Editorial Policy
This page sets out the editorial standards Skycrown applies to its reviews, guides and comparison pages. It exists so readers can hold us to a written rule rather than to whatever feels reasonable on the day. The wider context for who runs the site sits on the About page, with the flagship operator review on the Skycrown Casino homepage. Where this page describes a procedure (review production, fact-checking, corrections, freshness), the procedure is followed for every piece of content published on the site.
1. Editorial independence
Skycrown is funded through affiliate commissions earned when readers click through to an operator and choose to register there. The full mechanics are on the Affiliate Disclosure page. Editorially, the rule is short: a partnership does not buy a higher rating, and the absence of one does not produce a lower score. The eight-criterion framework on the How We Rate page is applied identically to every operator that gets a full Skycrown review. We have rated partner operators at six and below, and rated operators with no commercial relationship at eight and above. Sales, marketing and editorial are run as separate workflows; the editorial team has the final say on every published score.
2. Sources we trust
Skycrown content is built from four kinds of source, ranked by weight.
- Hands-on testing. Reviews are produced from actual accounts on operator platforms, using real deposits and real withdrawal requests. The full sequence is on the How We Test page. This is the primary source for everything in a review except verifiable third-party facts.
- Regulator and government records. Licensing status, ownership filings, ACMA register entries, BetStop records, Interactive Gambling Act references. These are the authoritative source for any legal claim on Skycrown.
- Independent player-community evidence. Long-term reputation across AskGamblers, Casino Guru, Trustpilot, plus Reddit and dedicated player forums. Used as a sanity check on testing results, not as a primary source on its own.
- Operator-supplied content. Press releases, marketing pages, partnership briefings. These are read for context but never quoted as if independently verified. Where a number originates with the operator, the review says so.
3. Fact-checking
Every operator review goes through a four-step fact-check before publication. First, the licensing claim is verified against the regulator's public register. Second, the bonus arithmetic is recomputed from the operator's published terms and the result is compared with the headline figure on the marketing page; any discrepancy is flagged in the review. Third, the named payment methods, withdrawal speeds and minimum deposits are verified against the cashier rather than the FAQ (the two often disagree). Fourth, the game catalogue claims are spot-checked against named studios and named titles to confirm the marketing matches the lobby.
Numerical claims that change frequently (bonus terms, withdrawal limits, minimum deposits) are tagged in our internal tracking and re-checked on the schedule below. If a re-check reveals the number has moved, the review is updated, the date at the top of the page is bumped, and a small dated note is added at the foot of the review describing what changed.
4. Quotation, paraphrase and attribution
Direct quotation is reserved for material where the exact wording matters: regulator notices, official terms and conditions, court documents. Paraphrase is the default everywhere else, with the source named in-line. Operator marketing copy is paraphrased in our own voice; we do not re-publish operator press releases as Skycrown content. Where a third-party number is reported (a Trustpilot rating, an AskGamblers complaint count), the source is named and a working link is provided.
Statistical claims about gambling harm, regulatory enforcement, or the size of the Australian online casino market are sourced to government, academic or peer-reviewed publications. Industry-association numbers are used only when independent corroboration exists.
5. Authorship and AI assistance
Every Skycrown article is produced by a named human writer or editorial-team member. AI tools may be used for narrowly defined tasks: drafting outlines, summarising long source documents, checking grammar, generating alternative headlines. AI tools are not used to produce the analytical content of a review (the score, the strengths-and-weaknesses summary, the comparative judgement) or to fabricate quotes or testing results. Any factual claim that originated in an AI tool is verified against an independent source before publication, and the source is cited rather than the AI tool.
6. Corrections and updates
Corrections are handled in three tiers, depending on the seriousness of the error.
- Minor (typo, broken link, formatting glitch): fixed silently within one business day.
- Substantive (a fact, number, or claim that materially affects a reader's decision): fixed within five business days, with a dated note appended to the foot of the page describing what was changed and why. The original wording is preserved in our internal version history but is not republished.
- Material (an error so significant that it would change the overall verdict, or a regulatory development that affects multiple operators): fixed within two business days, with a prominent banner at the top of the page for at least 30 days, and a notice on a dedicated corrections log accessible from this page.
Readers who believe a Skycrown page contains an error can flag it through the Contact page. Substantive complaints are recorded against the relevant review whether or not the correction is made.
7. Freshness
Operator reviews are reviewed in full at least every 12 months, and key data points (bonuses, withdrawal speeds, payment methods) are re-checked quarterly. Topic guides and methodological pages are reviewed annually. The "Last updated" date at the top of every page reflects the most recent factual review, not just the most recent typo-level edit.
8. Conflict of interest
Skycrown editorial team members do not own equity in, take consulting fees from, or hold paid affiliate relationships with operators they personally review. Where a possible conflict exists, the writer is reassigned to a different operator and the assignment is recorded in our internal tracking. The site-level partnerships listed on the Affiliate Disclosure page are operational, not personal, and run as a separate workflow from editorial.
9. Reader safety
Skycrown reviews adult products. Three editorial commitments follow from this. First, no Skycrown page presents gambling as a route to income; the framing is always "paid entertainment with downside risk". Second, every operator review and every comparative page links to Responsible Gambling tools and the relevant Australian helplines, not as a footnote but as visible content. Third, no Skycrown page targets language, imagery or examples at minors, problem gamblers, or self-excluded players. Where an operator's marketing crosses any of those lines, the review says so and the score reflects it.
10. Complaints, escalation and right of reply
Operators that disagree with a Skycrown rating may write to the editorial address with a specific factual claim and supporting evidence. Three outcomes are possible: the claim is correct, the review is updated, and a correction note is added. The claim is partially correct, the review is updated for the verified portion, and the rest is left unchanged with reasoning recorded internally. The claim is incorrect, the review is unchanged, and the operator is informed in writing. We do not enter into pre-publication negotiation over scores.
Readers with concerns about Skycrown editorial conduct can escalate through the Contact page; complaints about specific reviews are answered within five business days. Privacy-related questions about data we hold are governed by the Privacy Policy page, with the technical companion on the Cookie Policy page.