Solid explainers, with a 'best brokers' list that doubles as its advertiser list.
What it's really for A finance-education site whose 'best' lists earn affiliate commissions from the products listed.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its 'best of' broker and robo-advisor rankings, not everything the site does.
Medium Scoring Confidence Mostly sourced, but a detail or two still needs a primary source, so the grade could shift slightly.
Investopedia's top advertisers are the very brokers it reviews and ranks (E*TRADE, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Interactive Brokers, Betterment per its ad-partner profile), and its parent earns affiliate-commerce commissions when readers convert through those reviews, so the parties it rates are also its largest revenue sources, though it states advertisers do not influence its picks.
Source →- Operating since
- 1999 (27 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- It earns money from display/native advertising (sold on CPC/CPM/CPV) and from affiliate-commerce commissions paid when readers click through its reviews and open accounts or buy financial products, as part of parent Dotdash Meredith's performance-marketing revenue.
- What they do
- It publishes financial education articles plus "best of" rankings and reviews of brokers, robo-advisors, credit cards, and other financial products, scored against a published rubric.
- What to watch for
- You will not get a neutral shopping list: the brokers and financial products it ranks highest are also the companies that pay it ad and affiliate commissions, so treat the "best" picks as a starting point and compare fees and terms directly with the provider before signing up.
- Composite score
- 3.20 / 5.00 → grade B-
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Investopedia was founded in 1999 by Cory Wagner and Cory Janssen in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; it was acquired by Forbes (2007), then ValueClick (2010, $42M), then IAC (2013, $80M), moved under Dotdash in 2018, and is now part of IAC's People Inc. family of brands. Source: Wikipedia - Investopedia →
- Investopedia's ad-partner profile shows it sells advertising on CPC/CPM/CPV across display, native, email and video with 'Ticker Targeting' and financial-advisor/investing/trading content targeting, and lists its top recent advertisers as E*TRADE, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Interactive Brokers and Betterment - the same brokers it reviews and ranks. Source: Kochava Media Index - Investopedia →
- Investopedia's broker-ranking methodology uses a quantitative model of 11 categories, 66 weighted criteria, 97 variables and 2,425 data points; many brokers gave live platform demonstrations at its NYC offices or via video, and live brokerage accounts were obtained for most platforms for hands-on testing, with Investopedia stating advertisers do not influence its picks. Source: Investopedia Online Broker Review Methodology (via mirror) →
- IAC's 2024 Form 10-K describes Dotdash Meredith digital revenue as advertising, performance marketing and licensing, where 'affiliate commerce commission revenue is generated when Dotdash Meredith's branded content refers consumers to commerce partner websites resulting in a purchase or transaction' - the affiliate mechanism behind Investopedia's product reviews. Source: IAC Inc. Form 10-K FY2024 →