies itself as a bot, is not counted as a view of the box.
The label and the link
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Label | A small tag reading "Sponsored", displayed in capitals. It is the only text inside the box that marks it as paid. |
| Accessible name | The box is an aside named "Sponsored" followed by the product name. |
| Visit button | Opens the product's website in a new tab with the attribute rel="sponsored nofollow noopener". |
| Tracked hop | The Visit button first goes to Toolradar's click counter, which redirects to the product's own website with the tags utm_source=toolradar, utm_medium=sponsored, utm_campaign=sponsored_box and a utm_content value that names the page. |
| Review and comparison links | Ordinary links to the product's review page and, on an alternatives page, to a comparison with the page's tool. They carry no sponsored attribute. |
Toolradar uses the sponsored value to mark the Visit link as paid, and it sits on that button only. A vendor that has asked Toolradar for clean links gets a link without the utm tags.
Where the box appears
The box appears on two kinds of Toolradar page and nowhere else.
- An alternatives page, at the address /alternatives/ followed by the tool's name. The box sits after the sticky section bar and before the Top 3 tiles and the full list of alternatives. The page's own tool is never the product shown in its box.
- A best-of category page, at the address /best/ followed by the category name. The box sits after the sticky section bar and before the editorial introduction and the top picks.
Each page holds one live box. A box is public only while it is active and inside its dates: a box with a start date in the future is Scheduled and stays hidden until that date. An hourly job marks a box Ended once its end date has passed and refreshes the page so the change shows.
Other pages, such as /best pages for a use case, /compare pages, guides and tool pages, do not carry the box.
What the box does not do
- It does not enter the ranking. The ranking code does not read the sponsored tables, and the box is not a numbered item on the page.
- It is not a row of the comparison table. The box renders no structured data of its own, and the list's structured data does not read it.
- It does not change any score. Toolradar Data takes no advertising input, and the box does not add a review or change the criteria in how we rate.
- It is not offered for a page that a direct sale already holds, or for the alternatives page of a tool whose vendor runs an active campaign with Toolradar.
- It is never the second box on a page. Only one active box (live or scheduled) per page is possible.
A sponsored box is paid visibility on one page for an agreed period. It does not buy a ranking, a score or a favourable review, and Toolradar does not promise a position.
Who the box fits, and who it does not
| Fits when | Does not fit when |
|---|---|
| Your product competes directly with the tool on an alternatives page, and you want visibility beside that comparison. | You want a numbered position in a list (that is the ranked buyer guide placement, a separate format) or a higher score (a box changes no score). |
| Your product is in the category of a best-of page and is published on Toolradar. | Your product is not published on Toolradar, or is not in that category. |
| An owner or admin of a verified company sends the request. | A member without the owner or admin role wants to send it. |
| You can name a period of 3, 6 or 12 months, or leave it open. | You need a fixed start date at the request stage. The form has no date field, and dates are agreed afterwards. |
Where another format fits a goal better, the comparison near the end of this page says so.
How to request a box
- Open the dashboard. Sign in as an owner or admin of a verified company and open Sponsored placements. The list shows up to 80 pages where one of your published products qualifies, most engaged first, each with an estimated engagement level or "Not measured yet". Only a verified company sees the tab, and only while Toolradar has it open.
- Choose the page. Press "Ask for this page" on the row you want. The form opens for that product and page. A row showing another company's box reads "Taken until" a date and offers "Ask to be next".
- Fill in the form. Name and email are required. The role, the period (3, 6 or 12 months, or not sure yet), a budget band (one of three, or not sure yet) and a message of up to 1,000 characters are optional. The message may contain at most two links. Tick the consent box. The form refuses the request until the required answers are right.
- Send the request. The request is saved as Requested with the page, the product and your answers. You can withdraw it while it is still a request. Toolradar's team receives an email with the page, your answers and the engagement level. No payment is taken at this step, and no box goes live.
- Agree the price and dates. If Toolradar takes the request forward, it agrees the price and the dates with you directly, outside the product. Toolradar sets no fixed reply time. If the request is declined, the dashboard shows "Not this time". The decline reason is kept by Toolradar and is not shown to you.
- Activation. An admin records the agreed monthly price, a start date (the day of activation when left empty), an optional end date and an optional deal reference. Only one active box (live or scheduled) can sit on a page, so activation stops and asks for the other box to be ended first.
- Going live. The page cache is cleared and the box appears from its start date. From then on your dashboard shows how often the box was seen and clicked.
Example (fictional company)
Example (fictional company): Harbor Ledger is an invented invoicing product, and Ferry Invoice is an invented competitor. Both names are made up for this example. Dana, an owner of the Harbor Ledger company, finds the row "Ferry Invoice alternatives" on her dashboard, with the reason that Harbor Ledger and the page's tool are direct competitors. The engagement level reads Medium.
Dana writes her name and work email, types Head of growth in the optional role field, picks a 6 month period, chooses the middle budget band and writes one line in the message: she would like the box to start in the week of the spring launch. She ticks the consent box and sends the request.
The request passes these checks, and the server runs them again when the request arrives, not only in the form. Harbor Ledger is published on Toolradar. Ferry Invoice belongs to another company, is published, and its alternatives page is listed. The page is not sold by hand, and Ferry Invoice has no live campaign with Toolradar. Dana has no open request for that page. A box held by another company would not block the request: the row would read "Ask to be next".
Toolradar then agrees the monthly price and the spring start date with Dana directly. An admin activates the box with a six month end date. Dana sees the seen and clicks counts for the box in her dashboard from the day it goes live.
What Toolradar reports back
Toolradar data: this page publishes no measured results for boxes. The figures below are the rules Toolradar applies when it counts: the engagement thresholds, the 30-minute and one-hour windows, the 30-day period and the 20-view minimum for a click rate.
| Measure | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Estimated engagement | Low, Medium or High, from the page's monthly views and, on alternatives pages only, AI reads. Under 50 is Low, 50 to 199 is Medium and 200 or more is High. |
| Live boxes | Your boxes shown on Toolradar right now. |
| Seen | Times a box entered a browser's view: at least half of it in the viewport. One count per box per network address every 30 minutes, bots excluded. Last 30 days. |
| Clicks to your site | Clicks on Visit that pass the filters: no bot user agent, a referrer from toolradar.com, and one valid click per network address and box per hour. Last 30 days. |
| Click rate | Clicks as a share of Seen. It is shown only from 20 views. |
| Per box | The page, the product, the status (Scheduled, Live, Ended or Declined), the dates, and the seen and clicks counts. A request still waiting shows as Requested in the list of pages instead. |
The dashboard does not show the price, a day-by-day breakdown, the invalid clicks or what visitors did after the click. Invalid clicks are counted apart. A browser that sends no referrer counts as an invalid click, so the dashboard can differ from your own analytics. Those counts come from Toolradar's own database and are not an independent audit. The utm tags on each click let your analytics record the visits, and any lead or sale needs your own tracking on your site.
How it compares with other formats
| Format | What it is | Where it runs | How it is booked or labelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored box | A paid box above the ranked list on one alternatives or best-of page | Toolradar alternatives and best-of pages | Requested from the company dashboard. Labelled Sponsored. |
| Ranked buyer guide placement | A paid position in a buyer guide or a /best category list, numbered where it is sold | Toolradar buyer guides and /best category lists | Arranged through the team. Every list and guide page prints a general paid-placements line, and a Sponsored tag shows only on a row flagged for it. |
| Vendor post | A short, sourced update about a vendor's own listing | The What's new feed and the tool page | Posted by a verified vendor, only while posting is open to that company. Its link is nofollow ugc, and posts never count in a ranking. |
| Primary Ad | Top-of-newsletter placement with a co-branded header and two links | Dupple newsletters | Pick a newsletter and a date. Main ads book out months ahead. |
| Spotlight Ad | Mid-newsletter slot with an image, copy and one link | Techpresso | A single send or a flight of 3 to 6 sends. |
| Dedicated Send | A standalone email to the full subscriber base | Dupple newsletters | An available send slot, with limited inventory. |
| Quick Link | Short, native text links in the newsletter | Techpresso | Share the link and the offer for the next available issue. |
| Lead Generation | Post-signup promotion to new subscribers, priced on CPC or CPL | Techpresso | Set a target CPC or CPL, and the team sets up the placement. |
| Native Advertorial | Sponsored editorial content, written by the team and placed beside regular editorial | Dupple newsletters | Pitch a topic. The team writes the piece and you review it for accuracy. |
Choose the sponsored box when a product competes with the tool on a page that a visitor is already reading as a comparison. Choose a vendor post to announce a launch, a shipped feature or a deal on your own listing, and a ranked buyer guide placement when you want a numbered position in a buyer guide or a /best list. Choose a newsletter format when the aim is a campaign to a Dupple newsletter audience. If the price, features or category on your listing are wrong or missing, correct the listing first: a box shows the listing as it is and does not fix it. None of these formats changes a score on Toolradar.
What we could not verify
- Live boxes today. We did not read the production database or server, so this page describes how the box works as built and does not say which pages carry a box at this moment.
- Price, term and dates of a box. They are agreed outside the product and are not published anywhere, so this page gives no figures for them.
- Response time. The dashboard says Toolradar replies within one business day, but nothing in the product enforces a reply time, so this page states none.
- Advertising rules by country. We did not review the Sponsored label against the disclosure rules of every country where a visitor might read it.
Frequently asked questions
Is a sponsored box part of the ranked list?
No. The box sits above the ranked content. It is not a numbered item, not a row of the comparison table and not part of the list's structured data, and it never changes a position in that list.
How many sponsored boxes can one page show?
One. A page can hold only one active box (live or scheduled), and activation stops while another box is active on it. A vendor whose page is taken can send a request marked "Ask to be next". It waits like any other request, and several companies can ask for the same page.
Can any vendor request any competitor page?
No. The product must be published on Toolradar and listed as a direct competitor of the page's tool in Toolradar's competitor data, or belong to the category of a best-of page. The page's tool must not belong to your own company, its page must be listed, and the page must not be sold by hand or belong to a tool with a live campaign.
Does buying a box change a tool's score or review?
No. A box is advertising. Toolradar Data takes no advertising input, and the box adds no review and changes none of the criteria in how we rate.
Is the price shown on the box or the dashboard?
No. The price is agreed directly with Toolradar and stored for the admin's records. It is not printed on the box, on the vendor dashboard or in the request form, which asks for a budget band instead.
Is a recorded click a lead or a sale?
No. A click is a visit from the box to the product's website, counted by Toolradar. Leads, trials and sales need the vendor's own analytics: the utm tags on each click let you attribute the visits.
Spotted an outdated price or a wrong fact? Suggest a correction: we check it against the vendor's own page. Work for one of these vendors? Claim your listing to update it yourself.
Ask for a sponsored box
Name the pages you want and we reply with availability and terms. Vendors with a verified company account can also send the request from the company dashboard.
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.