Unacceptable Products and Services
As part of our commitment to provide the highest quality online experience, we may not accept ads containing or relating to certain products or services. These products or services include, but are not limited to, those listed below. John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine reserves the right to reject or remove any ad in its sole discretion at any time.
- Adult products and services (films, magazines, web sites, toys, etc.)
- Cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products
- Products or services that bypass copyright protection, such as software, cable or satellite signal descramblers
- Sites that are principally dedicated to selling counterfeit goods or engaging in copyright piracy and have no substantial non-infringing uses
- Dating or personals sites that promote casual sex, or international match-making services
- Degrees or transcripts for sale or offered by non-accredited universities or programs, “life experience” degrees, academic paper-writing services or the sale of pre-written essays, theses and dissertations
- Recreational drugs or drug paraphernalia ads, including those promoting products and services designed to bypass drug tests
- Get-rich-quick schemes, “free money” or similar money-making opportunities or offers
- Short-term loan advertisers, such as payday loans or cash advances, that are not members of at least one of the following associations: The Community Financial Services Association of America, the Online Lenders Alliance or the Canadian Payday Loan Association.
- Offers to compensate users for clicking on ads, performing web searches, viewing web sites or reading emails, etc.
- Products/services that claim to repair bad credit
- Products containing ephedra, ma huang, chitosan or human growth hormones, comfrey, or pyruvate, or other products/elements/ingredients as may be designated by John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine at any time in its sole discretion.
- Personal care, medical or health products that create an unrealistic expectation about the success of the product/service
- Prescription drug ads that state or imply they may be obtained without a prescription or on the basis of an online questionnaire or online consultation.
- Products and services of questionable legality (e.g. falsely obtained passwords, pyramid schemes, products designed to evade speed enforcement laws, countries subject to US embargoes or trade sanctions).
- Securities (stocks, bonds, notes, warrants, options, etc.) or insider tips on a particular stock or commodity.
- Usenet/newsgroup or P2P file-sharing networks access that allow users to download files directly from other users.
- Sites that require non-refundable fees to bid on auction items (e.g. “penny” or “bidding fee” auctions).
- Low quality products or services or ads that otherwise negatively affect our users’ online experience.
Unacceptable Images and Content
- We may not accept ads containing or relating to certain content. This content includes, but is not limited to, that listed below. John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine reserves the right to reject or remove any ad in its sole discretion at any time.
- Sexually suggestive text, images or situations.
- Defamatory, libelous or threatening images or language.
- Potentially offensive graphics or language.
- Elements that simulate interactivity (e.g. drop-down menus, search boxes, etc.) or resemble operating system dialogue messages, alerts or functions.
- Simulated newspaper, blog, product reviews, TV news, or similarly confusing websites.
Restricted Content
- Age-Restricted Content – Ads promoting age-sensitive products and services must be appropriately age targeted.
- Alcohol – Ads for alcoholic beverages must be appropriately age targeted and may only appear in certain John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine properties.
- Casinos – Ads for land-based casinos are allowed provided they are appropriately age-targeted. If you’ve recently used mobile wins you may have noticed ads from sites you’ve searched for or looked at. Licensed online casinos in states where they are legal are permitted, provided they meet all applicable state law requirements. Any mobile casino apps that you decide to play should be thoroughly researched beforehand, as you want to make sure that your money is secure. For example, there are many Paypal security advantages that can benefit you, so you may want to make sure that you play a game that has this type of payment method to help ensure your money is safely transferred. All online casino clients must go through policy review. Anybody looking for a brand new online casino option may be interested in using something like dream palace casino from today onwards. All these rules still apply whether you’re at home playing Imperial Fruits 5 Lines, or in your local casino.
- Contests, Sweepstakes, Lotteries & Games of Chance – All promotions must comply with all applicable laws, regulations and other requirements. Advertisements for contests and sweepstakes must clearly and conspicuously disclose the material terms and conditions of participating and must not be false, deceptive or misleading.
There cannot be any consideration associated with a random drawing or chance-based promotion. Such promotions must clearly disclose that no purchase is necessary. Skill-based contests may require a cost to enter but if a cost is required, may not contain any random element to winning.
Disclosures – All disclosures (or notice that a disclosure applies) must be clear, conspicuous and in a font equal in size to that of the base font of the ad or landing page.
Free offers that include subscriptions or other recurring charges, or additional costs or obligations to receive the promoted product or service must disclose those terms and conditions associated with the offer.
For advertisements collecting personally identifiable information, disclosures at minimum must properly disclose that data is being collected by John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine and/or the advertiser (or its agent), and provide the user with a link to the privacy polic(ies) of the part(ies) collecting or receiving the data. This disclosure language and privacy policy link must be clear and conspicuous, and adjacent to the submit button.
Religious-themed Ads – Religious-themed ads are reviewed on a case by case basis and may be accepted under limited circumstances. All religion-related ads require explicit prior approval.
Testimonials – It is the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure that any testimonials and endorsements contained in an advertisement fully comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including any standards put forth by the FTC: for example, a clear and conspicuous disclaimer specifying an endorser’s unique circumstances is required when the endorser’s results are atypical (e.g. “My acne disappeared practically overnight through a fat-free diet, a daily vitamin regimen and using Product X twice a day”).
Disclaimers such as “results not typical; individual results may vary” are not sufficient.
John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine reserves the right to request affidavits and/or additional documentation in support of any testimonial or endorsement appearing in an advertisement on the U.S. and Canadian owned and operated sites.
Weight Loss Products & Services – John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine does not accept ads that promote weight loss supplements such as pills, patches, creams, gummies, beverages, products like belly fat ebooks, or similar weight-loss products or services.
Advertising for weight loss products cannot make any unrealistic claims about the amount of weight loss that can be reasonably expected from using the product and must highlight the importance of diet, exercise and restriction of caloric intake in conjunction with the product’s use. Advertising cannot suggest that the product alone is effective for weight loss. The following categories of ads always require additional policy review and approval: Alcohol, Promotions/Sweepstakes, Political, Religious, Pharmaceuticals, ads targeting children and other categories as may be designated by John Edwards Media/Oceanliners.org/Oceanliners Magazine.
Page last updated: 9 February 2015