Confidential

Traffic Quality Policy

Last Updated: August 2021

This Traffic Quality Policy applies to all Implementations distributed by Publisher (and, if distribution is expressly authorized by search provider, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) in connection with the Agreement. Unless otherwise defined herein, all capitalized terms have the meaning given in the Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, other search provider Policies may also apply to the Implementations governed by this policy.

Service Restrictions. Publisher will not (and, if applicable, will ensure that its Syndication Partners will not) engage in any of the following in connection with the use of the Search Services under the Agreement:
edit, modify, reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise alter the Search Services, except where the foregoing is expressly permitted by law.
use, display, syndicate, redistribute, transfer, transmit, make available to third parties, deliver, distribute, publish, facilitate, enable, or allow access or linking to the Search Services from any location or source other than those traffic acquisition sources approved by search provider or set forth in the Agreement.
except as otherwise provided in the Agreement, edit, modify, filter, remove, obscure, truncate, or add to or change the order of, or replace the text, images, or other content of Results, rearrange or reorder the Results, display Results with search results from other sources or with other content so that such other search results or content appears, in each case, to be displayed as part of the Results.
frame, minimize, remove, redirect, delay, or otherwise inhibit or modify the display of any web page accessed by the links provided in or associated with Results.
edit, modify, filter, hide, mask, or otherwise alter: (i) any part of the ad call; (ii) the user’s browser information; or (iii) the user’s IP address (when submitting a query or accessing Results) or the user agent. Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) must at all times follow all of the requirements or conventions relating to ad calls specified by search provider.
hide or mask the Publisher’s (or, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner’s) identity.
defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten, or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others or otherwise violate search provider’s Policies.
impersonate another person or entity, or falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations (e.g., copyright or trademark symbols), or labels of the origin or source of services, software, or other materials.
use the Search Services for illegal, unauthorized or any purpose prohibited under the Agreement or search provider’s Policies.
use the Search Services to infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of anyone including domain name.
interfere with or disrupt the Search Services, or servers or networks related to the Search Services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks related to the Search Services.
exploit any technical limitations of a system, software, or application, or introduce or use any device, software or routine in such way, as to interfere with the operation of the Search Services.
create user accounts by automated means or under false or fraudulent pretenses.
allow Publisher to sub-license Search Services, except as permitted under search provider’s Policies and as provided in the Agreement. For clarity, Publisher’s Syndication Partners are expressly prohibited from further sub-licensing rights to the Search Services.
copy, store, or cache any Results, except as required to use the Search Services, or redirect a user click on a Search Result away from the intended landing page.
use the Results to provide any kind of commercial information service or as a source for marketing activities, other than for search provider’s or the Publisher’s own benefit.
create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Search Services through use of or access to any of the Search Services or proprietary information related to the Search Services; or use the Search Services as part of any machine learning or similar algorithmic activity, including to train or improve another product or service.
diverting web traffic from local users to a different geographical location unless otherwise permitted by search provider in writing.
send an internet search Query that does not result from a user action, or a user action that Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) should reasonably believe, or through the application of industry standards could reasonably determine, was not intended to cause an internet search Query, intentionally sending an Invalid Query, or intentionally altering, deleting, changing or pre-populating a user’s Query to generate different ads, search results, or clicks, excluding spell check, auto completion, and suggested query functionalities.
generate clicks, queries, impressions or conversions by any misleading, deceptive, automated, fraudulent or other invalid means, including the purchase of fraudulent or automated traffic, the manipulation of a user’s intended action, or the acquisition of traffic through the use of malware.
directly or indirectly compensate, incentivize, induce or require users to click on Paid Search Results, including items such as the following:
1. implanting hidden iframes or blind links to induce clicks;
2. using a click exchange, autosurf, paid-to-surf, paid-to-click or paid-to-read schemes; and
3. offering some other benefit, result or another function such as leaving a web page or closing a pop-up window.
generate clicks, queries, impressions or conversions that Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) should reasonably believe, or through the application of industry standards could reasonably determine, was not the user’s intent (where the user’s action is transformed into an unintended or unknowing click, query, impression or conversion).
generate Queries or impressions through any incentive-based means unless approved by search provider and set forth in the Agreement.
allow traffic that Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) should reasonably believe, or through the application of industry standards could reasonably determine, originates from users that have no intention to legitimately browse, search, make a purchase or perform any other type of legitimate conversion action.
interfere, or attempt to interfere, with the ad serving and traffic quality systems used by search provider or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) in any way, or take any action or omit to take any action to manipulate traffic in a manner that is likely to artificially inflate the value or quality of Publisher’s (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners’) traffic.
generate clicks and conversions through any incentivized means including providing consideration in exchange for inducing clicks or conversions by awarding users cash, points, prizes, contest entries or similar rewards.
use (i) repeated manual clicks, (ii) robots or other automated query tools, or (iii) computergenerated search requests that generate, or which may generate, invalid queries, including the use of search engine optimization services and or software as a means by which to engage in the actions described by subsections (i) – (iii).
generate interstitials, pop-ups, pop-unders, back-button blocks, expanding banners, or display anything else, each of which obscures any portion of a web page on which Results are displayed.
include Paid Search Results within pop-over or pop-under windows, downloadable applications, or email Implementations.
Include Paid Search Results within mobile applications in a manner that has not been approved by search provider.
Include Paid Search Results on 404 or other error message screens, unless using search provider’s error capturing solution.
use in connection with any Results any framing techniques, interstitials, pop-up windows, new consoles or other items or techniques, that would alter the appearance, presentation or functionality of, or frame, minimize, remove, redirect, delay, or otherwise inhibit or modify the display of, any web page accessed by the links provided in or associated with any Results.
engage in deceptive practices that would prevent or delay a search box entry point Query, a user click on a 2-Click Implementation or any keyword suggestion from resolving to Paid Search Results or prevent or delay a user click on a Paid Search Result from resolving to the associated advertiser landing page.
cause SERPs to (i) automatically refresh at any rate greater than that permissible under the applicable IAB impression measurement guidelines or (ii) automatically refresh at any rate that negatively impacts in a material fashion the click-through rate of the applicable Paid Search Results on the page.
install any program on a user’s computer or replace a user’s home page, without the user’s prior consent.
using ad blocks to deceptively or artificially manipulate or interrupt the normal operations of search provider’s or search provider’s Search Services provider(s)’ traffic quality system.
include ad blocks or Results in a browser window generated by programs used for the purpose of manipulating click measurement activity or click-based advertising payments or by users that have no intention of legitimately browsing site content, making a purchase or performing any other type of legitimate conversion action.
require the user to download files or programs in exchange for returning Queries or displaying Paid Search Results.
Undertake any action that (a) inhibits search provider’s or search provider’s Search Services provider(s)’ ability to gather, analyze and investigate traffic patterns, (b) masks traffic sources, or (c) otherwise circumvents spam, quality mechanisms and other traffic filters.
serve Results on sites which are under construction or unfinished and on error pages (but excluding DNS Error Implementations).
unless expressly set forth to the contrary in the Agreement or except as otherwise approved by search provider, click wrap or use a redirection server, except in the case where Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) preserves the required http headers to accurately capture and pass back the unmodified Signals to search provider and search provider’s Search Services provider(s). To preserve the user’s original header, Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) must comply with the following:
1. Click redirection must strictly use “HTTP 302” (or equivalent to preserve complete SERP URL as referrer for future HTTP/HTTPS revisions); and
2. Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) must use one of the following options for referrer policy for SERP and redirection servers:
  - Referrer-Policy: unsafe-url
  - Referrer-Policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade

install software or alter any settings on a user’s device without clear, appropriate notice and explicit and informed consent from the user (e.g., altering the user’s home page, changing browser settings, altering the default browser, resizing browser windows for the purpose of misleading or inducing the user to an action, installing or altering a toolbar, installing an ActiveX control, installing or altering a program, disabling a “back” button, etc.).
interfere with a user’s ability to navigate away from a property, by triggering pop-ups, interstitials, leave behinds and other actions when a user clicks or attempts to click away from that property. Organic prompts are permitted so long as they do not serve a commercial purpose and are not associated with or used to enhance any paid efforts (e.g., a website prompt/pop-up, such as a “areyou- sure-that-you-want-to-leave” message, is permitted for a user that has partially completed a form on the website and has attempted to navigate away from such website).
scare a user into believing something is wrong with his or her computer that needs to be repaired.
dial a phone number or connect remotely to another computer or system (e.g., execute “dialer” software), except in response to the user’s intentional initiation of such action.
engage in behavior intended to circumvent the application of pricing, content validation, sensitivity systems (false conversions, traffic cycling) or filtering technology.
interfere with the crawling of websites, applications or other properties by search provider or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) for the purposes of content, compliance and sensitivity classification.
engage in any deceptive or misleading act that prevents search provider or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) from accessing or otherwise reviewing any Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) property, in the manner that it would otherwise appear for users, including reviewing the property for audit and verification purposes.
redirect users to a different domain or URL without appropriate disclosure to, direct action by, and consent by, the user. For the avoidance of doubt, if Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) adheres to the click wrapping requirements above, then it may direct through search provider’s URL.
displaying in the user’s address bar a URL different from that of the page being visited or presenting content to a search engine crawler, search provider, or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) that is different from that presented to a user’s browser.
engage in unauthorized or unapproved redirection of users (e.g., redirecting users from a search access point of one property to an unapproved, unaffiliated or unrelated property or SERP).
use, display, include, or deliver any Results to any property that is not approved by search provider or that does not comply with search provider’s Policies.
acquire traffic from or otherwise redirect users from an unauthorized property, publisher site or traffic source to an authorized property or site
re-route or redirect traffic from approved Implementations in a manner that is not approved by search provider.
replace or add to any web page by injecting content from a source with which the site owner does not have an affiliation.
distribute Implementations that violate or differ materially from those permitted by search provider’s Policies or as provided for in the Agreement.
intentionally provide false information to search provider or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) (e.g., false Implementation information, false ad call information (including false serve URL or overwriting the referrer URL), false names, contact info, credit card info, etc.).
drive activities that may result in material harm or injury to a user or user’s property (e.g., the dissemination of a virus or software that may result in personal identity theft).
co-mingle Paid Search Results with advertisements from other ad networks within the same ad block or otherwise show any non-search provider provided Results within the same ad block.
provide Paid Search Results or data that relates to or results from Publisher’s (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners’) use of Search Services to any third party unless approved by search provider.
scan emails to personalize ads.
participate or facilitate arbitrage Implementations that have not been approved by search provider (i.e., purchasing of traffic by or for a Publisher’s property with the intent of directing a user to web pages where Paid Results are a prominent page element without search provider’s approval) or that do not comply with search provider’s Policies.
blocking traffic from being delivered to Paid Search Results, advertisers or the Search Service.
having websites, applications or other properties that collect personally identifiable information (PII) without a prominent link to a privacy policy.
adding, deleting, changing or pre-populating terms or characters sent as an internet search Query, excluding spell check, auto completion, and suggested query functionalities.
requiring payment for services or products that are free from the manufacturer or original source.
Collecting user data from the Search Services via the API provided by search provider or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) to track individual patterns on search provider’s or search provider’s Search Services provider(s)’ properties through any means; or for any other competitive purpose.
distributing adult or mature traffic Implementations.
blocking or diverting from being delivered to search provider or search provider’s Search Services provider(s) or not resolving to the intended advertiser landing page (e.g., inserting an interstitial or redirected block page between the ad click and the advertiser landing page).
blend or move traffic between source tags, or send traffic from an approved Implementation to a source tag for another Implementation

Requirements. Publisher will comply (and, if applicable, will ensure that its Syndication Partners comply) with the following requirements:

Comply with all of search provider’s Policies, as well as all applicable laws and regulations.
Maintain the ability to suspend its provision of Search Services.
Have a platform and implement internal controls to manage policy compliance, quality and control of Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) traffic, compliant with all of search provider’s Policies.
Promptly provide search provider with all requested information and assistance relating to Publisher’s (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners’) properties and Implementations, to enable search provider to address quality issues, advertiser complaints, or issues raised by search provider’s Search Services provider(s).
Limit the number of unique domains visible to advertisers (ServeURL) for each Implementation, in accordance with instructions from search provider.
For each of Publisher’s (and, if applicable, its Syndication Partners’) properties, maintain a professional look and feel, contain refreshed and regularly updated content, be easy to use and navigate, and not contain broken links or missing images.
Publisher’s properties and those of its Syndication Partners, if applicable, must not mirror the look and feel of another brand without the brand-owner’s consent.
Except with respect to domain parking or DNS Error Implementations, Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) property domain names may not contain misspellings.
Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) property domain names may not contain excessive dashes, or meaningless characters outside of normal branding.
Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) properties must have a homepage that contains a prominent link to the site’s privacy policy.
Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) must conspicuously display accurate contact information (at a minimum name, address, and email address) of the owner or operator on each related website, application or other property, or otherwise make such information available to users.
Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) must ensure that each of its Implementations and traffic sources maintains an adequate traffic quality level specified by search provider from time-to-time.
Maintain controls which assist in detection, improvement and removal of suspicious behavior and traffic that Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) should reasonably believe, or through the application of industry standards could reasonably determine, could lead to either advertiser escalations or fraudulent activity.
Restrict traffic sourcing from specific Implementations and certain categories, sources or portions of traffic at the keyword, domain or traffic source level for quality purposes, as specified by search provider from time to time. In addition, Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partners) must maintain the ability to (and, upon request by search provider, must) institute keyword blocks and impression/click caps for each Implementation.
Comply with the source tag requirements specified by search provider from time-to-time for organizing or managing traffic for each distinct Implementation, property, and traffic source.
Refrain from providing search incentives, monetary or otherwise, to encourage or incentivize a user to search, unless such search incentives are approved by search provider and set forth in the Agreement.
Ensure that each Query for Paid Search Results is preceded by a clear expression of user intent or interest (e.g., search query or keyword link).
Ensure that a user search event on a Publisher (and, if applicable, Publisher’s Syndication Partner) property resolves directly to a search results page or landing page (e.g., no interstitials).
With respect to any software, provide clear and conspicuous uninstall directions and information available on related website, application or other property.
Only distribute search sets, home page sets, and new tab pages via reputable publishing sources and distribution methods that comply with applicable laws and industry practices.
With respect to any software, use publishing sources that provide the developers or owners of all products with affirmative, explicit and conspicuous notice and obtain such parties’ consent to distribute and monetize (if applicable) other products or settings with their product.
Ensure that all Implementations provide feedback signals and other data, as specified by search provider from time-to-time.

Disallowed Content. Publisher will not (and, if applicable, will ensure that its Syndication Partners will not) engage in activities that constitute, offer or allow any of the following (each, a “Disallowed Content”):

Malware, potentially unwanted software, search spoofing, 1-click email Implementations, or ad injection.
Websites, applications, or other web properties will not be provided in connection with any peer to peer, bit-torrent or similar protocol products.
Websites, applications, or other properties that contain misleading free offers or that try to trick visitors into sharing personal data.
Websites, applications, or other properties that offer or promote any of the following:
1. Substantial un-moderated user-generated content.
2. Profanity, sexually explicit, or adult content (e.g., sexually explicit content, images or video).
3. Mature content (e.g. sex toys, adult-themed content or content related to sex education).
4. Any product of an adult nature, including images, videos, or texts portraying nudity, sexual acts or products of an adult nature, or adult toys or contraceptives.
5. Alcoholic beverages.
6. Tobacco products, including tobacco paraphernalia and e-cigarettes.
7. Firearms and weapons whose primary use is violence.
8. Promotion or facilitation of, directly or indirectly, online gambling, wagering, sweepstakes or similar activities.
9. Phishing, deceptive or fraudulent business models or content, and any deliberate attempt to mislead site visitors.
10. Sensitive religious or political content.
11. Family planning products and services, such as human egg and sperm donation, abortion, surrogacy or morning after pills, in territories with laws that prohibit such content.
12. Defamatory or libelous content or materials, or content that constitutes trade disparagement or libel.
13. Lewd, pornographic or obscene content.
14. Violence or hate speech.
15. Hazardous, harmful or banned substances or substances that mimic the effect of illegal substances.
16. Online pharmacies and sites promoting prescription-only medicines.
17. Illegal drugs (including, without limitation, non-U.S. approved drugs made available to U.S. residents and lawful drugs made available in non-lawful ways)
18. Illegal, nonconsensual, denigrating or obscene activity.
19. Bulk marketing products or services if the stated or implied use of the product is unsolicited spam.
20. Any content, products or services that violate (or, in search provider’s reasonable opinion, is likely to violate) applicable law or regulations or search provider’s advertising or content policies (as such policies may be updated from time-to-time).