Advertising Terms of Service
The terms that govern Promoted placements and your prepaid advertising wallet.
Effective: [TODO: effective date on launch]
1. Scope
These Advertising Terms apply to CostBench's pay-per-click advertising product ("Promoted" placements) and the prepaid advertising wallet. They supplement, and do not replace, the general CostBench Terms of Service and the vendor profile terms accepted when you claimed your product.
2. Qualified-click billing
You are charged only for qualified clicks as defined in our published Qualified-Click Methodology, which is incorporated into these terms by reference. In summary: we bill one human-verified click per person, per product, per 24-hour period; automated, duplicate, and ambiguous clicks are not billed.
The per-click price is your bid, with a floor of $2.00 per qualified click. We reserve the right to update the methodology to improve fraud protection; material changes will be posted with a revised "last updated" date and will only ever make billing more conservative, not less. [TODO(Aadil): confirm we want to bind ourselves to "only more conservative" — Cosmo's recommendation, but it's a commitment.]
3. Prepaid wallet
Advertising is prepaid. You fund a wallet by card (minimum deposit $100), and qualified-click charges draw down that balance. We do not invoice, extend credit, or pursue collections. When your balance can no longer fund a click, your Promoted placements automatically pause until you top up. Funds in your wallet are not a deposit held in trust and do not earn interest. [TODO(Aadil): confirm money-transmission / stored-value posture with counsel — prepaid ad credit is generally fine, but confirm for the relevant jurisdiction.]
4. Refunds
Unused wallet balance is refundable on request to the original payment method, less any non-refundable processing fees actually incurred. Founding free-click credit has no cash value and is not refundable. Qualified-click charges already incurred are non-refundable except where our own reconciliation, or a dispute we uphold, determines a charge was made in error — in which case we credit it back to your wallet. [TODO(Aadil): set the processing-fee policy and the refund SLA window.]
5. Promoted labeling & editorial independence
All paid placements are labeled "Promoted" with a clear disclosure. Advertising does not influence editorial rankings, recommendations, pricing data, or how any product is presented, including yours. CostBench retains sole editorial control. We may decline, pause, or remove any placement that we determine is misleading, infringing, or inconsistent with our editorial standards or applicable advertising law (including FTC disclosure rules).
6. Acceptable use
You may not attempt to inflate your own clicks, click competitors' paid placements to deplete their balance, or otherwise interfere with the billing system. We may suspend a wallet and reverse charges in response to detected abuse. Placement content must be accurate and must not misrepresent your product's pricing or capabilities.
7. Changes & termination
You may stop advertising at any time by pausing your slots or requesting a refund of your remaining balance. We may change these terms with notice; continued use after a change constitutes acceptance. We may terminate advertising access for breach of these terms, with a refund of unused balance.
8. Disclaimers & liability
[TODO(Aadil): counsel to supply the warranty disclaimer, limitation-of-liability cap (suggest: capped at amounts paid in the prior 12 months), indemnity, governing law, and dispute-resolution / arbitration clauses. Cosmo intentionally did not draft these — they are jurisdiction- and risk-tolerance-specific.]
9. Contact
Questions about these terms or a specific charge: your vendor dashboard or the contact address on your account. [TODO(Aadil): confirm the support contact address to publish here.]