StumbleUpon helps people discover the very best websites that match their personal interests. StumbleUpon is unique because our sponsored content is displayed in the very same way our users stumble upon normal websites. Therefore, it’s important that your content (your ad) is as relevant and high-quality as the other websites on StumbleUpon. Our millions of members are looking to discover new and interesting information, and will give you valuable feedback (thumbs up or thumbs down ratings and user comments) if you provide them with an entertaining or informative experience.
For best results, StumbleUpon provides the following guidelines. Please note that all ads placed on StumbleUpon must adhere to these guidelines, and StumbleUpon reserves the right to reject any content that we deem contrary to our ad philosophy. These guidelines are subject to change at any time.
Please note, our staff manually reviews all sponsored content submitted to StumbleUpon. The review process usually takes one (1) business day and we do not review ads on the weekend or during observed U.S. holidays.
Do not promote the following
- Adult content, including nudity, sexual terms and/or images of people in positions or activities that are excessively suggestive or sexual, or provocative images in violation of community standards.
- Adult friend finders or dating sites with a sexual emphasis.
- Adult toys, videos, or other adult products.
- Offensive, profane, vulgar, obscene, or inappropriate language.
- Obscene, defamatory, libelous, slanderous and/or unlawful content.
- Illegal drugs
- Tobacco or nicotine products, electronic cigarettes.
- Ammunition, firearms, paintball guns, bb guns, or weapons of any kind.
- Gambling, including without limitation, online casinos, sports books, bingo or poker. Informational or “how to” sites may be acceptable.
- Scams, illegal activity and/or illegal contests, pyramid schemes, or chain letters.
- Sweepstakes or contests.
- Get rich quick and other money making opportunities that offer compensation for little or no investment, including “work from home” opportunities positioned as alternatives to part-time or full-time employment or promises of monetary gain with no strings attached.
- Uncertified pharmaceutical products, body enhancement products, weight loss products, health or cosmetic products or services that make unrealistic or unsubstantiated claims.
- Web-based non-accredited colleges that offer degrees.
- Inflammatory religious content.
- Politically religious agendas and/or any known associations with hate, criminal and/or terrorist activities.
- Hate speech, whether directed at an individual or a group, and whether based upon the race, sex, creed, national origin, religious affiliation, marital status, sexual orientation or language of such individual or group.
- ‘Spam’ or other advertising or marketing content that violates applicable laws, regulations or industry standards.
Ad Requirements
- Pages are accepted or declined based upon the entirety of the page (including advertisements). Please make sure the entirety of the page submitted adheres to all guidelines.
- Pages must contain original content.
- URLs must not redirect to another page.
- URLs must work on both PC and Mac computers.
- URLs must not be referral URLs, or affiliate squeeze pages (this creates duplicates and our users do not respond well to this type of content).
- Pages that generate a pop-up (including “pop-overs” and “pop-unders”) or anything that automatically expands and covers content on the page, are not allowed.
- Pages cannot have auto-loading sound on non-relevant pages.
- Pages cannot use “fake” close behavior (i.e. when a user clicks the ‘close’ icon on the page, the page should close down and no other behavior should result).
- Pages cannot utilize “mouse trapping,” whereby the advertiser does not allow users to use their browser “back button” and traps them on the site and/or present additional/unexpected behavior (e.g.: another ad or page).
- Pages cannot require viewers to submit personal information (cell phone numbers, physical addresses, or email addresses) on the page in order to obtain the information advertised.
- No page may be a direct solicitation for personal information from users.
- A secure server connection (https) must be used when collecting personal information from users.
- Pages must load in a reasonable amount of time with a broadband connection.
- Pages may not produce any errors including, but not limited to, 404 errors, server not found and missing video/images.
- Pages may not be under construction or have “coming soon” countdowns.
- Pages must work on both Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome browsers.
- Pages may not have flashing, excessive animation, “fake winner” copy or fake/deceptive functionality.
- Direct topic placement in URL is not allowed as it limits potential for viral distribution (Eg. www.exampleurl.com/?sid-1 vs. www.exampleurl.com/humor).
- StumbleUpon, Stumble or SU references should not be included in URL tracking.
- Shortened URLs created with various URL shortening services are not accepted to avoid introducing duplicates into our directory.
- Newly added videos to youtube.com must be at least 12-24 hours old before submission or else the youtube.com API will not be updated with your content and no traffic will start.
- Duplicate URLs or pages going to the same content are not allowed, unless targeted to a different set of people. Changing a tracking code in a URL that still goes to the same content does not constitute a new and unique URL and will be considered duplicate content.
- Pages may not be materially altered after being approved in a manner that violates any of the StumbleUpon guidelines. Pages may be removed after being approved if they are modified to violate any guideline, or if they receive excessive negative feedback or are flagged as profane, adult or contains errors.
Language and Content
Pages may not contain, or link to pages that contain:
- Excessive use of capitalization, large, red or multi colored font, bold text, punctuation, large arrows indicating where to click or submit information. Examples here.
- Mostly ad content above the fold.
- Paraphernalia. Informational sites may be acceptable.
- Advertising is not permitted for websites selling counterfeit goods.
- Alcohol, unless targeted to users 21 and above.
- Uncertified pharmaceutical products, body enhancement products, weight loss products, health or cosmetic products or services that make unrealistic or unsubstantiated claims, or miracle cures.
- Bodybuilding products (such as anabolic steroids, muscle-enhancing stacks and cycles, bodybuilding steroid supplements, and related content) or services regardless of advertiser’s claims of legality.
- Beta invites with limited or restricted sign-up as not all users eligible to discover site.
- Time sensitive offers or use decreasing countdown clocks.
- Claims unverified by a reputable third party. This includes any messaging such as: make money now, secrets to success, guaranteed revenue, 100% commission, #1 best seller, get out of debt, etc.
- Incentives to click on the ad, to submit personal information (cell phone numbers, social security numbers, physical addresses, or email addresses), or any other tasks.
- Ezinearticles.com. Content from ezinearticles.com does not perform well in our community. Therefore, we are no longer accepting ezinearticles.com content.
StumbleUpon References
- Pages are not permitted to refer to StumbleUpon, its site or brand in any manner, including the title, body, images or URL with the only exception being StumbleUpon Tools & Buttons located at: http://www.stumbleupon.com/buttons.php
- Pages must not use StumbleUpon logos and trademarks with the only exception being StumbleUpon Tools & Buttons located at: http://www.stumbleupon.com/buttons.php
- Pages specifically targeting StumbleUpon users are not permitted including time sensitive offers or promotions directed at StumbleUpon users. This includes StumbleUpon Thumbs Up Plug-ins such as, “Welcome StumbleUpon User, please thumb up my page!”.
Prices, Discounts and Free Offers
- Do not promote deceptive or fraudulent offers.
- If any page includes a price, discount, or ‘free’ offer, the URL for the ad must link to a page that clearly and accurately offers the exact deal the ad has displayed.
- If any page includes a price, discount, or ‘free’ offer, the advertisement must clearly state what action or set of actions is required to qualify for the offer.
Copyrights and Trademarks
- In both ad text, video and image, you must not include any content that may be deemed as infringing upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary right, or that is deceptive or fraudulent.
- Advertiser must have intellectual property rights to the creative and be permitted to display such creative as advertising on the StumbleUpon Site.
Downloads
Ad pages (or links within the ad page) cannot:
- Collect demographic and usage information from a user’s computer without the user’s express consent
- Collect or request usernames or passwords
- Proxy user names or passwords for the purpose of automating logins to the StumbleUpon site
- Link to viruses, trojans, spyware, or malware
Contain or distribute any software that:
- “sneaks” onto a user’s system and performs activities hidden to the user
- may alter, harm, disable or replace any hardware or software installed on users’ computers without express permission from users
- is bundled as a hidden component of other software whether free or for fee
- automatically downloads without StumbleUpon’s express prior approval
- presents any download dialog boxes without a user’s express action, or
- may violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, patent or any other proprietary right.