Our incentives

Seeking Alpha generates revenue by providing information and tools for investors. Investors value us because they believe Seeking Alpha can help them make better investment decisions. We generate revenue from subscriptions and from recurring licensing revenue.

We have decided not to accept any of the following sources of revenue: 

• Seeking Alpha does not take any form of positions in stocks, so we do not profit from changes in the price of stocks.

• We do not offer investor relations services to publicly traded companies or IR firms. We do not accept payments from publicly traded companies or IR firms to cover or promote a stock. 

• We do not provide investment banking services, or any other advisory services, to publicly traded companies. 

• We do not accept payment from anyone to publish an article on Seeking Alpha for any reason. For example, we do not accept payments from hedge funds, mutual funds or other investors to publish articles about stocks they own. 

• We do not generate revenue from advertising or promoting third party products. So companies may not promote their stock on Seeking Alpha using ads. 

We have adopted this business model because it fully aligns our interests with those of our customers. Our business model incentivizes us to provide our customers with the highest quality information so they can make profitable investing decisions, with no conflicts of interest.

In particular, our business model incentivizes us to prevent our platform from being used by stock manipulators. Usage of our platform by stock manipulators would damage the credibility and quality of the information we provide to our customers, risking damage to our subscription and licensing revenue.

Approaches to combating stock manipulation

Stock manipulators spread rumors and false or misleading information to cause a stock’s price to rise or fall so they can profit. Stock manipulation is easier with thinly traded stocks, particularly micro-cap stocks.

Investment banks and traditional media companies bar their analysts and journalists from taking positions in stocks they write about. In contrast, Seeking Alpha embraces ideas and analysis by real investors who have positions in stocks they write about, because they are more actionable, result in broader coverage, and perform better. (See About Seeking Alpha.) We do not have a “house view”; our platform surfaces diverse, independent investing ideas, rather than a single editorial stance. We combine crowd-sourcing, quality control by professional editors, and community feedback.

We combat the risk that our platform will be used by stock manipulators with two processes: 

1. Our editorial process is designed to prevent the publication of articles containing rumors, and false or misleading information. 

2. Our onboarding and compliance processes are designed to prevent the publication of articles by bad actors.

Editorial process to prevent publication of manipulative articles

We have designed our editorial process to prevent the publication of articles containing rumors or false or misleading information. We are particularly careful about the publication of articles about thinly traded stocks. 

We apply the following policies to all articles:

• Our editors are trained to refuse publication of articles containing rumors.

• Contributing analysts are required to provide evidence and links to support key claims.

• Seeking Alpha editors are trained to identify and reject articles containing exaggerated claims and hyperbolic language. Authors may resubmit rejected articles if the language and claims leading to rejection have been removed.

We have special rules for short ideas: 

• Short ideas must contain links to sources to support key claims.

• For allegations of accounting irregularities or management wrongdoing, contributors must contact the company via email and give them at least 24 hours (excluding weekends or holidays) to respond to allegations in the article, and must include the company’s response in the article, or note the lack of response from the company. Emails must be forwarded to Seeking Alpha’s editors to prove this process has been followed.

• We do not allow exaggerated, inappropriate, or legal terminology such as “scam”, “scheme”, “fraud”, and “illegal” in titles.

• We do not allow analysts to repeat allegations made by others (such as short sellers) in their articles.

• We do not allow the use of legal terms such as “guilty” or “fraud” unless there is a link to an official legal authority with evidence of that.

Since the risk of stock manipulation is higher for thinly traded stocks:

• For all stocks below a $1 share price or a $100M market cap ($500M for biotechs), our editors are trained to be vigilant about excessive or promotional language.

• We typically decline outright articles about stocks with a market cap below $25M, or a share price below $0.50.

Onboarding and compliance processes to prevent publication of articles by bad actors

Stock manipulators rely on the ability to share rumors or false or misleading information while remaining anonymous and untraceable by the SEC and legal authorities. We therefore ensure that Seeking Alpha contributors are not anonymous, and we enthusiastically co-operate with the SEC and other legal authorities in investigations of stock manipulation.

Seeking Alpha permits contributors to use a pseudonym for their published articles. As we explain in our Policy On Pseudonymous Analysts, there are valid reasons why analysts might prefer to have their research published under a pseudonym, and there is a long history of use of pseudonyms to protect free speech. Nonetheless, we require all  contributors, including pseudonymous contributors, to provide us with their legal name and address prior to submitting their first article. We authenticate this information.

We enthusiastically co-operate with the SEC and other legal authorities in their investigations of stock manipulation. This includes providing the real names of contributors to investigating authorities, even if we have published articles by the contributors under a pseudonym.   

In 2019, Professor Joshua Mitts argued that Seeking Alpha’s platform had been used by stock manipulators between 2011 and 2017, because Seeking Alpha’s policy on use of pseudonyms allowed manipulators to switch identities. In response to his analysis, we made three changes to our policies:

1. We strengthened our authentication of real names of contributors who publish under a pseudonym.

2. We introduced a policy that any contributor who wishes to be published under a pseudonym may only be published under a single pseudonym, preventing identity switching.

3. We increased our editorial oversight to prevent the publication of articles containing rumors or false or misleading information.

In the last few years, we are unaware of cases of Seeking Alpha’s platform being used to manipulate stocks.

Community as a safeguard

Seeking Alpha’s approach to investing ideas and analysis combines crowd-sourcing, quality control by professional editors, and community feedback. Community feedback is an intrinsic part of our product. 

Our community further reduces the risk of our subscribers being convinced by false or misleading information: 

• Community comments on articles provide feedback and additional perspectives, and often challenge article authors. 

• Our subscribers are able to rate articles for how convincing they are, and view the aggregate rating of other subscribers. 

• We encourage disputes to correct any inaccuracies or prompt further investigation and action when needed, including suspension or removal of contributors from our platform.

Last update 05-26-2025