How paid placements and membership tiers work on Global Law Lists.org™, and how to tell commercial placement apart from independent editorial content.
This disclosure applies to Global Law Lists.org™ (“Global Law Lists”, “we”), operated by Weblaya Digital Bhutan, Thimphu, Kingdom of Bhutan.
01How we fund the platform
#Global Law Lists.org™ is funded primarily by memberships paid by the law firms and lawyers who list with us. This lets us keep search and access free for the public.
02What a paid tier does — and does not — mean
#There are three paid membership tiers: Essential Members, Elite Members and Prestige Members. A tier changes three things:
- Placement
- When you browse law firms or lawyers by country, region or practice area, listings are ordered by tier: Prestige Members first, then Elite Members, then Essential Members, then profiles that have not been claimed. When you search for a specific name or term, relevance comes first and the tier only orders results that match equally well. Elite Members and Prestige Members are also eligible for homepage placement, including the daily featured law firm.
- Badges
- Tier badges and check marks (blue for Elite Members, gold for Prestige Members) show the plan a member holds.
- Profile features
- The number of branch listings and lawyer profiles, the practice areas a profile is featured in, contact options, a followed website link, and social media announcements.
A paid tier is not an editorial endorsement, an independent ranking, or a certification of quality. Verification is separate: members are verified under our published verification methodology before they receive a verification badge, and that badge confirms the stated facts at the time of checking, not the quality of the work.
03Identifying paid placement
#Because browse order follows tier, a listing’s position in those lists reflects its paid plan, not a neutral ranking. The tier badge on each listing shows which plan it holds, so you can see why it appears where it does.
04Editorial, rankings and awards independence
#Our Insights and news content is produced independently of advertising and membership status, in line with our editorial standards. Paying for a listing does not buy editorial coverage.
Our rankings and editorial awards are also independent of payment. The rankings software and our editors do not see a firm’s membership, orders or payments, being ranked is free, and no membership tier can obtain a ranking or award. Verification badges, which come with membership, are not rankings or awards. The methodology sets this out in full.
05Questions
#If anything about a placement or badge is unclear, email [email protected] with the subject “Advertising question” and we will explain how it works.