Brokers that attract clients mainly through promotions, the lowest spreads, huge profit claims, etc., are unlikely to offer execution quality and direct access to the market like a broker who has an operations-based (market-based) model.

Brokers that operate under a market-based business model emphasize good execution quality, integrity in pricing, reliable systems, etc., and their competitive advantage comes from disciplined operations instead of aggressive marketing of their services. 

Moreover, the discipline of an operations-based broker will minimize errors and maintain consistency both in calm and turbulent market conditions.

The distinction between promotional (sales) brokers and market-based (operations) brokers allows traders to evaluate brokers based upon performance over time rather than relying on the sales pitch from the broker. 

Therefore, while a broker’s operational discipline does not show up in advertising, it becomes visible over time through a broker’s performance and reliability.