Rules

SGMOTHERclassified Ads Content Guidelines

The following guidelines covering content, style, legal, and technical requirements apply to all Advertiser Content that you submit ("Ads"). The points highlighted here are not exhaustive and may be updated periodically. We reserve the right at any time to refuse or suspend any Ad.

Ads must fairly and accurately represent the product or service advertised and the website to which they are linked. Ads may not be in any way false or misleading.

Prohibited Advertisers

We forbid advertisers promoting, selling or associating with:

• Properties
• Insurance, loans
• Mobile phones
• Direct selling, network marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Cars and other motor vehicles

Prohibited content

We do not accept Ads and websites that promote:

• Illegal activities
• Hate and discrimination (Ads that promote or advocate the following are not permitted: hate, violence, bodily harm, defamation, or discrimination on any basis, including race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation or views)
• Intellectual property violation (Ads are not permitted for products that violate intellectual property rights. This includes, but is not limited to, illegal downloads and modchips.)
• Imitation products (Ads for counterfeit ("knock-off") products or Ads for products that are imitations or replicas of designer goods are not permitted.)
• Credit card applications (Ads that solicit credit card applications or Ads for sites that primarily provide the opportunity to establish a credit card account are not permitted.)
• Illegal access to electronic systems (Ads are not permitted for products or services that promote illegal access to electronic systems. Such products include descramblers, dialers, radar jammers, and traffic signal changers.)
• Prohibited traffic devices (Ads that promote products, services, or methods to avoid traffic tickets are not permitted.)
• Questionable schemes (Ads are not permitted for questionable promotional offers, questionable free gift schemes or any type of fraudulent sales or investment schemes, including ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes.)
• Prohibited alcohol (Ads for hard liquor or beer are not permitted.)
• Tobacco (Ads for tobacco or tobacco products are not permitted.)
• Illegal drugs (Ads for illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia or substances controlled or banned by a governmental agency are not permitted.)
• Illegal animal products (Ads are not permitted for illegal or endangered animals, or for prohibited animal products (skin, organs, bones, feathers, etc.).)
• Illegal plants and seeds (Ads for illegal plants or seeds are not permitted.)
• Firearms and weapons (Ads for the following are not permitted: all firearms (except non-operational antiques), illegal weapons, ammunition or other weapons such as BB guns, crossbows, switchblades, tasers, mace and pepper spray.)
• Hazardous materials (Ads are not permitted for radioactive or hazardous materials.)
• Explosives and fireworks (Ads for explosives or fireworks are not permitted.)
• Escort services and prostitution (Ads that promote adult escort services or prostitution are not permitted.)
• Adult language and content (Ads that promote the following are not permitted: sexually explicit adult content, pornography, child pornography, non-consensual sexual activity, sexual violence, and incest. Advertising on keywords that are sexually explicit is also prohibited.)
• Adult products (Ads are not permitted for adult products including condoms, sexual aids, and sexual toys.)
• Gambling (Ads for online gambling or illegal gambling are not permitted.)
• Bulk marketing (Ads for bulk marketing tools are not permitted, including tools that enable spam emails which do not comply with "Can-Spam" requirements.)
• Solicitation of funds (Ads for the solicitation of funds are not permitted, except for government registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations.)
• Prescription medications (Ads for prescription medications, controlled substances or online pharmacies are not permitted.)
• Questionable claims (Ads making exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims are not permitted.)
• Inappropriate language (Ads with obscene or inappropriate language are not permitted. In addition, Ads with derogatory or disparaging language are not permitted.)

Relevance requirements

• The creative text cannot mislead consumers and must clearly indicate the nature of the offer or service being advertised. In particular, Ads cannot state that they offer products or services that they do not in fact offer.
• English only. Ads and websites must be written in the English language.

Editorial guidelines

• Ads must be clear. To keep the Ad experience positive for searchers and shoppers who encounter the Ads on the web publisher sites, we require that Ads meet our Editorial guidelines:
• Standard grammar
• Ads must adhere to commonly accepted rules of English grammar.
• Standard punctuation
• Ads may not contain any unusual punctuation or unusual combinations of symbols or special characters:
  • No repeated marks (!!, ??, $$, ** and variations thereof),*
  • No unusual combination of marks (!?, %$$, #$@, [$$], and combinations thereof)
  • Ads must use standard spelling and must not contain any unusual abbreviations.
  • No unnecessary repetition. Ads may not contain consecutive repetition of the same word or phrase.
  • No general "calls-to-action". Ads may not contain any general calls-to-action, such as "Click here to learn more", "Please click on this ad", "Click on this link", etc.

Duplicate listings policy

An advertiser may not use different accounts to create multiple Ads with the same keywords and the same Display URL.

Updated: November 28, 2009