Adware / Software Addons
- Downloadable Software must not be installed on a user's computer without first obtaining the user's informed consent. Obtaining informed consent requires first giving users clear, concise, accurate information and notice about the material consequences of the programs that they are about to install in plain language including, without limitation: (i) a comprehensive license presented in full; (ii) the Downloadable Software vendor's legal name, mailing address, phone number and place of incorporation (if any); (iii) a statement of effect of installation including, without limitation, any changes made to computer settings such as home page, connection provider, proxy, bookmarks, etc.; (iv) a statement of the information tracked, transmitted and/or collected, if any; (v) full-size examples of advertisements that they may receive as a result of downloading the Downloadable Software, if any; and (vi) disclosures of the frequency of advertisement display, as applicable. Such information and notice provided to the user must: (i) appear in a conspicuous manner, clearly distinguished from other on-screen text; (ii) remain on screen until the user grants or denies consent; and (iii) provide an option for providing additional explanation about the type of information to be collected, if any, and the purpose of such collection. The plain language used in the notice shall not be indirect or euphemistic. For example, without limitation: (i) if a program will show pop-up advertisements, proper notice and informed consent generally require use of the phrase "This program will show pop-up advertisements"; (ii) if a program will gather and transmit information about the user, the notice should read "This program will collect and transmit information about you"; or (iii) if the program uses information collected to target advertising to the user, the notice should read, "This program will collect information about Web pages that you access and will use that information to display advertising on your computer." Obtaining informed consent also requires a clear, unambiguous and affirmative manifestation of consent (for example: requiring a user to press an appropriate affirmative button such as "I agree" and not merely pressing "Next" or accepting a pre-checked box). There must be a separate manifestation of consent for each item of Downloadable Software loaded on to the user's computer, and Publisher is prohibited from downloading a bundle of programs after receiving only one indication of consent. Without limitation, an ActiveX installation prompt (with nothing more) is not deemed to have obtained informed consent.
- Ongoing and continuing use of Downloadable Software must not surprise users with notices, disclosures or behaviors inconsistent with the applicable Downloadable Software's initial solicitation, disclosures and notices. For example, if the applicable Downloadable Software's initial solicitation described the underlying software program as offering "free smileys," the applicable program cannot later add the requirement that users also accept pop-up advertisements.
- Downloadable Software must offer users a genuine, substantial benefit in exchange for the consideration represented by accepting the underlying advertisements (the "Benefit"). If the Downloadable Software merely shows advertisements, without offering anything substantial in return (no Benefit), it is unlikely that the underlying software program offers users a fair value. If the underlying software program's claimed Benefit is otherwise generally available elsewhere at no cost, the program is unlikely to offer users a fair value. If the underlying software program's claimed Benefit is a mere trinket or triviality, the program is unlikely to offer users a fair value. If a program's advertisements appear whenever a user uses his computer, or whenever a user uses his web browser, even if the user never makes use of the program's Benefit, then the program may not offer users a fair value. Company reserves the right to determine, in its sole discretion, if the Downloadable Software's claimed Benefit represents a fair value to users.
- Users must easily be able to identify and understand the nature of the Downloadable Software's effects both prior to, and after, installation. If the Downloadable Software displays advertisements outside of its program window, each such advertisement must be labeled with the Downloadable Software program name. Each such advertisement must include a link, button or other mechanism whereby a user can learn more about: (i) the Downloadable Software presenting said advertisement; (ii) the specific manner in which the Downloadable Software was installed (including what offer is associated with that Downloadable Software); (iii) the specific date and time that the Downloadable Software was installed; and (iv) how the Downloadable Software can be removed (including a removal feature requiring not more than two (2) additional clicks). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Downloadable Software and associated information, disclosures and notice, must not: (i) falsely claim that the Downloadable Software will be disabled by the user's actions; (ii) remove or disable security software; or (iii) take control of the computer (by accruing dial-up charges, or by opening a series of advertisements that can only be stopped by turning off the computer).
- Downloadable Software must not show advertisements that are unreasonably frequent or unreasonably intrusive. Software must only show one advertisement per site.
- Each advertisement shown via the Downloadable Software must appear entirely on-screen, with no portion of its body or title bar off-screen. Each advertisement shown via the Downloadable Software must be reasonable in size, and may not unreasonably cover (or reduce the visible area of) any underlying web page that a user had requested. An advertisement shown via the Downloadable Software may not wholly replace, or redirect a user away from, the page or website that the user had requested. Advertisements triggered in response to the user's attempt to access a specific web address or search of a trademark are strictly prohibited absent the express consent of the applicable website and/or trademark owner, as applicable.
- Each advertisement shown via the Downloadable Software must be closable by a user using ordinary operating system functions. Without limitation, on standard Windows operating PCs, freestanding advertising windows ("pop-up" and "pop-under") must be closable by clicking the upper-right hand corner "X," the upper-left hand corner "Control Menu," the Alt-F4 key, right-clicking on the applicable advertisement's title bar (and choosing "Close") and/or right clicking a Taskbar entry (and choosing "Close"). This ability to close such advertisements must be accompanied by an option to facilitate the removal of the Downloadable Software itself at each instance of advertisement presentation.
- Downloadable Software must not display advertising in illegitimate formats, outside of ordinary commercial norms. Without limitation, each of the following advertising formats requires special explicit user consent, which shall consist of a specific question to the user, clearly articulating the specific action to be taken and which must allow the user to grant or deny consent without any collateral consequences: (i) placing icons on a user's desktop or "Start Menu" (or similar location); (ii) directly routing the user to specific websites; and/or (iii) adding entries to a user's "Favorites" menu (or similar location). Downloadable Software may not be used to attack another program, to record a user's passwords, or to send bulk e-mail to other users.
- Downloadable Software must include an associated privacy policy that meets the test of reasonable commercial best practices applicable to privacy policies. Downloadable Software must adhere to its applicable privacy policy, in both letter and in spirit, in all respects and with no exceptions. The subject privacy policy must be available for viewing prior to the Downloadable Software program's installation procedure and thereafter, as well as from such program vendor's website.
- A user must be able to remove Downloadable Software via the standard function within the user's operating system (e.g. Control Panel – Add or Remove Programs). A removal procedure must be free of cost and may not unreasonably hinder removal, e.g. via extended procedures, convoluted language or confusing user interface elements or placement.
- Downloadable Software must use a consistent, single, clear name. That name must be shown in the Downloadable Software program's initial advertising (i.e. to recruit users), in its installation notice and consent procedures, on any advertising and in its uninstall procedure. A Downloadable Software program may not use multiple names within the scope of its relationship with a single user. A Downloadable Software program may not change its name unreasonably frequently (including, without limitation, more than once per twelve-month period). The company responsible for producing and/or distributing the applicable Downloadable Software may not use an unreasonably high number of product names or brand names in its dealings with multiple users. The entity responsible for producing and/or distributing the applicable Downloadable Software may not use an unreasonably high number of product names or brand names to obfuscate, hide or otherwise confuse its identity. Program names, and company names, may not be substantially misleading, confusing, duplicative, generic or hard to locate via a standard search (e.g. "Windows Plugin," "Search Toolbar," "Click Yes").
- Company strictly forbids the display of sexually-explicit materials via the Downloadable Software No Downloadable Software may display content that fails to satisfy all of the requirements of Section 2 of the Terms and Conditions.
- The applicable Advertisers' Creative and/or Offers should not appear in Downloadable Software except when such Advertisers specifically approve of those placements. Clickbooth Creative and/or Offers may not be displayed within third-party traffic purchases from Downloadable Software (whether in the form of pop-ups, pop-unders or via any other media).
- Downloadable Software must not come bundled with programs that violate the terms and conditions of the Agreement.
Privacy Guidelines
- Publishers and advertisers must clearly and prominently display a privacy policy which meets the following minimum requirements:
- Location of Privacy Policy. The privacy policy must be posted in a clear and conspicuous fashion on the landing page and when accepting the consumer’s information on the registration page and/or online lead generation form.
- Content of Privacy Policy. The privacy policy must, at a minimum, contain the following information:
- Information collection practices of publisher or advertiser, including but not limited to, collection of user direct information; survey information; use of cookies, web beacons; IP address; computer profiles; data analysis and any other technology used to track consumer for behavior marketing.
- Use of Individual Information practices by publisher or advertiser, including but not limited to, public forums disclosure, publisher or advertiser email marketing practices, third party email marketing practices, service providers, aggregate statistics, data summary, order fulfillment, complying with legal process, offers, telemarketing, wireless addresses, short message service, and third party information sharing practices.
- Consumers visiting a particular web site must be provided meaningful notice of the types of individual information collected for interactive advertising purposes, the technologies employed to collect such information, and how such information is used, including that other companies operate on the site and may collect such information.
- Any state required disclosure pertinent to the publisher or advertiser’s offer.
- Consumers must also be provided notice of their ability to opt-out of data collection and dissemination. The consumer should be provided the ability to opt-out of data dissemination through a link on the privacy policy. In addition, consumers also should receive relevant education regarding cross-industry opportunities to opt out of the collection or use of individual information or other methods to exercise their choice.
- Changes to Privacy Policy. Consumers must be given adequate notice of any change or addition to the privacy policy by the advertiser or publisher. As such, Publishers must have a prominently placed notice on their home page the date the revisions were made. To the extent possible Publishers and Advertisers’ should notify consumers of changes to their privacy policy via email.
- Technical Requirements for Privacy Policies:
- Publishers and advertiser must have both technical and management controls in place to comply with their respective privacy policy and data retention security. As such, the privacy policy should also notify the consumer of the technical security and managerial control over the collected data as well as the publisher’s or advertiser’s data security methods.
Email Guidelines
- Publishers must use html/text creatives, from/subject lines provided by Clickbooth.
- Suppression list must be downloaded and scrubbed against publisher’s mailing list prior to each email deployment.
- Before making any changes to creatives or from/subject lines publishers must first obtain written approval by a Clickbooth representative before email deployment.
- Publisher must provide unsubscribe link and physical address in addition to advertiser’s unsubscribe information that is provided with each creative.
- All emails must be compliant with the CAN-SPAM ACT 2003
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm
- Under no circumstances can suppression lists be harvested as a list to send commercial emails to.
- Publishers must mask all redirects and host all images.
- Publishers must carry full opt-in records for all addresses on their mailing list.
- You shall disclose all Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses with which You conduct any and all transactions, business and/or operations as a part of Your Publisher relationship with Clickbooth.
- You shall distribute such e-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative only to those recipients who have expressly agreed via "Confirmed Opt-in" or "Verified Opt-in" ("Opt-In") to receive such transmissions from You. You shall not distribute Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative using improperly acquired or generated e-mail addresses (whether obtained by automated means from websites, services or otherwise, or generated by automated random combinative algorithms). In addition, You shall maintain electronic and/or tangible records evidencing the subscription of such consumers to Your lists for verification by Company as required. This verification information must include, at a minimum, the date, time, originating IP address and location where the e-mail address or other recipient information was submitted and, if applicable, a copy of the subscription form used. If requested, You shall explain and provide examples of the mechanisms that You use (historically and currently) to obtain and build Your list of subscribers.
- You shall only distribute Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative that include a valid sender domain name and/or responsive IP address. You shall only distribute Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative, as applicable, from a valid sender domain name and/or responsive IP address that You have authorization to utilize for the purposes of sending commercial e-mail. You shall not relay or retransmit Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative in order to mislead or deceive as to the origin of the Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative, as applicable, nor shall Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative be transmitted from e-mail accounts registered to false owners.
- You shall only distribute Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative that clearly indicate the e-mail address to which the Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative, as applicable, is sent (the intended recipient's email address) in the body of the message or in the "TO:" line of the applicable email message.
- Company strictly forbids the display of sexually explicit materials via Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based creative.
- You represent and warrant that Your Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail based Creative, as applicable, will not contain objectionable content (including, but not limited to, content that is misleading, libelous, defamatory, obscene, offensive, violent, bigoted, hate-oriented, illegal and/or that promotes illegal goods, services and/or activities).
- You shall only distribute Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative that include valid and responsive contact information of the sender, list manager and/or list owner. This contact information shall include Your valid physical postal address (provided that a post office box is not considered a valid physical mailing address) and, optionally, Your phone number. Company reserves the right to add such address(es) should Publisher fail to include same, but Company is in no way responsible for including such address(es) where Publisher fails to do so. You must not use any invalid or erroneous e-mail header information (including, without limitation, source, destination, domain, IP address and/or routing information).
- Each Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative that You send must include a functioning unsubscribe link, through use of which e-mail recipients may request not to receive future commercial e-mail messages from Publisher with respect to any Program, or other e-mail contact generally. Such unsubscribe link must remain active and capable of receiving opt-out requests for no less then thirty (30) days after transmission of the underlying e-mail message.
- You shall process any and all unsubscribe requests within five (5) business days or less from the date of Your receipt of such requests. In addition, You shall maintain electronic and/or tangible records evidencing the removal of such e-mail address(es) from Your lists, together with any and all deleted e-mail address(es) provided to you by Company, for verification by Company as required.
- Where any recipient of Your Publisher E-mails and/or e-mail-based Creative requests and/or inquires with You regarding the location where such consumer Opted-In to receive e-mail marketing from You, You must respond to such request and/or inquiry within seventy-two (72) hours of receipt of same. Your response to such inquiries must include, at a minimum, the date, time, originating IP address, URL and the location where the applicable e-mail address or other consumer information was submitted.
- You shall only distribute Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative that include language in the body of the Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative, as applicable, that clearly and conspicuously identifies that the message is an advertisement or solicitation.
- Each Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative that You distribute shall include a live, functioning hyperlink to an associated privacy policy that meets the test of reasonable commercial best practices applicable to privacy policies in general. Your e-mail marketing activities must adhere to Your applicable privacy policy, in both letter and in spirit, in all respects and with no exceptions. The subject privacy policy must be available for viewing from each domain associated with Your e-mail transmission.
- Your promotion of Programs via Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative must not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other similar intellectual property right, or otherwise violate or breach any duty toward, or rights of, any person or entity including, without limitation, rights of privacy and publicity; and, must not result in any consumer fraud, product liability or breach of contract to which You are a party or cause injury to any third party.
- You shall not use Clickbooth's or its Advertisers' names (including any abbreviation thereof) or any trademark, trade name, service mark, logo or other Clickbooth identifying information in the originating or return e-mail address line, header or subject line of any Publisher E-mail and/or e-mail-based Creative transmission unless otherwise directed to do so by Company in writing.
General Website Guidelines
- GENERAL WEBSITE COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES
- Websites shall contain legitimate content and material, which is of both substance and value.
- All advertising shall include a prominent disclosure stating “Advertisement” or “Paid Advertisement” at the top of the page.
- Publishers shall at all times be in conformity with the acceptable use policies, terms and conditions, rules, regulations, and privacy policies of any and all website(s), landing page(s), confirmation page(s) and/or other web page(s) upon which you display, promote, and/or market for sale any product, service, or good.
- A clear and distinct privacy policy is required on all website(s), landing page(s), confirmation page(s) and/or other web page(s) upon which you collect consumer information. The privacy policy must be available for viewing via a clickable link stating “Privacy” or “Privacy Policy".
- Publishers shall adhere to and comply with all federal and state laws.
- The use of incentives as an attempt to entice users to click on ads is strictly prohibited.
- The unauthorized use of any intellectual property, copyright, patent, trademark, or trade secret is strictly prohibited.
- The unauthorized dissemination, use, or publication of a third party’s name, image, or likeness is strictly prohibited.
- All websites, web pages, landing pages, confirmation pages, links, images, and video shall be fully functional at all levels.
- Websites containing any discriminatory, obscene, racial, ethnic, hate-mongering or otherwise objectionable content are strictly prohibited.
- The dissemination, use, or publication of any unfair, false, deceptive, or misleading content, statement, or material is unlawful and strictly prohibited.
- All statements and/or claims made as to the effectiveness or results that may be obtained by or through the use of any product or service must be true, accurate, correct, and when applicable backed up by competent scientific evidence.
- When making any express or implied statements about results from the use of any product, service, or program the website shall contain a clear disclosure as to whether such results are typical or not, and whether the results may vary. When the results depicted are not typical the page shall contain a disclosure explaining the typical and average results of users.
- It shall be a violation of these guidelines to make any false representation express or implied, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Falsely representing that you or someone else has performed independent tests on, or performed an investigation into, any product or service.
- Falsely representing that you or someone else has personally used a product or service.
- Falsely representing that any comment posted on a website expresses the views of independent consumers.
- Falsely representing that you are or are affiliated with any news organization, news service, news report, news agency, news site, or news-gatherer.
- No website, webpage, landing page, confirmation page, link, or other content shall contain any of the following:
- Violence or profanity;
- Pornographic, obscene, sexually explicit or related content;
- Material that is defamatory, libel, or slanderous;
- Material that displays private or confidential information of any third person;
- Any fraudulent, deceptive, false, or misleading information;
- Any unauthorized indication that any statements You make are endorsed by Clickbooth or an Advertiser;
- Promotion of illegal substances or activities;
- Content which is inappropriate or harmful to children;
- Promotion of terrorism or terrorist-related activities, sedition, treason or similar activities;
- Software Pirating (e.g., warez, hotline);
- Hacking, Phishing, or Phreaking;
- Any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
- Any software, product or service that is illegal or that violates the rights of a third party including, but not limited to, spyware, adware, programs designed to send unsolicited advertisements (i.e. "spamware"), services that send unsolicited advertisements, programs designed to initiate "denial of service" attacks, mail bomb programs, and programs designed to gain unauthorized access to any networks or computer;
- Any software, product or service that harvests or collects the personal information of Internet users, whether or not for commercial purposes, without the express consent of such users;
- Any spoofing, redirecting or trafficking from other websites in an effort to gain traffic;
- Any content or material that infringes upon the rights of any third parties including, without limitation, intellectual property, false advertising, unfair competition, invasion of rights of publicity or privacy, violation of any anti-discriminatory law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity;
- Gambling, contests, lotteries, raffles, or sweepstakes;
- Any material that violates the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, as amended ("CAN-SPAM"); or
- Any illegal activity whatsoever (including any violations of applicable U.S. state or federal law or regulation, Canadian provincial or federal law or the laws of any other jurisdiction in which You operate).
Additional Guidelines for Blog/Review and News Gatherers
- ADDITIONAL COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES FOR NEWS-GATHERERS
- A “News-Gatherer” is defined as any person, company, or other entity engaged in the gathering and dissemination of news for the public through a newspaper, magazine, or website.
- When receiving compensation for writing, publishing, or displaying a particular article about a product or service, the News-Gatherer shall clearly disclose the relationship and/or receipt of compensation.
- A News-Gatherer shall clearly disclose any bias, potential bias, or other fact that may not allow their article to be objectionable and opinion freely given.
- All sponsored articles shall contain a clear statement in the article disclosing who sponsored the article.
- A News-Gatherer shall clearly disclose the author of the story and whether such is a reporter or journalist. All user-generated content must be so labeled.
- All images of reporters and journalists must be true, accurate, and correct.
- News-Gatherer’s shall have an “About Us” section on their website clearly disclosing their relationships, if any, to other news organizations, advertisers, and sponsors.
- All advertisements must be prominently labeled “Advertisement” or “Paid Advertisement”.
- ADDITIONAL COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES FOR BLOG AND REVIEW SITES
- When receiving compensation for writing, publishing, or displaying a particular blog post, article, or review about a product, service, or program the site shall clearly disclose the relationship and any receipt of compensation.
- You must disclose any bias, potential bias, or other fact having an effect on the opinion of the writer, the article, the blog post, or the conclusion of the review.
- All sponsored reviews, posts, and articles shall contain a clear statement disclosing the sponsor.
- The alteration of images and videos is strictly prohibited, unless used for dramatization purposes and prominently disclosed.
- All websites shall have an “About Us” section clearly disclosing the relationships, if any, to its advertisers and sponsors.
- All advertisements must be prominently labeled “Advertisement” or “Paid Advertisement”.
Search Guidelines
- Clickbooth strictly restricts the display of potentially misleading terms via Search Marketing Content transmitted by You. Such misleading terms include, but are not limited to "free" and "free-like" language.
- Clickbooth strictly forbids the use of social media profiles (e.g., MySpace, Facebook, Tribe) to advertise or distribute Search Marketing Content. This does not preclude You from purchasing keywords which reside on social media websites to advertise and distribute Search Marketing Content.
- Your distribution of Search Marketing Content in connection with any and all Search Marketing Programs must not: (1) utilize any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other similar intellectual property right of any third party without their prior written consent; (2) otherwise violate or breach any duty toward, or rights of, any person or entity including, without limitation, rights of privacy and publicity; or (3) must not result in any consumer fraud, product liability or breach of contract to which You are a party.
- Without limiting any of the foregoing, all Search Marketing Content transmitted by You in connection with a Search Marketing Program must be consistent across that Search Marketing Program: from the Creative to the corresponding landing page(s), confirmation page(s) and/or other web pages that are linked to such Creative so as not to be misleading. Company shall determine, in its sole discretion, the Consistency of Disclosures associated with any Search Marketing Programs.
- You shall conspicuously post a privacy policy on any and all website(s), landing page(s), confirmation page(s) and/or other web page(s) upon which you collect consumer information in connection with a Search Marketing Program. The privacy policy must comply with all federal and state privacy laws and meet the test of reasonable commercial best practices applicable to privacy policies. Your data protection, use and privacy practices must adhere to Your applicable privacy policy, in both letter and in spirit, in all respects and with no exceptions. The privacy policy must be available for viewing via a clickable link. Such link must include the term "privacy" or "privacy policy".
- Keyword Bidding.
- All keywords purchased by You in connection with an Search Marketing Program must: (i) Have some nexus to its corresponding Search Marketing Content so as not to be misleading. (ii) As applicable, meet the additional criteria specified by the applicable Advertiser.
- You must be clear, complete and forthcoming in all statements directed at and concerning Company, its Advertisers and recipients of said Search Marketing Content.
General Publisher Terms
