Advertise With Us
What advertising pays for
PLAY AT HOME FEST is free to read because advertising covers the cost of producing it. We are not shy about that, and we would rather explain the arrangement plainly than pretend the journalism funds itself. If you want to reach our readers, this page tells you what we offer, the rules we hold advertisers to, and the categories we will not run. Enquiries go to support@playathomefest.com with ADVERTISING at the front of the subject line.
Our readers come for world and breaking news across BUSINESS, ECONOMY, ENTERTAINMENT, HEALTH, POLITICS, SCIENCE, SPORTS, TECHNOLOGY, and WORLD. They are people who want to know what is happening and check it for themselves, which tends to make them a careful and engaged audience rather than a passive one.
What we sell
Most of our inventory is standard display advertising, filled programmatically through advertising exchanges and, in some cases, sold directly. We also offer newsletter sponsorship and, occasionally, clearly labelled sponsored content. We do not sell the things that would damage the reader’s trust: we do not sell coverage, we do not sell influence over what we report, and we do not sell the top of a story to the highest bidder while calling it news.
- Programmatic display. Standard formats served through the open exchanges, with the usual controls on frequency, viewability, and fraud.
- Direct display. For advertisers who want a defined placement and a direct relationship rather than the open auction.
- Newsletter sponsorship. A labelled placement in an email our subscribers chose to receive.
- Sponsored content. Clearly marked as sponsored, kept visually distinct from journalism, and never written by the reporters who cover that subject.
The line advertising does not cross
Buying advertising here buys space next to our journalism, not a say in it. Advertisers do not see stories before they publish, are not told what is coming, and do not get coverage pulled, delayed, or softened. If a company that advertises with us becomes the subject of a story, the story runs on its merits and discloses the relationship. A request to kill or change a story because of an advertising relationship is refused, and may itself become something we report. This firewall is described further in our ownership and funding page and our editorial standards.
Sponsored content is the one place an advertiser controls the message, and precisely because of that we label it unmistakably, so no reader confuses it with our reporting. Sponsored content does not borrow our editorial voice and does not appear as though our newsroom stands behind its claims.
What we will not run
Some advertising is refused regardless of price, because it would harm readers or the trust the site runs on. The list is not exhaustive, and we keep final say over any advertisement that appears.
- Advertising that is misleading, fraudulent, or promotes a scam, including fake celebrity endorsements and get-rich-quick schemes.
- Political advertising that hides who is paying for it.
- Advertising aimed at children, and any advertisement placed to exploit a distressing story it sits beside.
- Illegal products and services, and anything that promotes hatred, harassment, or violence against a group of people.
- Deceptive creative that imitates our own journalism or a system alert in order to trick a click.
- Products making health or financial claims that cannot be substantiated.
Standards for creative
Advertisements must be recognisable as advertisements. They must not impersonate editorial content or disguise themselves as part of the page. They must load without hijacking the reader’s browser, must not carry malware or auto-redirects, and must respect the reader’s privacy choices. Heavy, intrusive formats that make the site unpleasant to use undermine the very audience an advertiser is paying to reach, so we keep them out. Advertising technology also collects data, and how that works and how a reader controls it is set out in our cookie policy and our privacy policy.
How to reach us, and what to expect
Write to support@playathomefest.com with ADVERTISING in the subject line and tell us what you want to run, where, and roughly when. These enquiries are handled on the business side, away from the desk that would cover you, and reaching out to advertise does not buy you goodwill in our reporting. We reserve the right to decline or remove any advertisement that breaks these rules, even after it has started running, and we do not offer refunds for advertising we pull for breaching them. If you are unsure whether your campaign fits, ask before you book, and we will give you a straight answer.
Last updated: August 2026
