In a deal announced this morning on the stock market, MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) will join the MoneySupermarket.com group. MSE will continue to operate as it does now, but with improved technology, so more people can gain from its MoneySaving techniques.

via MoneySavingExpert.com to join the MoneySupermarket.com group.

Interesting story this morning, but one that is not going down very well with some users of the site who are concerned about the editorial independence of the site following the sale.

However putting that aside, it is a superb example of somebody making a successful site online entirely from referral fees. The site has no advertising, no outside funding, and doesn’t charge users to use the site. It has built a reputation for independence and has always told users which links earn referral fees for the site, and provided a non-referral fee alternative. It also has impressive charity giving alongside keeping a staff of forty in work – as a result of the deal £10 million will be going to charity including £1 million for the increasingly underfunded Citizens Advice.