Affiliate & Commercial Disclosure

Version 1.2 · Effective: upon publication · Provider: Grayscale Digital, LLC (Michigan) · Compliance: FTC §255.5

DueSouthDental earns money in two structurally separate ways. We disclose both clearly, in plain language, on every page footer and proximate to every commercial recommendation.

1A. Clinic-side commercial relationships

1B. Travel affiliate relationships

1C. Sponsored content from non-clinical brands

Sponsored content from non-clinical brands (insurance carriers, financing companies, dental brands) is clearly labeled as sponsored. We do not accept payment for inclusion of clinics in editorial content.

If you have a question about a specific commercial relationship, write to us at [email protected].

2. What we do NOT do

For clarity:

• We do not accept payment from clinics in exchange for any clinical recommendation, ranking adjustment, or patient steering.
• The wizard's filter-match algorithm is deterministic and identical for all clinics regardless of fee tier or sponsored-placement opt-in. Our marketing fee structure is uniform across all listed clinics — no clinic pays a different rate to influence placement.
• We do not bundle clinical fees with our affiliate revenue from hotels, transport, or non-clinical products. Patients pay clinics directly for clinical services; affiliate commissions are earned on separate, independently-booked travel and product transactions.
• We do not deploy retargeting pixels (Facebook Pixel, Google Ads remarketing, TikTok Pixel, equivalent) on the wizard or intake pages.
• We do not collect, store, or transmit any patient health information ("PHI") through the directory service.
• Our qualification-stage fee is invariant to clinical outcomes — we earn the same fee whether or not the patient proceeds to treatment. This decouples our revenue from the clinical decision and preserves editorial integrity.

3. Implementation rules

1. Footer. Full disclosure block (§1A + §1B + §1C) is visible on every page in the duesouthdental.com footer.
2. Wizard intake page. Short-form combined disclosure renders before the first wizard question.
3. Wizard output / filter-match results. Short-form clinic-side disclosure renders prominently above the clinic comparison view, not buried below or in fine print. Affiliate-side disclosure renders immediately above the travel-logistics overlay.
4. Clinic profile cards. Short-form disclosure on profile cards for clinics on the paid tier. Clinics on the free tier (during pilot listing) show a "free listing — no fees" indicator.
5. Sponsored placements. When sponsored slots are introduced, they are labeled "Sponsored" prominently and the short-form disclosure renders immediately adjacent. Sponsored-placement clinics pay the same uniform marketing fees as non-sponsored paid-tier clinics — sponsored placement is a UX surface, not a fee tier.
6. Content posts / guides. Any guide that recommends a product, hotel, or service includes the short-form affiliate-side disclosure at the top, before the first commercial link. Guides that compare specific clinics include the clinic-side disclosure at the top.

4. Update process

This disclosure is updated whenever:

• The marketing fee structure changes (rates, or the definition of "qualified consult" or "completed treatment").
• New affiliate categories are added (e.g., we begin earning commissions on a new partner type).
• A new sponsored-content category is introduced.
• The set of named travel partners (currently Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Welcome Pickups, Viator) changes materially.

Updates are versioned in the page footer ("Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD"). Material updates that affect the substance of disclosed relationships are announced in the site newsletter or banner for 30 days. Prior versions are archived at /legal/affiliate-disclosure/v1.0, /legal/affiliate-disclosure/v1.1, etc.

5. Legal posture

This disclosure is drafted to comply with the following:

• FTC §255.5 (Endorsement Guides — "Disclosure of Material Connections"). Standard plain-language disclosure, proximate to the relevant recommendation, available globally on the site footer. Clear and conspicuous per the FTC guidance on online disclosures. Critically, both clinic-side and patient-side commercial relationships are disclosed with peer prominence — neither is hidden behind the other.
• FTC §5 (Unfair or Deceptive Acts). No undisclosed paid placements; no representation of paid relationships as editorial.
• Healthcare-Marketing Rider §5 + §1.1. This page is the disclosure target referenced from the Healthcare-Marketing Rider's §5 affiliate-disclosure compliance language. It also reflects the §1.1(b) performance-based marketing fee structure.
• Anti-kickback / patient-brokerage hygiene. Provider's clinic-side fees are structured to remain defensible: the qualification-stage fee is invariant to clinical outcomes, decoupling revenue from the clinical decision. Affiliate revenue (hotels, transport, products) is structurally separate from clinical fees paid by patients to clinics.
• MHMDA compatibility. Disclosure does not infer or surface consumer health data. Disclosure surface is consistent with Provider's broader patient-data handling under the Health Privacy & Confidentiality Statement.
• Mexican advertising regulations. A Spanish-language equivalent of this disclosure is published at /es/legal/affiliate-disclosure for Mexican counterparties and Spanish-speaking patients.

6. Definitions

"Affiliate revenue" means commissions Provider earns from third-party vendors when a user makes a qualifying purchase or booking through a link on the directory service.

"Clinic" means a dental practice listed in the DueSouthDental directory under the applicable clinic agreement.

"directory service" means the DueSouthDental patient-decision wizard, clinic directory, and related features operated at duesouthdental.com by Provider.

"Qualified consult" means a patient inquiry that meets the gating criteria defined in the applicable clinic agreement: patient completed wizard; patient submitted inquiry to specific clinic; patient has validated contact information; patient meets clinic's stated criteria (procedure offered, budget band match, location, travel readiness); and the discovery call between patient and clinic has been confirmed to take place. The qualification-stage marketing fee is billed on confirmation of the discovery call.

"Completed treatment" means treatment delivered to the patient and confirmed via post-trip patient survey verification. The success-stage marketing fee is billed on survey-verified completion.

"Provider" means Grayscale Digital, LLC, a Michigan limited liability company operating the DueSouthDental directory service.

"Sponsored placement" means a clearly-labeled, separately-displayed listing slot in the wizard or directory that appears in addition to (and visually distinct from) deterministic filter-match results, available to clinics on the paid tier as a UX-surface benefit. Sponsored-placement clinics pay the same uniform marketing fees as non-sponsored paid-tier clinics; sponsored placement is not a higher fee tier.

Last updated: 2026-05-07.