Affiliate disclosure

Effective date: 1 October 2026

Vertex Portal is free to read. It is paid for through an affiliate link. This page explains exactly how that works, so you can take it into account when you read the lessons.

Which links are paid

There is one product on this site with a paid affiliate link: Norton AntiVirus Plus. The link appears on the home page and in lesson four, Comparing the kinds of antivirus option. Every time it appears, it is marked as a paid link in the text right next to it.

All other links on the site, including those to government agencies, Netsafe, independent testing organisations and device makers' support pages, are ordinary links. Nobody pays us for them.

Who pays, and when

The paid link goes through an affiliate network, a company that runs referral programmes on behalf of software vendors. If you follow the link and then buy the product, the affiliate network, acting for the vendor, pays a commission to BIEN CHEZ SOI PLOMBERIE, the publisher of this site. If you follow the link and do not buy anything, no commission is paid.

We do not receive your name, email address or payment details from the network or the vendor. We may be told that a sale took place, without being told who made it.

What it means for the price you pay

Nothing. The commission comes out of the vendor's side of the sale. You pay the same price whether you arrive through our link, by typing the vendor's address yourself, or from anywhere else. If you prefer not to use the affiliate link, you are free to go to the vendor's website directly, and nothing on this site depends on which route you choose.

What the arrangement does and does not influence

We want to be candid about this, because an arrangement like this does have effects.

What it does influence

• Which paid product is named. Norton AntiVirus Plus is the only paid third-party product named on this site, and it is named because of this arrangement. We have not covered other paid products. That narrow scope is a limitation you should bear in mind.
• That the site exists at all. The commission is how the site is funded.

What it does not influence

• What the lessons teach. The lessons explain what antivirus does, what built-in protection includes, how to decide whether you need more, and your rights as a consumer. They say plainly that built-in protection may be enough for many households, and that you do not have to buy anything.
• The order of the course. The lessons follow a teaching sequence. The paid product does not appear until lesson four, after the built-in options have been explained.
• What we say about the product. We do not make claims about its features, quality, price or terms. The vendor and network have not asked us to make any, and we would not publish claims we cannot check.

What does decide our coverage

The content of each lesson is decided by one question: what does a household in New Zealand need to know to make a sensible decision of its own? We include built-in protection because it is the starting point for every device, independent testing organisations because they are where real test results are published, and consumer agencies because readers have rights that matter more than any product feature. Where we state a fact, we link to its source.

No endorsement, in either direction

Apart from the affiliate arrangement described on this page, Vertex Portal has no relationship with the vendor of Norton AntiVirus Plus. Neither that vendor nor Microsoft, Apple, Google or any other company named on the site endorses or sponsors Vertex Portal, and none of them reviews what we write. Being named here is not a recommendation, and not being named is not a criticism.

Norton AntiVirus Plus and all other product names, logos and brands mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners. Vertex Portal is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them.

Questions

If anything about this arrangement is unclear, email info@vertexportal.online and we will explain it.