About Us
MDNH Advertising Guidelines
MDNH maintains advertising guidelines to increase the frequency and quality of clickthroughs to your paid listings. To advertise with MDNH, you must adhere to the following guidelines, in addition to those terms and conditions set forth on the Universal Ad Services Terms and Condition (http://www.marchex.com/aboutus/terms-and-conditions-universal.html).
Content:
-Your website must promote a clearly defined product or service.
-Websites limited to a simple list or links only are not acceptable.
Browser Services:
-Your website may not restrict the visitor's ability to use the "Back" button.
Relevant Content:
-Only choose search terms for which your website has actual and substantial content; in most cases a search term merely associated with the website's content will not be acceptable.
Justify Search Term:
-Use the title and description to justify your website's qualification for the search term.
-Use the search term in your title or description whenever possible.
Distinguish Your Website:
-Use the description to emphasize the unique qualities and benefits of your product or service and website.
Actual Content:
-Choose search terms that relate to the actual content of your website.
-Affiliate, registration or delayed fulfillment websites should indicate such in the title or
description.
Direct Link:
-Link the individual search terms to the page on your website that most directly promotes the products and services relating to that search term.
Example:
An electronic store wishing to bid on the keyword "VCR" should be linked to the section of the
website that displays the available VCRs, not to the electronics store's homepage.
Promotions, Sales, Specials:
-If you are advertising a promotion, sale, discount, or special, do link the URL directly to the page regarding that specific promotion.
Specific Location:
-If your website offers a service or product only in specific location(s), the title and/or
description should clearly indicate the location(s).
-Avoid unverified superlatives in your title and description.
Broad Keywords:
-When using very general search terms such as "books", "electronics", "health", "travel", etc.,
the website should provide a variety of products or services within that subject.
-The corresponding titles and descriptions for broad search terms should be specific and
exclusive to that search term.
Dynamic Content Websites:
-Search engine, shopping mall, auction websites, and other websites with dynamic content, may not bid on specific search terms related to searches that may be done, or products that may be searched for. Keywords that are acceptable are those related to the type of service provided.
Example:
Search Engine websites-
search engine, online searching, etc.
Shopping Mall websites-
online shopping, shopping, shopping mall, etc.
Auction websites-
auction, online auction, bid for, etc.
Style Guidelines:
-Adhere to standard grammatical rules, including those related to punctuation and spacing,
unless otherwise noted.
-Hyphens must contain a space before and after.
Example:
Correct-
Shoes, Boots and Sandals - $79.00 and Up
Incorrect-
Shoes, Boots and Sandals-$79.00 and Up
-Ellipses and Suspension points should not be used in the title or description. If necessary, "etc.", may be used in place of an ellispse.
Example:
Correct-
We offer repair services for many kitchen appliances, such as mixers, blenders, toasters,
microwaves, etc.
Incorrect-
We offer repair services for many kitchen appliances, such as mixers, blenders, toasters,
microwaves...and many others.
-Abbreviations are not accepted in most cases. The keyword should be written out in its entirety.
Correct-
Real Estate services in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
Incorrect-
Real Estate services in the Atlanta, GA area.
-Provide a concise, informative description by avoiding repetition between the title and description.
Example:
Correct-
Questions About Your Taxes? Find a variety of software programs to assist you in tax filing.
Incorrect-
Questions about your taxes? Find a variety of software programs to assist you in tax filing.
-Contact information is not accepted in the title or description.
Example:
Correct-
Seattle, Washington area, used car dealership. Browse our online inventory or call us toll-free
for assistance.
Incorrect-
Seattle, Washington area, used car dealership. Browse our online inventory or call us at, 1-
888-687-4551, for assistance.
Titles:
-Titles are limited to 40 characters, including spaces.
-Title should be in title case.
Example:
Correct-
Excellence In Distance Education
Incorrect-
Excellence in distance education
-Do not include excessive or unnecessary punctuation or capitalization.
Example:
Correct-
Looking For Headache Relief?
Incorrect-
Looking For HEADACHE Relief???
-Symbols should not be used to replace words that may be written out.
Example:
Correct-
Save Money On Your Next Vacation
Incorrect-
Save $$$ On Your Next Vacation
-The ampersand symbol ("&") should not be used in the title, unless part of a proper noun.
Example:
Correct-
Handmade Dolls and Teddy Bears
Incorrect-
Handmade Dolls & Teddy Bears
-Exclamation points may not be used in the title.
Example:
Correct-
Extensive Collection of Fishing Gear
Incorrect-
Extensive Collection of Fishing Gear!
Descriptions:
-Descriptions are limited to 200 characters, including spaces.
-Descriptions should be in sentence case.
Example:
Correct-
Our job search database provides current and detailed information regarding openings in the
medical industry.
Incorrect-
Our JOB SEARCH DATABASE provides Current and Detailed information regarding openings in
the Medical Industry.
-Do not include excessive or unnecessary punctuation or capitalization.
-Symbols may not be used to replace words that may be written out.
-The ampersand symbol ("&") should not be used in the description, unless part of a proper noun.
Other:
-We do not allow bids under a blank or empty search.
-Flash or animated links cannot be accepted.
Illegal or Harmful Use:
MDNH's Services may be used only for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution or storage of any material in violation of any applicable law or regulation is prohibited. The following non- exhaustive list details the kinds of illegal or harmful conduct that are prohibited. MDNH reserves the right to restrict or prohibit any and all uses or content that it determines in its sole discretion is harmful to its systems, network, reputation, good will, other MDNH customers, or any third party.
- Infringement. Infringement of intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights including, without limitation, material protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right of publicity or privacy, or other proprietary right under the laws of any jurisdiction, used without proper authorization. Infringement may result from the unauthorized copying and posting of pictures, logos, software, articles, musical works, and videos.
- Offensive Materials. Disseminating or hosting material that is unlawful, libelous, slanderous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, lewd, harassing, racially or otherwise offensive, hateful, bigoted or intolerant, threatening, harmful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
- Gambling. Advertisements which promote in any way or link to online gambling Web sites are expressly prohibited. This prohibition includes to all direct advertisements or indirect or affiliate advertisements.
- Export Violations. Posting or sending of software or technical information in violation of U.S. export laws, including, without limitation, the Export Administration Act and the Export Administration Regulations maintained by the Department of Commerce.
- Harmful Content. Disseminating or hosting harmful content including, without limitation, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancel bots or any other computer programming routines or harmful or damaging code, software program, email or other technology that may damage, interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, program, data or personal information.
- Fraudulent Conduct. Offering or disseminating fraudulent goods, services, schemes, or promotions (i.e., make money fast schemes, chain letters, pyramid schemes) or engaging in any unfair, unlawful or deceptive business practice.
Net Abuse:
Users of MDNH's Services are prohibited from engaging in any form of net abuse, including but not limited to: (a) distributing, publishing, or sending any kind of unsolicited or unwelcome email to a substantial number of network users (commonly referred to as "spam"), including without limitation mass promotions, commercial advertising, and informational announcements, anywhere on the Internet; (b) posting a single article or substantially similar articles to an excessive number of newsgroups or mailing lists; (c) repeated or deliberate posting of articles that are off-topic according to the charter of the newsgroup or mail list where such articles are posted; and (d) posting commercial advertising in a conference or newsgroup, unless it is specifically permitted to be posted within that group (collectively or individually referred to as "Net Abuse").
Enforcement:
MDNH reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to investigate any reported occurrence of Net Abuse or misuse of MDNH's systems, equipment or network and take appropriate action. MDNH reserves the right and has absolute discretion to enforce these Guidelines and the terms of the MDNH Service Agreement. Without limitation, MDNH also reserves the right to report any activity (including the disclosure of appropriate data or merchant information) that it suspects violates any law or regulation to appropriate law enforcement officials, regulators, or other appropriate third parties. MDNH also may cooperate with appropriate law enforcement agencies to assist in the investigation and prosecution of any illegal conduct.
These Advertising Guidelines may be expanded or modified at any time.