Dark Light

Running a website is not free, unfortunately. There are costs involved – including hosting infrastructure, writer, travel and event expenses, and buying coffee and collectibles – so we’re sorry to say that you might see some ads on Thumbsticks.

Those ads will typically be one of four types:

Display Ads

Our advertising is exclusively sold and managed by Venatus. If you would like information regarding advertising on Thumbsticks please contact the sales team by emailing [email protected].

If you have any queries or complaints about an advert you’ve seen then please drop us a line to [email protected].

Affiliate Links

These are ads you’ll see linking to a product that may earn Thumbsticks a small commission, for example, linking to an online store (e.g. Amazon) to purchase a game. These ads are linked to the editorial content, in so far as they are a direct link to purchase the item which is the subject of the article, but the editorial content drives the placement of the ads, not the other way around. We’ll always be even-handed, and will link to things we don’t like as often as things we do!

Sponsored Links

We do not write advertorial contents, so please, don’t ask us to write an advertorial for you. We’ll just say no, and you’ll have wasted everyone’s time.

Third-Party Integrations

These are ads you’ll see that we have no direct control over, such as those integrated into a video (e.g. YouTube) that we embed in our site. Some of these adverts, like the ones featured in videos we have produced or are hosting, may make us some revenue. Other adverts may be making someone else money, and they’re probably all making money for the third-party service.

Either way, the display of these adverts is a non-optional requirement of utilising these services. The content of these adverts is outside of our control and is wholly managed by the third-party service provider.


If you have any questions, queries or complaints – either about this policy, or any advert in particular – or would like to have your ads featured on Thumbsticks, then please drop us a line to [email protected].