Ad Quality Policy

1. Scope & Applicability

This Ad Quality Policy applies to all parties who submit, serve, or facilitate the delivery of advertising through the Adverteks platform:

• Direct Advertisers — Companies and individuals purchasing ad inventory directly through Adverteks DSP
• Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) — Programmatic buyers accessing Adverteks exchange via OpenRTB
• Ad Networks — Third-party networks reselling inventory through our SSP
• Publishers — Publishers are not responsible for advertiser content, but may be subject to brand safety restrictions based on their site category

Compliance with this policy is a condition of platform access. Violations may result in creative rejection, account suspension, or permanent ban as described in Section 9.

2. Prohibited Content Categories

The following content categories are strictly prohibited on the Adverteks platform with no exceptions. Creatives in these categories will be rejected immediately and may trigger an account review:

3. Restricted Content Categories

The following categories are permitted on Adverteks with additional restrictions. Advertisers in these categories must obtain prior approval and may face inventory limitations:

Category	Restriction	Requirements
Alcohol & Tobacco	Age-gated inventory only (18+ or 21+)	Age verification targeting; compliance with local advertising laws; health warnings where required
Gambling & Betting	Licensed operators only; geo-restricted to permitted markets	Valid gambling license; responsible gambling messaging; geo-targeting excluding prohibited jurisdictions
Prescription Pharmaceuticals	OTC permitted; Rx requires regulatory approval	DTC pharmaceutical ads require FDA/EMA approval documentation; no targeting of patients by condition without consent
Financial Services	Licensed financial services only	Regulatory license number in creative; required disclaimers for investment products; no guaranteed return claims
Political Advertising	Issue-based ads permitted; candidate ads restricted	"Paid for by" disclosure required; no microtargeting by political affiliation; limited to markets where political ads are permitted
Health & Wellness Claims	Substantiated claims only	No unsubstantiated medical claims; disclaimers required for supplements; no miracle cure language
Weight Loss Products	No before/after manipulation	Realistic results only; no predatory targeting of individuals with eating disorders; compliant with platform policies
Firearms & Weapons	Legal sporting/hunting products only	No targeting minors; compliant with jurisdiction law; no ads for illegal modifications or automatic weapons

4. Creative Review Process

All ad creatives undergo review before serving on Adverteks publisher inventory. Our review combines automated scanning with human editorial review for flagged creatives.

1. Automated Pre-Scan Upon creative submission, our system automatically scans for malware signatures, prohibited keywords, suspicious redirect chains, and known malvertising patterns using multiple scanning engines. Creatives with confirmed malware are rejected instantly with no manual review.
2. Category Classification AI-powered content classification assigns the creative to one or more IAB content categories. Restricted categories are flagged for additional review. The category assignment also determines which publisher environments the creative is eligible to serve in.
3. Landing Page Verification Our crawler visits the destination URL to verify content accuracy, check for redirect chains, scan for malware, and confirm the landing page matches the ad's represented offer. Landing pages are re-verified periodically for active campaigns.
4. Human Editorial Review (Flagged Creatives) Creatives flagged by automated systems — due to restricted category, policy ambiguity, or borderline content — are reviewed by a human editor within 24 hours. Editors apply the standards in this policy and may request advertiser clarification or supporting documentation.
5. Approval or Rejection Approved creatives are immediately eligible for serving. Rejected creatives receive a rejection reason code and are notified to the advertiser. Rejected creatives may be revised and resubmitted. Appeals for human review are available (see Section 10).
6. Ongoing Monitoring Approved creatives continue to be monitored throughout their campaign lifecycle. Landing pages are re-scanned every 48 hours. Real-time signals (click fraud, abnormal bounce rates, user complaints) can trigger immediate creative suspension pending review.

Review Type	Turnaround Time	Applies To
Automated scan	Real-time (< 2 minutes)	All creatives
Standard review	Within 24 hours	New creatives from unverified accounts
Expedited review	Within 4 hours	Managed accounts; available on request
Restricted category review	Within 48 hours	Alcohol, gambling, pharma, financial services

5. Ad Format Requirements

All creatives must meet the following technical and content standards. Non-compliant formats are rejected at ingestion.

5.1 General Creative Standards

• Clarity: The brand name or product must be clearly identifiable in the creative
• No misleading UI: Creatives must not mimic browser UI elements, system alerts, download buttons, or media player interfaces
• No countdown pressure tactics: Fake countdown timers implying scarcity or urgency are prohibited
• Legible disclosures: Required disclaimers must be legible (min 10px font) and visible without zooming
• Consistent destination: The brand, product, and offer in the creative must match the landing page experience
• Single click: Only one user interaction may be required to reach the advertised content

6. Malware & Malvertising Prevention

Malvertising — the distribution of malware through advertising networks — is one of the most serious threats to publisher trust and user safety. Adverteks operates multiple layers of protection:

6.1 Pre-Serve Scanning

• Static analysis: All creative assets are scanned with multiple antivirus engines before approval. Known malware signatures trigger immediate rejection.
• Dynamic sandboxing: HTML5 creatives are executed in isolated sandboxes to detect obfuscated malicious behavior, unauthorized redirect chains, and drive-by download attempts.
• URL reputation checks: Destination URLs are checked against threat intelligence feeds (Google Safe Browsing, PhishTank, VirusTotal) at submission and periodically throughout campaign lifecycle.

6.2 Real-Time Runtime Protection

• Creative sandboxing: All third-party tags execute within CSP-sandboxed iframes. Direct DOM access to publisher page is blocked.
• JavaScript restrictions: Third-party creative scripts cannot access publisher cookies, localStorage, or parent frame data.
• Network request monitoring: Outbound network requests from creative iframes are monitored. Calls to known malicious domains trigger instant creative suspension.
• Redirect chain enforcement: Maximum 3 redirect hops before reaching the destination URL. Redirect chains are mapped and stored for audit.

6.3 Supply Chain Security

• ads.txt verification: Adverteks is listed in all publisher ads.txt files. We refuse to serve ads on inventory claiming to be from publishers who have not authorized Adverteks.
• sellers.json: Our sellers.json file is publicly available and maintained up to date, documenting all sellers in our exchange.
• SupplyChain object: All bid requests include a complete, signed OpenRTB SupplyChain (schain) object for full transparency.

6.4 Incident Response

If malicious ad content is detected post-serve:

1. The creative is suspended within 60 seconds of detection
2. Affected publishers are notified within 2 hours
3. The advertiser account is suspended pending investigation
4. A security report is generated and retained for 1 year
5. If user harm occurred, we cooperate with affected publishers on user notifications

7. Brand Safety Measures

Publisher brand safety is fundamental to our value proposition. Adverteks provides multiple mechanisms to protect publishers from ad content that conflicts with their site's brand and audience expectations.

7.1 Content Category Controls

Publishers can configure their inventory to block ads from specific IAB content categories at the site, section, or placement level. Available controls include:

• Block by IAB content tier-1 and tier-2 category
• Restrict to approved vertical whitelist (e.g., Technology, Finance only)
• Block specific advertiser domains or DSP seat IDs
• Apply industry-standard brand safety tiers (Conservative, Moderate, Standard)

7.2 Contextual Matching

Our contextual engine analyzes page content at serve time and prevents contextually inappropriate ad delivery. Examples:

• Gambling ads do not serve on addiction recovery content
• Violent imagery is blocked on children's content and news covering tragedy
• Competitor ads can be blocked by publisher request
• GARM Brand Safety Floor categories are blocked by default on all inventory

7.3 Publisher Dashboard Controls

Publishers can access brand safety settings directly in the Publisher Dashboard under Sites → Brand Safety. Changes take effect within 15 minutes of saving.

7.4 GARM Alignment

Adverteks aligns with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) Brand Safety Floor and Suitability Framework. The 12 GARM Harmful Categories are blocked by default on all publisher inventory and cannot be unlocked by DSP buyers. Suitability tiers are publisher-configurable.

8. Complaint & Reporting Process

We rely on publishers, advertisers, end users, and industry partners to report potential policy violations. Reports are investigated within the timeframes below:

Report Type	How to Report	Response Time
Active malware / malvertising	security@adverteks.com — mark URGENT	Within 1 hour
Prohibited content in served ad	adquality@adverteks.com	Within 4 hours
Brand safety violation (publisher)	Publisher Dashboard → Report Ad, or adquality@adverteks.com	Within 24 hours
End user complaint about an ad	support@adverteks.com	Within 48 hours
Industry / partner concern	compliance@adverteks.com	Within 5 business days

8.1 What to Include in Your Report

To expedite investigation, please provide:

• URL of the page where the ad appeared (publisher reports)
• Screenshot or screen recording of the ad
• Creative ID or campaign ID if known (visible in DSP dashboard)
• Date and time of the incident
• Description of the policy violation you observed
• Your contact information for follow-up

All reports are treated confidentially. Reporters will receive a case number and status updates throughout the investigation.

9. Enforcement Actions

Violations of this Ad Quality Policy are handled progressively. Severity of violation determines the enforcement track. Adverteks reserves the right to skip to any enforcement level based on violation severity.

9.1 Financial Consequences

In cases involving fraudulent click traffic, ad fraud, or malware distribution, Adverteks reserves the right to:

• Reverse payments for traffic determined to be fraudulent
• Withhold outstanding balances pending investigation
• Seek damages for costs incurred in incident response
• Refer cases to relevant law enforcement agencies

10. Appeals Process

Advertisers who believe a creative rejection, suspension, or ban was issued in error may appeal. The appeals process is designed to be fair and transparent.

10.1 Creative Rejection Appeals

• Email adquality@adverteks.com with subject "Creative Appeal — [Creative ID]"
• Include your account ID, the creative ID, and an explanation of why the rejection was incorrect or how the creative has been revised
• Appeals are reviewed by a senior editor within 48 hours
• Approved appeals result in the creative being cleared for serving
• Denied appeals include a detailed explanation; further revision and resubmission is permitted

10.2 Suspension & Ban Appeals

• Email compliance@adverteks.com with subject "Account Appeal — [Account ID]"
• Include a detailed explanation of the circumstances, evidence of compliance measures implemented, and a commitment to future compliance
• Appeals for temporary suspensions are reviewed within 5 business days
• Appeals for permanent bans are reviewed within 10 business days by senior compliance staff
• Immediate bans for malware, CSAM, or trafficking are not subject to appeal