Policies

Sponsorship policies & standards

Editorial independence. Sponsorship does not affect story ordering, source inclusion, Blindspots, summaries, moderation, search results or editorial standards.

Creative standards

Prohibited advertisers

Political candidates/committees, weapons & ammo, illegal/recreational drug sales, tobacco/nicotine/vaping, pornography, gambling/sports betting, payday/title loans, pyramid/MLM recruitment, guaranteed-return scams, pump-and-dump tokens, malware/spyware, fake tech support, miracle health claims, academic cheating, counterfeits, hate/extremist groups, and deceptive claims. Regulated finance/medical/legal ads require manual review.

Review process

Campaigns enter under_review after automated validation. WeSearch staff approve, reject, or request changes. Payment is collected only after approval (Stripe Checkout).

Measurement

Viewable impression: ≥50% of the ad visible for one continuous second while the page is visible (MRC/IAB display baseline). Clicks counted only via WeSearch redirect. No behavioral profiling.

Underdelivery & refunds

If WeSearch fails to deliver contracted viewable impressions within the campaign window for reasons under our control, unused impressions receive a pro-rata refund of the paid amount. Advertiser-caused issues (policy violations, landing-page downtime) do not qualify.

Cancellation & suspension

We may pause or suspend campaigns that violate policy, harm readers, or generate abuse reports. Advertisers may request pause via the dashboard; refunds for remaining inventory are handled case-by-case after review.

Privacy

No sale of reader data. No cross-site tracking. No advertiser pixels. Aggregate campaign stats only (served, viewable, clicks). See also Privacy.

These policies protect readers first. Sponsors who need behavioral retargeting, political electioneering, or unmoderated native story-format ads should use other channels. Sponsors who want a direct, labeled, privacy-preserving presence next to independent news reading are welcome to apply at the campaign builder.