Google Affiliate Network Publisher
Software Application Guidelines
March 25th, 2012
Publishers who wish to use software applications, whether active or passive and direct or indirect, in connection with Google Affiliate Network technology (which includes Ads and/or Links) to obtain credit for referrals of end users to participating advertiser sites, must comply with the following requirements.
In these Guidelines: (a) "you" and "your" refer to the legal entity(ies) that has entered into the contract with Google into which these requirements are incorporated, as well as any person or entity acting on your behalf; and (b) "Software Application" means any application, plug-in, helper, component or other executable code that does either of the following:
- Runs on a user's computer or mobile device, including but not limited to browser helper objects, toolbars, extensions, add-ons or other services.
- Runs on a third party server that is used in connection with Google Affiliate Network technology.
1. Approval. Any Software Application made available for download by users in connection with Google Affiliate Network technology must be approved by Google in writing, which may include email. Software Applications can be submitted for review at http://www.google.com/support/affiliatenetwork/bin/request.py?contact_type=software_application_review&hl=en or such other URL as Google may provide from time to time.
2. Prohibited Content. Your Software Application may not (a) contain any viruses, worms, trojan horses, or the like; and (b) contain or distribute pornographic, obscene, excessively profane, gambling-related, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal content, or content related to "hacking" or "cracking."
3.1 Prohibited Behavior. Your Software Application may not engage in deceptive, unfair, harassing or otherwise annoying practices. For example, the Software Application may not:
(a) use, or permit an unaffiliated person to use, an end user's computer system for any purpose not understood and affirmatively consented to by the end user (including, without limitation, for purposes of consuming bandwidth or computer resources, sending email messages, launching denial of service attacks, or obtaining personal information from an end user's computer such as login, password, account or other information personal to the end user);
(b) intentionally create or exploit any security vulnerabilities in end user computers;
(c) trigger pop-ups, pop-unders, exit windows, or similar obstructive or intrusive functionality, that materially interfere with an end user's web navigation or browsing or the use of his or her computer;
(d) repeatedly ask an end user to take, or try to deceive an end user into taking, an action that the end user has previously declined to take (such as repeatedly asking an end user to change his or her homepage or some other setting or configuration);
(e) interfere with the browser default search functionality (except that your Software Application may permit an end user to change his or her default search functionality with proper disclosure, consent and attribution as provided below); or
(f) engage in activity that violates any applicable law or regulation.
3.2 Interference with Referrals. Your Software Application must not interfere with, or seek to improperly influence, the referral of an end user to the web site of a Google Affiliate Network advertiser unless the end user knowingly and explicitly consents to that behavior by taking an affirmative action after being notified each and every time.
3.3 Notification/No Automatic Redirection. Your Software Application must explicitly notify the end user each and every time of any opportunity to redirect to a participating advertiser site. Automatic redirection to a participating advertiser web site, regardless of the traffic source or URL being visited by the end user, is strictly prohibited. Software Applications may only redirect end users to a participating advertiser site after 1) notifying the end user in a clear and unambiguous manner, and 2) receiving explicit consent from the end user in the form of affirmative clickthrough.
3.4 Non End User Initiated Events. Your Software Application may not use methods to generate non end user initiated impressions, clicks, or transactions. All click events must be initiated by an affirmative end user action.
3.5 Altering Another Publisher's Site. Your Software Application may not utilize Google Affiliate Network technology in any manner that alters, changes, substitutes or modifies the content of another publisher's web site.
3.6. Packaging with Other Applications. You may not, and may not allow any third party to, advertise, offer, download or install any software, application, or other product during the download or installation process of your Software Application, unless such packaging is approved by Google in writing, which may include email. Similarly, your Software Application may not be bundled with the download or installation process of any other undisclosed or unapproved software application.
4.1. Disclosure and Consent before Installation. You must design the installation of your Software Application in a manner that ensures that it is installed by end users knowingly and willfully – e.g., no "drive-by" downloads or installs. At a minimum, compliance with this provision requires that, prior to installing your Software Application, you:
(a) first, fully, accurately, clearly and conspicuously disclose to end users:
- that they are installing a software application,
- the name of the Software Application, identifying you as the entity responsible for it, and
- the principal and significant features and functionality of the Software Application; and
(b) then, obtain the end user's affirmative consent to install the Software Application.
4.2. Disclosure and Consent for Collection and Transmission of Personally Identifiable Information. Your Software Application may not (1) collect or transmit to any entity other than the end user personally identifiable information, or (2) collect or transmit information related to a user's computer or Internet usage or activity in a manner that could collect or transmit such user's personally identifiable information (such as through keystroke logging), unless prior to the first occurrence of any such collection or transmission you:
(a) first, fully, accurately, clearly and conspicuously disclose:
- the type of information collected (described with specificity in the case of personally identifiable information),
- the method of collection (e.g., by registration, etc.), and
- the location of (i.e., a link to) the privacy policy that governs the collection, use and disclosure of the information; and
(b) then, obtain the end user's affirmative consent to such collection and/or transmission.
4.3. Disclosure and Consent for Setting Changes. Your Software Application may not make a change to any operating system or Software Application data setting which will impact the user experience of other Software Applications (e.g., changing the browser default homepage, search or DNS settings, or changing the default application for a file type, such as the default email or browser), unless prior to making such change you:
(a) first, fully, accurately, clearly and conspicuously disclose the change in a manner that will explain the practical effect of such change; and
(b) then, obtain the end user's affirmative consent to make such change.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) no disclosure and consent need be made for changes to operating system or Software Application data settings that have only a minor impact on user experience, such as adding a small number of bookmarks to the browser menu or adding an item to a start menu, and (ii) the disclosure and consent requirements of this Section 4.3 will not apply to those setting changes that were made before a user initiated installation of the Software Application.
4.4. Method of Disclosure and Consent. In order to satisfy the requirements above, the disclosure of the items specified above in 4.3 (a) must be provided in both (1) the End User License Agreement (EULA) or privacy policy (to the extent required by law or otherwise by industry custom) and (2) separately from the EULA and/or privacy policy (e.g., in installation screens or message boxes, as the case may be), and (b) must be designed so that it will be read by, adequately inform and evidence the consent of a typical Internet user.
4.5. EULA and Privacy Policy. Your Software Application must conform, and be distributed pursuant to a EULA that conforms, with all applicable laws and regulations. In addition, you and your Software Application must comply with the agreements and representations you make with your end users in your EULA and privacy policy. Your privacy policy must be accessible from your Software Application in an easily found location. If your Software Application collects or transmits any other information related to the user's use of his or her computer, but not required to be disclosed and consented to pursuant to Section 4.2, then the collection and use of such other information must be disclosed in your privacy policy.
5. Transparency. You must not mislead end users or create end user confusion with regard to the source or owner of a Software Application or any portion of its purpose, functionality or features. For example, all elements of your Software Application that are visible to the end user must clearly identify their source through its branding and attribution, and that identification, whatever form it takes, must correspond to the identification of your application in the menu that permits end users to remove programs. In addition, if your Software Application modifies the operation or display of other applications or Web sites (other than Web sites that you own), then in each instance you must clearly and conspicuously attribute the source of that modification to your Software Application (as distinct from the application or Web site modified) in a manner that will inform a typical Internet user; provided that this requirement will not apply to modifications for which you obtain disclosure and consent pursuant to Section 4.3 and 4.4.
6. Deactivation. Your Software Application must not impair an end user's ability to change any preferences or settings set by the Software Application in accordance with the way that such preferences or settings ordinarily may be changed by the applicable Software Application. Once disabled by an end user, your Software Application may not be re-enabled without an affirmative action by the end user to explicitly re-enable your Software Application. Accordingly, no use, update, installation or re-enablement of a separate Software Application, and no code downloaded as a result of browsing a Web site, may operate to re-enable your Software Application. Your Software Application must permit end users to uninstall it (in the customary place the applicable operating system has designated for adding or removing programs, e.g., Add/Remove Programs control panel in Windows) in a straightforward manner, without undue effort or skill. In addition, your Software Application, when running, must provide (in an easily found location) clear and concise instructions on how it may be uninstalled. Once uninstalled, your Software Application must not leave behind any functionality or design elements, and all setting changes made by the application, but not explicitly agreed to by the end user, should be reversed to the extent practicable.
7. Updating, Patching or Modifying Software Applications. You must provide Google a detailed explanation of all modifications which alter or change the use of Google Affiliate Network technology prior to releasing any new or updated version of Your Software Application to the public. End users/members must be notified prior to and opt-in to updates performed on previously installed and consented to Software Applications.
8. Distribution. All means by which end users find, download or install your software application must be disclosed in the Software Application Review Request. Furthermore, any subsequent significant changes to your distribution methods must be disclosed to and approved by Google in writing, which may include email.
9. Updates to these Guidelines. Google may update these Guidelines from time to time. As to Software Applications that were previously approved by Google, you must bring such Software Applications into compliance with the updated version of these Guidelines within thirty (30) days of the update, unless Google agrees otherwise.