Content posted or requested to be posted by a Customer to the Agility Newsroom and/or via Agility's Newswire distribution channels will be subject to review by Agility against the Agility Editorial Guidelines.
Content includes content contained in a Customer News Release and any other content or materials ancillary to the Customer News Release. Agility retains sole and absolute discretion, without prior notice to Customer, to refuse to post on the Agility Newsroom and/or via Agility's Newswire distribution channels, or to remove from the Agility Newsroom and/or Newswire distribution channels at any time, any Content (i) that in Agility’s opinion does not adhere to the Editorial Guidelines; or (ii) for which there is otherwise a legitimate basis for refusal or removal.
These Editorial Guidelines form a part of Agility’s Supplemental Terms for the Newsroom and Newswire Services.
The following are illustrative examples of reasons that a News Release may be removed from, or restricted from being posted:
Missing Information
A News Release with an incomplete or misleading headline.
A News Release with incomplete, missing or lack of credible contact Information (contact name, phone number, and email address.)
A News Release lacking an attributable source.
Lack of verification of the credentials of the person submitting the release as an authorised sender for the company named as the source of the release.
Inappropriate Content, SPAM and SEO
Keyword/Ticker Spamming – News Releases with excessive or unauthorized keywords/ticker symbols or phrases in the headline and body of the News Release.
Stock Recommendations - Any News Release that discusses stock recommendations, advice or reviews.
SPAM/Advertisement Releases - Carbon copy style New Releases for the purpose of branding a company name. Content that is deemed to excessively promote the purchase of a product, including excessive links that direct readers to buy the product.
Reused and/or Copyrighted Material - Content that is not unique and original. News pieces, articles, or stories from other websites or publications will not be accepted as they may be copyrighted. Duplicate Content will also be refused if a News Release has been found to be published at an earlier date.
Blackhat SEO – New Releases that are deemed to be purposefully over optimized for SEO.
Sexually Explicit Content - Content about sexually explicit material or products. New Releases that contain references or links to explicitly sexual material, illegal material, or profane language.
Sexual Health Supplements - Content about health supplements or pharmaceuticals for sexual enhancement.
Online Pharmaceuticals/ Alternative Health Products - News Releases from online pharmacies that sell prescription drugs. New Releases containing unverified claims about a health product. Any claims about health products must have cited scientific research data behind such statements.
You may not submit releases that include unreviewed, unregulated or unsubstantiated claims for medicine, surgical treatment or devices that can prevent or cure COVID19 or any other illness or condition.Get Rich Schemes - Content about how to get rich, networking, marketing, and MLM schemes.
Coupon Codes - Content that includes information about discount websites or that contains direct coupon codes.
Streaming Video Websites - News Releases that promote the streaming of video content from premium and television channels without authorization.
Payday Loans - New Releases discussing payday loan services.
Gambling – News Releases that discuss gambling .
April Fools’ releases - You may not submit any April Fools’ Day copy, particularly if there is an intent to fool media and readers into believing the content is real news.
Cryptocurrency - You may not submit any crypto-currency related content that is designed to scam, trick, or deceive users into investing in either real or fraudulent digital currencies.
Opinion, Tone and Quality of Content
Political Opinion - Content entailing political opinion or oversight that is not balanced, lacks a professional tone or is inaccurate.
Poor Writing Quality - Content that is poorly written, including poor grammar or spelling.
Personal Opinions - Content intended to harm or defame a person or group.
Allegations of wrongdoing - You may not submit content that includes allegations of crime, immoral, or unethical actions, financial irresponsibility or professional misconduct.
Opinions Considered Defamatory or With Intent to Harm - Content deemed intended to: incite, advocate or express hatred, bigotry, racism or gratuitous violence; promote personal opinions attacking an individual or group; maliciously affect a company's stock; or stalk, defame, defraud, degrade, shame or victimize an individual or group.
Excessive Length – News Releases that are excessively or unnecessarily long. A standard News Release should generally contain 200-600 words.
Inaccurate, inappropriate or Broken Hyperlinks– A News Release with inaccurate, inappropriate of broken hyperlinks.
Objective Tone: Press releases should be free of hype flags and direct address (i.e. “you,” “I,” “we,” etc.) unless used within a quotation from a spokesperson from a company or organization. Direct address is a flag that the content is an advertisement rather than a news release. Similarly, hype flags — exclamation points; hyperbolic product/service claims; descriptions of a product or service as AMAZING, or the use of upper case characters to create emphasis — challenge the credibility of your news announcement.
Attribution and Accuracy
Lack of Accuracy - A News Release that is not legally and factually accurate.
Unverified Celebrity Endorsements - A News Release that includes a celebrity endorsement or mention that is submitted without verification that the celebrity mentioned is aware and approves of the Content in the New Release.
Requirement for Written Authorization – A News Release making an announcement concerning a third party (such as a partnership or joint venture) that does not include written authorization from an executive of each company mentioned.
Litigation – A News Release discussing a pending or open litigation matter. A News Release discussing a closed litigation matter that is not accompanied by proper documentation including, but not limited to, Court docket number, attributable files, etc.
Shareholder activist - You may only submit press releases related to shareholder activism, and have that release linked to the company's ticker, if the company, shareholder, group of shareholders, or investment firm owns a significant stake of the subject company's stock, typically at least 5%.