name: Advertising Policy slug: advertising version: 1.0.0 effective_date: [EFFECTIVE_DATE] last_updated: 2026-05-09
Advertising Policy
Plain-English summary. Don't lie. Don't advertise prohibited categories. Don't target by protected class. AI-generated copy is your responsibility — review every word before submitting. We can reject, pause, or remove your ad at our sole discretion without refund.
This Advertising Policy ("Policy") governs every ad campaign, sponsored placement, and promotional creative ("Ad") that runs on the ShareFree platform — including in-feed Slot A (post every 3rd listing) and Slot B (post every 24th listing) placements, on web and mobile. By creating, submitting, paying for, or running an Ad, you ("Advertiser") agree to this Policy. This Policy is incorporated by reference into the Terms of Service, and operates alongside the Acceptable Use Policy, Community Guidelines, Payments & Refund Policy, and AI Notice.
1. Eligibility
To create or run an Ad on ShareFree, you must:
1.1 Hold a ShareFree account in good standing — meaning your account is not suspended, not subject to a reporter-trust probation or revocation under the Acceptable Use Policy, has no outstanding payment chargebacks, and is not the subject of an active AUP investigation.
1.2 Be the listing owner if your Ad promotes a specific listing, or the brand or business owner (or an authorized representative with written authority) if your Ad promotes a brand, business, service, or product line.
1.3 Be at least 18 years of age. ShareFree is an 18+ platform; advertisers must be adults capable of entering binding contracts under Texas law.
1.4 Not appear on the U.S. Treasury OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, the U.S. Commerce Department Entity List, the State Department Debarred Parties List, or any other applicable U.S. or international restricted-party list. Advertisers in jurisdictions subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions are ineligible.
1.5 Comply with the Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, Community Guidelines, and Payments & Refund Policy. A violation of any of those documents is a violation of this Policy.
ShareFree reserves the right to require additional verification (identity, business registration, brand authorization) before approving an Ad.
2. Ad Format and Content Standards
2.1 Format limits
Ad creative on ShareFree consists of three text fields plus optional imagery. The character limits are hard, database-enforced, and ads exceeding them will be rejected at submission:
- Headline: ≤ 100 characters
- Description: ≤ 125 characters
- Call-to-Action (CTA): ≤ 40 characters
2.2 Imagery
All images supplied with an Ad must be (a) created by you, (b) properly licensed for the use in question, or (c) in the public domain. You may not use copyrighted material — photographs, illustrations, branded imagery, music, fonts, or stock-photo material — without rights or a valid license. You may not use the name, image, likeness, or voice of any real person, celebrity, public figure, or identifiable third party without their documented written consent. ShareFree may require proof of license or release on demand.
2.3 Truthfulness
All Ad copy must be truthful, accurate, and not misleading — measured both literally and by overall net impression. Claims of fact (numerical, comparative, performance, scientific, health-related, "best-in-class," "award-winning") must be substantiable at the time of publication, consistent with the FTC Endorsement Guides, FTC Section 5 deception standards (15 U.S.C. §45), and applicable Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act provisions.
2.4 Prohibited tactics
The following are not permitted regardless of the underlying offer:
- Clickbait ("You won't believe what happened next…")
- Fake urgency — "Only 1 left!" when supply is not constrained, fake countdown timers, "Last chance" without a real deadline
- Misleading thumbnails that bear no relationship to the ad destination
- Shock imagery — gore, graphic medical content, before/after weight-loss imagery, plastic-surgery results, distressing personal-injury imagery
- Fake social proof — fabricated testimonials, fake review screenshots, fabricated celebrity endorsements
- Bait-and-switch copy that materially mismatches the destination listing, page, or experience
2.5 Quality
Spelling, grammar, formatting, or rendering issues that materially mislead the consumer or undermine reasonable comprehension are grounds for rejection. We do not police minor typos but we do reject creative that we cannot trust the average viewer to understand.
3. Disallowed Verticals (Hard No)
The following may not be advertised on ShareFree, regardless of the underlying listing or business model. This list is non-exhaustive; ShareFree may add to it at any time.
3.1 Everything in the Prohibited Listings schedule of the Acceptable Use Policy. Including, without limitation: alcohol; tobacco, vapes, and e-cigarettes; cannabis, CBD, THC, hemp-derived intoxicants, kratom; firearms, ammunition, parts, accessories, 3D-printed firearm files, and ghost-gun kits; gambling and games of chance; controlled substances and prescription drugs; hazardous materials; live animals and animal parts; stolen, recalled, or counterfeit goods; human body parts, blood, organs, breast milk, and prescription medical devices; adult content, sexual services, escort services, "sugar" arrangements; restricted weapons (knives over statutory limits, brass knuckles, explosives, chemical weapons); government IDs, passports, financial instruments, blank checks, gift-card resale at scale; personal data, credentials, account access; hacking, surveillance, and stalkerware tools; predatory financial services; unlicensed regulated services (legal, medical, real estate, financial advice without license); investment schemes, pyramid schemes, "passive income" programs; regulated political contributions and political fundraising.
3.2 Political advertising — federal, state, or local — defined as expenditures regulated by the Federal Election Commission under 52 U.S.C. §30101 et seq., the Federal Election Campaign Act, or the Texas Election Code (including Tex. Elec. Code Title 15). This includes candidate ads, ballot-measure ads, issue ads identifying a candidate within the FEC's electioneering-communication window, and fundraising ads for political committees.
3.3 Tobacco and nicotine cessation products — including FDA-regulated nicotine-replacement therapies marketed as cessation products, smoking-cessation programs, and "quit" programs that recommend regulated products.
3.4 Cryptocurrency and digital-asset products — including initial coin offerings (ICOs), token sales, NFT mints, NFT marketplaces, token-gated communities, "Web3" investment products, crypto staking, yield farming, crypto lending, and any product whose value proposition is speculative appreciation of a digital asset.
3.5 Cannabis-adjacent paraphernalia — rolling papers, vaporizer hardware marketed for cannabis use, smoke shops as a category, hemp/CBD retail storefronts, dispensary services.
3.6 Healthcare claims — disease cures, prevention claims, treatment claims, weight-loss claims, "miracle" remedies, hair-restoration products, erectile-dysfunction treatments, addiction-recovery services with outcome claims, anti-aging products with structure/function claims, and any product likely to draw FTC or FDA enforcement attention.
3.7 Clinical-trial and medical-research recruiting — unless the Advertiser provides documented Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, complies with 45 CFR Part 46 (Common Rule) where applicable, and includes the disclosures the IRB requires.
3.8 Multi-level marketing (MLM) recruitment — including downline-recruitment ads, "be your own boss" pitches that are MLM in substance, and ads selling the opportunity rather than the product.
3.9 Predatory financial services — payday loans, auto-title loans, subprime installment loans, debt-relief and debt-consolidation services, credit-repair organizations subject to the Credit Repair Organizations Act (15 U.S.C. §1679 et seq.), tax-relief services, advance-fee loans, and any "guaranteed approval" credit product.
3.10 Discriminatory exclusion ads — ads referencing protected classes for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in housing, employment, financial services, or public accommodations, in violation of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq.), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. §1691 et seq.), or the Americans with Disabilities Act. See §6 for special-category rules.
3.11 Adult content — sexually explicit or sexually suggestive imagery, copy, or destinations, regardless of how "tasteful" the creative may be.
3.12 Drugs and dietary supplements with structure/function or disease claims falling within FDA jurisdiction under 21 U.S.C. §343(r)(6) and 21 CFR §101.93.
3.13 Get-rich-quick schemes — "make $5,000/week from home," guaranteed-return investment ads, "system that beats the market," and similar.
3.14 Sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways that lack the legally required Official Rules, jurisdictional registrations (e.g., New York and Florida bonding for prize values exceeding statutory thresholds), and "no purchase necessary" / alternate-method-of-entry disclosures.
3.15 Subscriptions with negative-option features (auto-renewal, free-to-paid trials, continuous service) that do not comply with the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA, 15 U.S.C. §8401 et seq.) and the FTC's Negative Option Rule.
3.16 Surveillance and tracking products marketed for non-consensual use — including stalkerware, hidden GPS trackers marketed to monitor partners or family members without consent, hidden cameras marketed for covert recording, and devices that violate the Texas Penal Code §16.02 wiretap statute or the federal Wiretap Act.
4. Targeting Restrictions
4.1 Allowed targeting
ShareFree's ad system supports two targeting dimensions:
- Community — geographic, by ShareFree community membership
- Category — by listing category (e.g., furniture, electronics, services)
4.2 Prohibited targeting
You may not target an Ad — or design creative that effectively self-targets — based on any of the following, whether explicit or inferred:
- Race, color, ethnicity, or national origin
- Religion or creed
- Sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression
- Disability or perceived disability
- Familial status, marital status, or pregnancy
- Immigration or citizenship status
- Veteran status
- Age, except the universal 18+ floor
- Genetic information
- Any other class protected under federal, Texas, or applicable local law
You may not use inferred sensitive attributes as a targeting workaround — for example, targeting "members of disability-support communities," "single-parent communities," or "religious-affiliation communities" even if such communities exist on the platform.
4.3 No targeting of minors
ShareFree is an 18+ platform. Even so, you may not design Ad creative — copy, imagery, characters, music, references, or destinations — that primarily appeals to or is designed to attract minors.
4.4 Heightened-category targeting overlay
Housing, employment, and credit-related Ads carry additional targeting restrictions under the Fair Housing Act, Title VII / ADEA / ADA, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, regardless of whether the targeting is geographic, demographic, or behavioral. See §6.
5. AI-Enhanced Ad Copy Attestation
ShareFree offers an optional AI-assisted ad-copy generation feature ("AI Copy") powered by an external large-language-model provider (currently Gemini via OpenRouter). If you use AI Copy:
5.1 Mandatory review. You must read and review every word of the AI-generated headline, description, and CTA before submitting your Ad. AI systems hallucinate, fabricate facts, invent statistics, and produce non-compliant copy. The model has no knowledge of your business, your inventory, your jurisdiction, or this Policy.
5.2 Attestation. At submission, you must affirmatively attest that the final Ad copy — whether AI-generated, AI-assisted, or human-written — is accurate, lawful, substantiable, and compliant with this Policy, the Terms of Service, and applicable law. The attestation is recorded and timestamped against your submission for evidentiary purposes.
5.3 No ShareFree liability for AI output. ShareFree is not responsible for AI hallucinations, fabricated claims, factual inaccuracies, defamatory statements, infringing material, or policy violations contained in copy you elect to publish. The AI Copy feature is a drafting aid, not a compliance review.
5.4 You are responsible. Ads containing prohibited content, false claims, or other policy violations will be rejected or removed regardless of whether the offending text was originally generated by AI. Violations count against your account under §8 and the Acceptable Use Policy.
See the AI Notice for additional information on how ShareFree uses AI on the platform.
6. Special Ad Categories — Heightened Standards
6.1 Housing
Ads offering, listing, or referring to housing — for rent, for sale, sublet, room shares, short-term rentals — are subject to the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §§3601–3619), HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR Part 100, the Texas Fair Housing Act (Tex. Prop. Code Ch. 301), and applicable local fair-housing ordinances.
Prohibited statements include any expression of preference, limitation, or discrimination — direct or indirect — based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation per Bostock v. Clayton County and HUD's 2021 implementation memo), familial status, national origin, disability, or veteran status (where state or local law extends).
Examples that will be rejected: "no kids," "adults only" (without statutory exemption under 42 U.S.C. §3607(b)), "Christian household," "no Section 8" (prohibited in jurisdictions with source-of-income protections, including in many Texas localities), "perfect for single professional," "ideal for [ethnic group] family," and similar coded language. ShareFree may report apparent housing-discrimination violations to HUD and to the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division.
6.2 Employment
Ads offering or recruiting for employment, contract work, gig assignments, internships, or volunteer roles are subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 21.
You may not state or imply a preference for or against a protected class. "Bona fide occupational qualifications" must be stated explicitly with their statutory hook (e.g., a religious organization invoking the §702 exemption). Coded language — "young, energetic team," "recent grads only," "digital native," "men only," "must be male for safety reasons" without a real BFOQ — is prohibited.
6.3 Credit and financial products
Ads for credit, lending, financial services, or insurance are subject to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. §1691 et seq.) — no protected-class basis for offer, terms, or eligibility. Where applicable, Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) disclosures must accompany the Ad, including APR triggers, finance-charge disclosures, and total-cost-of-credit information. State lending-license disclosures must be present where required.
6.4 Children's products and COPPA
Even though ShareFree is an 18+ platform, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §6501 et seq.) still constrains advertisers who direct any flow at children under 13. You may not collect personal information from anyone under 13 through any Ad-driven landing page, signup, or other flow, and you may not design Ad creative directed primarily at children under 13.
7. FTC Endorsement, Disclosure, and Made-In Claims
7.1 Material connections
Any material connection — payment, free product, employment, agency relationship, family or close-personal relationship — between you and any endorser, reviewer, influencer, or testimonial source must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed within the Ad creative itself, consistent with the FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) and the FTC's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (2023 revision).
Acceptable disclosures: "Sponsored," "Ad," "Paid Partnership," "#ad," "Paid Promotion." Buried hashtags, end-of-bio mentions, and disclosures hidden behind a "more" link are not acceptable.
7.2 Made-In-USA claims
Unqualified "Made in USA," "Made in America," "Built in the USA," and similar claims must comply with the FTC Made in USA Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 323) — meaning all or virtually all of the product must be made in the United States, with all or virtually all of its significant parts and processing being of U.S. origin and final assembly or processing occurring in the U.S. Qualified claims ("Assembled in USA from imported components") must accurately describe the qualification.
7.3 Substantiation
Quantitative claims (numbers, percentages, comparisons, performance metrics, rankings) must be substantiable at the time of publication with competent and reliable evidence — typically scientific evidence for health and performance claims, methodologically sound surveys for "9 out of 10" claims, and documented testing for "fastest," "lightest," "longest-lasting" claims. Testimonials must reflect typical consumer experience, or include a clear and conspicuous "results not typical" qualifier together with a description of what consumers can generally expect.
7.4 Other disclosures
Where federal or Texas law requires specific disclosures — green claims (FTC Green Guides), environmental marketing, organic claims (USDA NOP), automotive disclosures, savings-claim disclosures, "free" offer conditions — those disclosures must appear within the Ad creative or, where character limits prevent it, on the destination page in a clear and conspicuous manner.
8. Right to Reject, Remove, or Pause
ShareFree may, in its sole discretion and without refund:
- Reject an Ad before it is delivered
- Pause an Ad already running
- Remove an Ad permanently
- Suspend or terminate the Advertiser's account
- Withhold associated credit balances pending investigation
- Refer the matter to law enforcement, regulators (FTC, HUD, FDA, state attorneys general, the Texas Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division), or industry self-regulatory bodies (BBB National Programs, NAD)
- Cooperate with subpoenas, civil investigative demands, and lawful regulatory inquiries
Grounds include but are not limited to: violation of this Policy; violation of the Acceptable Use Policy, Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, or Payments & Refund Policy; user complaints whose volume or substance warrants action under the Reporter Trust framework; regulator inquiries; brand-safety risk; technical issues with the Ad or destination; chargebacks or payment disputes; account-eligibility lapses under §1; and inadvertent inclusion of prohibited content.
ShareFree's decision to reject, remove, or pause an Ad does not constitute a finding of legal violation, and ShareFree's choice not to reject an Ad does not constitute approval, endorsement, or a determination of compliance.
9. No Guarantee of Delivery, Impressions, Clicks, or Conversions
9.1 No volume guarantee. ShareFree does not guarantee any specific number of impressions, clicks, conversions, leads, sales, app installs, sign-ups, or any business outcome arising from your Ad.
9.2 Slot availability. Slot A and Slot B placements depend on real-time user activity, feed composition, community membership distribution, and category relevance. An Ad may receive substantially fewer impressions than any internal estimate, dashboard projection, or rule-of-thumb conversion suggests. Estimates are not promises.
9.3 Best-effort metrics. Performance metrics displayed in your dashboard — impressions served, clicks recorded, click-through rate, spend — are reported on a best-effort basis. The reported metrics are presumed correct absent manifest error. Discrepancies between ShareFree-reported metrics and third-party analytics on your destination (Google Analytics, server logs, etc.) are expected and do not entitle you to a refund.
9.4 No performance refunds. We do not refund based on performance disappointment, engagement disappointment, conversion-rate disappointment, or revenue-attribution disagreements. See §11 and the Payments & Refund Policy for the full refund framework.
9.5 No SLA. We do not commit to an uptime, latency, or delivery service-level agreement for the Ad system.
10. Reporting Policy-Violating Ads
Any user who sees an Ad on ShareFree that appears to violate this Policy may report it through any of the following channels:
10.1 In-app report. Open the overflow (•••) menu on the Ad and choose Report Ad. Include a category and an optional note. Reports flow into the standard moderation queue and are reviewed under the Reporter Trust framework described in the Acceptable Use Policy.
10.2 Email — general advertising concerns. ads@sharefree.org for ad-policy concerns, deceptive-advertising claims, impersonation, IP infringement in Ad creative (use the DMCA channel for formal copyright takedowns), and similar.
10.3 Email — housing / employment / credit discrimination. ads@sharefree.org, marked "Discrimination Report" in the subject line. ShareFree will preserve relevant ad records and may proactively forward credible housing-discrimination complaints to HUD and the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division, employment-discrimination complaints to the EEOC and the Texas Workforce Commission, and credit-discrimination complaints to the CFPB and the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
10.4 FTC concerns. Suspected FTC Endorsement Guide violations, deceptive-advertising claims under FTC Section 5, Made-in-USA Rule violations, and ROSCA / Negative Option violations may be reported to ads@sharefree.org. Consumers may also file directly with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
ShareFree does not retaliate against users who report Ads in good faith. Bad-faith or coordinated false reporting is itself a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy.
11. Self-Service Disputes and Refunds
The complete refund framework lives in the Payments & Refund Policy. The summary specific to advertising:
11.1 Default rule. Once an Ad has been delivered (impressions served), the corresponding spend is non-refundable. Ad credits are spent at the point of impression delivery.
11.2 Pre-delivery cancellation. If you cancel a campaign before any impressions have been served, the unspent credit balance is returned to your ShareFree credit wallet. Cancellation while a campaign is mid-flight returns only the unspent portion; impressions already served are not refunded.
11.3 Rejection — Advertiser fault. If an Ad is rejected because of an Advertiser violation (prohibited content, missing rights, false claims, attestation breach under §5, OFAC issue, etc.), no refund is owed. Credits committed to a rejected campaign that was never served may be returned to the credit wallet at ShareFree's discretion, less reasonable review costs.
11.4 Rejection — ShareFree error. If ShareFree rejects, removes, or fails to deliver an Ad due to ShareFree's error (e.g., a bug in the delivery system that prevented serving), ShareFree will, at its discretion, return the affected credits to your wallet or extend the campaign.
11.5 Chargebacks. Initiating a payment chargeback in lieu of using the refund process described above is a violation of the Payments & Refund Policy and may result in account suspension under §8. Where a chargeback is later reversed in ShareFree's favor, associated credits and impressions are not retroactively restored.
11.6 Dispute escalation. Disputes that cannot be resolved through the in-app refund flow should be sent to ads@sharefree.org with the campaign ID, dates, and a description of the issue.
12. Term, Modification, and Severability
12.1 Modification. ShareFree may modify this Policy at any time. Material changes will be announced in the Ad-creation flow and posted at this URL, with the last_updated and version frontmatter values incremented. Non-material changes (clarifications, typo fixes, link corrections) may be made without separate notice.
12.2 Active campaigns at the time of change. Campaigns that are live at the time of a material policy change will, where feasible, run out under the prior version of this Policy. Where a new policy provision relates to safety, regulatory exposure, or a categorical prohibition (e.g., a new Disallowed Vertical added under §3), ShareFree may suspend conflicting active campaigns immediately and return unspent credit consistent with §11.
12.3 Severability. If any provision of this Policy is held unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder shall remain in full force and effect, and the unenforceable provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable while preserving its intent.
12.4 No waiver. ShareFree's failure to enforce any provision of this Policy in any instance is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later.
12.5 Incorporation. This Policy is incorporated into the Terms of Service by reference. Capitalized terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms of Service.
12.6 Governing law and venue. This Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, and disputes are subject to the dispute-resolution and venue provisions of the Terms of Service.
Questions? Email ads@sharefree.org.
Cross-references: Terms of Service · Acceptable Use Policy · Payments & Refund Policy · Community Guidelines · AI Notice