The short version: when you click a "Find best rates" button on The Curd Compass and go on to book a stay, we may earn a small commission from Booking.com (or its sister platforms) via our partner, Stay22. It costs you nothing extra and has no effect on our editorial coverage.
Who is this for?
This disclosure is written to align with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR § 255), which require material connections between a publisher and a merchant to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. If you're in the EU, UK, or another jurisdiction with its own rules (CMA, DSA, etc.), consider this baseline language and pair it with local advice.
How we earn
When our Stay22 Link Monetization Automation script is active on the site, clicks on accommodation "Find best rates" buttons are transparently rewritten into affiliate-tagged URLs. If you go on to complete a reservation on one of Stay22's partner platforms — primarily Booking.com today, possibly Hotels.com, Expedia, Agoda, Airbnb, or Vrbo — Stay22 pays us a percentage of the booking commission they earn.
We do not receive any payment from the individual hotels, inns, farmstays, or cheesemakers listed on the site. Listings are editorial; inclusion is not a paid placement.
What this changes for you
- Price: nothing. You pay the same rate Booking.com would quote anyone. Our commission comes out of the fee the booking partner already charges the property.
- Choice: the button sends you to a search on Booking.com so you can compare rooms, dates, and alternate properties. You can also book elsewhere — these links do not lock you in.
- Privacy: Stay22 may set cookies or local storage values on your browser so that a commission can be attributed back to us if you book. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Editorial independence
Cheesemakers and accommodations are selected for the guide based on their relevance to a Vermont & Maine cheese-trail itinerary, not their commercial relationship with us (there isn't one). If a property is not bookable through our affiliate channels at all — a small B&B that only takes phone reservations, for example — it may still be featured; we just won't earn on those clicks, which is fine.
Press & advertising inquiries
Publishers, PR agencies, and brands interested in a sponsored collaboration or advertising partnership can reach us at [email protected].