Acceptable Use & Invalid Traffic (IVT) Policy

Section 1 — Prohibited Activities

1.1. Publisher shall not engage in, facilitate, or knowingly benefit from any of the following activities:

• Bot traffic, automated clicks or impressions, click farms, incentivized traffic, misleading redirects, or falsified engagement of any kind.
• Misrepresenting traffic origin, device type, geographic location, referrer, user intent, or ad placements.
• Sharing, selling, renting, or otherwise transferring Agency Advertising Accounts or access credentials to any third party.
• Any circumvention of platform policies, Agency compliance rules, or detection mechanisms.
• Ad stacking, pixel stuffing, hidden ad impressions, or any form of impression fraud.
• Domain spoofing, URL masking, or misrepresenting the website or app where ads are displayed.
• Generating traffic through malware, adware, or unauthorized browser extensions or toolbars.

1.2. This list is not exhaustive. Agency reserves the right to determine, in its sole discretion, whether any activity violates the spirit or letter of this Policy.

Section 2 — Upstream Platform Compliance

2.1. Publisher must comply with all terms, policies, and guidelines of upstream advertising and monetization platforms utilized by Agency, including but not limited to:

• Google AdSense / Ad Manager Program Policies
• Google Publisher Policies
• Google Webmaster Guidelines
• Any other platform-specific policies applicable to the Services

2.2. These upstream policies may be amended by the respective platforms from time to time. Publisher is responsible for staying informed of and complying with the most current versions.

2.3. Publisher acknowledges that Agency's accounts and business relationships depend on strict platform compliance, and any violation by Publisher may result in immediate suspension or termination under Article 13 of the Terms of Service.

Section 3 — Monitoring & Enforcement

3.1. Agency may monitor and audit campaigns, traffic signals, performance metrics, and Publisher activity at any time, using automated systems and/or manual review.

3.2. Agency may request evidence from Publisher, including but not limited to: traffic logs, source documentation, screenshots, data exports, and third-party verification reports. Publisher shall respond to such requests within five (5) business days.

3.3. Failure to cooperate with monitoring or audit requests may result in suspension of spend, withholding of payments, or termination.

Section 4 — IVT Detection & Classification

4.1. Agency classifies invalid traffic in accordance with industry standards (including MRC/TAG guidelines) into:

• General Invalid Traffic (GIVT): traffic identified through routine filtration methods, including known bots, spiders, and data-center traffic.
• Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT): traffic requiring advanced analytics to detect, including hijacked devices, falsified user sessions, and manipulated ad serving.

4.2. Both GIVT and SIVT are subject to deduction from Publisher Earnings. Agency's classification and determination of IVT is final for settlement purposes.

Section 5 — IVT Adjustments & Clawbacks

5.1. If a monetization partner (e.g., Google) applies deductions, reversals, chargebacks, or clawbacks due to IVT or policy issues, Agency may apply the same adjustments to Publisher Earnings retroactively and recover overpayments via set-off or invoice.

5.2. Adjustments may be applied at any time after the original transaction, consistent with the timeframes imposed by the monetization partner.

5.3. Publisher is responsible for 100% of clawbacks, reversals, and penalties attributable to Publisher's traffic or activity, as further described in Article 10 of the Terms of Service.

Section 6 — Consequences of Violations

6.1. Violations of this Policy may result in any or all of the following, at Agency's sole discretion:

• Immediate suspension of campaign spend
• Withholding of pending payments
• Forfeiture of unpaid Publisher Earnings
• Application of IVT deductions and clawbacks
• Termination of the Agreement and all IOs
• Pursuit of damages and recovery of losses

6.2. Agency reserves the right to report suspected fraud or illegal activity to applicable law enforcement authorities and to retain data relevant to such investigations.