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Introduction
The following terms and conditions (“terms”) together with any insertion order shall form the agreement between us and an advertiser for the placement of an advertisement (“ad”) in Newsquest Media Group (“Newsquest/we/our”) printed or electronic publications, including newspapers, leaflet inserts, self-service ads, our digital properties (websites, mobile sites and social media pages) and any third party digital platform for which we have the right to sell ads. Each order will be a separate agreement and any change to this agreement must be confirmed by us in writing (which means by exchange of letter, fax or email). The placing of an order for the insertion of an ad shall amount to an acceptance of these terms and any other terms or conditions on an agency’s or advertiser’s order form or elsewhere shall not apply. An “advertiser” means any person or organisation placing or facilitating the placing of an ad on their own account or on behalf of another, including agencies and media buyers, ad networks and ad exchanges and other intermediaries. “Data law” means all applicable data protection and privacy laws, regulations and codes of practice, including the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679), the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. Words such as “personal data”, “controller” and “processing” shall have the meanings given in data law. “Ad tech” means data collecting technology such as cookies, pixels, tags, javascript, or other code, including the tags of third party service providers, for the purpose of tracking impressions and related data and/or re-targeting ads. Where the word ‘including’ is used in these terms, it shall not limit the generality of the preceding words. A reference to a statute is reference to it as amended, extended or re-enacted from time to time.
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Content
All ads must comply with our deadlines and our production and quality specifications, as published from time to time. The advertiser also confirms that the ad complies with all applicable legislation, regulations and codes of practice, including laws against discrimination on grounds of age, gender, race or religion, laws of fair trading and credit advertising and the Code of Advertising Practice supervised by the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”). We may refuse an ad before acceptance for any reason, or reject, cancel or require changes to an ad or series of ads at any time as to comply with legal, regulatory or moral obligations placed on us or the advertiser; to avoid infringing the rights of a third party; or to meet our technical specifications.
We do not run content that promotes goods, services, apps or websites that either are not accessible from within the United Kingdom or require VPN access to access.
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The advertiser further confirms that: i) the publication of the ad (including content supplied by the advertiser, whether text, photos or otherwise) will not breach any contract, infringe the copyright, trademark or other right of any third party and is not libellous of any person; ii) all licences and consents from third parties necessary for the publication of the ad have been obtained and paid for, including licences for third party copyright content and consents from living persons identified in ad content; iii) in respect of an investment ad, the content has been approved by, or the advertiser is, an authorised person within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”) as amended or the ad is otherwise permitted under the FSMA; and iv) in respect of an ad offering credit, the content complies with the FSMA and the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
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In relation to solutions such as Bespoke Commercial Content, Listicles and content partnerships billed as "Client Digital Services" or "Digital PR" as a trusted news platform it is vital that we monitor our domain authority and page authority with search engines. In doing so we ensure that our platforms are highly ranked and provide visibility of trusted news through search engines. We also balance the publishing of commercial content in and around our news agenda to provide a link between businesses and organisations with our audiences.
- We will track commercial content article ID's in our search console and take action if;
- a. It is flagged by Google for manual or automated action of flagging certain content in relation to its relevance or links it contains.
- b. For any reason an error occurs and articles contain and prohibited links in relation to Google's policy.
- c. Significate concerns are raised by our audiences in relation to the content.
In such instances we may take action such as;
1. Deindexing the content.
2. Removing the content from our sites.
3. Refusing to publish any future content.
If such action is taken we take the right to refuse refund of any revenue for articles that have already been published and content providers, their affiliates or agencies agree to these terms on order confirmation.
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Payment
No ad will be accepted unless paid for in full at the time of booking or credit has been agreed. The price shall be the amount fixed by our published rate card on the date of acceptance of the order, unless otherwise agreed, plus VAT where applicable. We will not publish an ad for which payment has not been received on time but the advertiser will remain liable. Interest will be charged on late payments pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at the rate of 8% above the Bank of England’s base lending rate from the date payment is due together with the reasonable administration costs of collecting an overdue debt, plus an administration charge of £30 for any cheque not met upon presentation, or for any unmet direct debit (and this charge may vary at any time without notice).
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We will try to give notice of increases, but we reserve the right to change our advertising rates at any time. This will not affect existing contracts, including any fixed term agreement for a series of ads. The advertiser accepts that advertising rates are subject to a levy (currently 0.1%), payable by advertisers to help finance the work of the ASA.
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For credit customers, we may carry out credit searches with specialist agencies. Our search may be recorded and shown on subsequent searches. We will use the information from these searches to make decisions about credit, prevent fraud or trace debtors. All credit accounts must be paid by the 20th day of the month following the invoice date.
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Agencies
By placing an order, a media agency confirms that: i) it contracts as principal with full authority from its client in all matters connected with the order; ii) it is responsible for all payments due; and iii) (without prejudice to ii) above or our rights and remedies under these terms or general law) grants to us the right of subrogation of all and any debts owed to it by its client in relation to the relevant ad order. Rates of agency commission will be the subject of separate written agreement. All agency credit accounts must be paid by the 20th day of the month following the invoice date. We may reject ad orders from any agency which is not a party to a recognition agreement with us and we may require personal guarantee from the directors or any other person on behalf of a recognised agency in respect of any unsatisfied liabilities of the agency in the event of the agency’s liquidation or insolvency.
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Box Numbers
We will use reasonable efforts to forward replies to box numbers within a reasonable time, but we are not responsible for any failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
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Mail Order
Mail order ads will not be accepted unless and until the advertiser returns to us a Mail Order Guarantee Form, as produced by the News Media Association before the copy deadline (see #10 below). Ask us for a copy of the form.
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Cancellation
An advertiser may cancel or amend an ad by written notice to us but no later than 7 days before the date of first insertion and 28 days for a premium rate ad; (“copy deadlines”). We will then make reasonable efforts to re-sell the space. But the advertiser will still be liable for the full price if the space is not sold or for the difference if sold for less (with a deduction for any savings on preparatory work avoided). Private advertisers acting as consumers and booking remotely by telephone or online may cancel in accordance with relevant law, but no refund shall be available after preparatory work has begun unless cancellation is due to our negligence. Advertisers will be liable for the full price in any other circumstances and we will reclaim any unearned volume-based discount on an ad series or online term cancelled part-way through. An advertiser may still request deletion of an ad part-way through an online term, but shall not be entitled to any refund. If the copy is not received from the advertiser by the copy deadlines, we may substitute such alternative copy as we deem suitable but we will not be liable if the ad does not appear, and the advertiser will remain liable to make full payment for the price of the ad in an event.
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We may cancel any ad order in any medium at any time without giving cause on reasonable notice before the first or next insertion and the advertiser will be entitled to a full refund but no further remedy. We may cancel without liability: i) if the advertiser breaches these terms and the breach is not capable of remedy or it continues for seven days after we have given notice of it; ii) if we reasonably believe the advertiser is unable to pay debts or the advertiser goes or threatens to go out of business; or iii) if we decide to discontinue the relevant publication.
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We will try to satisfy an advertiser’s request regarding the date of publication and positioning of an ad, but no guarantee of date or position can be given. We have no obligation to provide evidence of publication.
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Errors
Our total liability to the advertiser in any circumstances for any error or non-publication shall be limited to a re-insertion of an ad or proportionate refund. The advertiser must check and is solely responsible for checking an ad before and after insertion and must notify us of errors within 14 days of publication. We shall not be liable: i) for an error that the advertiser has failed to notify to us in time; ii) for any error or non-publication unless caused by our negligence; or iii) for an error that, in our reasonable opinion, does not materially detract from the ad. We shall not be liable in any circumstances for losses relating to any business or public fund-raising of the advertiser, whether direct or indirect, such as lost profit, revenue, reputation or customers.
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Copyright and branding
Ads are accepted on condition that we have the right to publish and distribute them in all editions in any form or medium (including electronic media as well as print). The copyright in work or material we contribute to or re-work for an ad belongs to us. We shall take reasonable care of copy, artwork, photographs or other materials an advertiser supplies, but we shall not be liable for their loss or damage and the advertiser should take out a suitable policy of insurance. We may dispose of these materials after six months unless collected. Advertisers shall not use any trademarks or other branding of Newsquest Media Group companies without express written permission in advance.
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Self-Service Ads
We may delete or edit any ads created using the self-service ad system. Self-service advertisers are solely responsible for their ads and any activity on their self-service account. (Your attention is drawn to the general indemnity in #31 below.) They must regularly check their ads and notify us of any concerns or any suspected unauthorised use of an account or password, reasonably co-operating with us to resolve all issues. Requests for advertisement withdrawal must be submitted to us in writing.
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Digital advertising
Where the price of digital ads is determined by online activity, we may produce performance reports (using third party software) and such reports shall be the definitive measurement of the performance on any delivery obligations agreed between us and the advertiser, such as the number of impressions, click-throughs or page views. We give no guarantee of performance and any figures we provide shall be estimates only. Notwithstanding, where we achieve less than 90% of any minimum target agreed in a written insertion order and provided the advertiser has notified us in writing of the shortfall, we shall at our sole option and as the advertiser’s sole remedy:
- extend the delivery window of the advert for a maximum of 30 days;
- increase the number of positions the advert can be seen on the website(s);
- modify any targeting, including demographic or sectional;
- add other geographically adjacent Newsquest sites; or
- issue a credit to the advertiser pro rata in relation to actual performance for set-off against another order from the same advertiser.
If there is a dispute, we and the advertiser shall use reasonable efforts to identify and correct the inaccuracy (if any) and agree in good faith the activity during the relevant period.
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Digital ad copy must be received by us at least 48 hours before the day before the ad is due to be published. The number of impressions, click-throughs/page-views booked will be reduced on a pro rata basis for every 24 hours that the copy is late without reduction in the price.
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Subject to applicable data law , the advertiser authorises us to place our cookies and other ad tech and use it as we see fit in relation to ads to enable us to collect data about usage, viewing or clicks on content. We shall own such collected first party data and all rights therein.
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An advertiser wishing to place its own ad tech on our users’ devices or deploy it otherwise in connection with the advertising must obtain our approval before booking an ad and provide all information and comply with data law and all conditions as we may reasonably require.. The advertiser shall be the controller of all data so obtained. Our role in relation to the placing of such ad tech is as joint controller but shall be limited to: i) facilitating the placing of the advertiser’s ad tech through our digital properties by coding directly on the advertiser’s behalf, or via a delivery mechanism of a tag management solution, or its delivery via an ad server; ii) making available to users of our digital properties such notices (including a privacy policy and cookie policy) and mechanisms as may be necessary in data law for obtaining and communicating consent to placing ad tech and establishing and recording a fair and lawful basis of processing of personal data; ii) keeping an audit trail of those consents where required in law; and iv) giving the advertiser all assistance as it may reasonably require to enable it to meet its obligations in data law as controller of personal data. The advertiser shall give us all assistance as we may reasonably require to meet our obligations in data law, including all such information about the means and purposes of its processing of data as we may require to disclose to our users.
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Where agreed, we may use cookies to track browsing activity of users and retarget an ad to selected third party platforms where inventory is made available to us (“audience extension”). The advertiser must give us written notice in advance of any insertion order of particular websites where it does not wish its ad to appear or the type of content with which it does not wish its ad to be associated and we will then use reasonable efforts to comply. However, the advertiser acknowledges that the nature of audience extension and our use of sub-contractors to provide the services means that we cannot guarantee where the ad will appear or with what content. On request from an advertiser, we will ask a third party platform to remove an ad.
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If an advertiser obtains an ad service from us (including audience extension) that entails our setting ad tech on the devices of users of the advertiser’s digital properties (including for the purposes of analysing usage, storing collected data and serving segmented or personalised ads and content), the advertiser confirms that it shall be joint data controller and undertakes to: i) comply generally with data law; ii) make available to its users such notices (including a privacy policy and cookie policy) and mechanisms as may be necessary in data law for obtaining consent from users to our placing ad tech and establishing and recording a fair and lawful basis of collecting and processing of personal data for the intended purposes; iii) keep an audit trail of those consents where required in law; and iv) giving us all reasonable assistance to enable us to meet our obligations in data law as controller of personal data. A user’s consent will be presumed if the advertiser does not signal to us otherwise. We will use the data collected by this ad tech only for the advertiser’s ad campaign and give all assistance as the advertiser may reasonably require to enable it to meet its obligations in data law (including information about the means and purposes of our data processing). Unless the advertiser has agreed otherwise in advance, we will not: i) share the collected data with any third party (except a sub-contractor helping us provide the service); or ii) combine the data with information collected from other sources.
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You confirm that any digital ad materials you supply will comply with such format and other specifications we may require and will not damage, interfere with or disrupt access to our or any third party’s digital network or do anything which may interrupt or impair its functionality. No hyperlinks or metatags may be included in a digital ad unless we have agreed in writing and in no circumstances shall there be a link to content prohibited in ads by these terms. We shall try to maintain continuity of online services if we reasonably can (including self-service ad systems and third-party platforms), but we give no warranty that they will be free from interruption and they may be suspended for maintenance or other reasons from time to time.
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The advertiser confirms that any landing page on a site linked to from an advertisement will: i) comply with the standards and conditions set out in clause 2 and 3 of these terms; ii) be free from malicious software and not cause an adverse effect on the operation of our digital properties, and iii) have a conspicuous privacy policy which complies with data law.
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Inserts
An insert order is only accepted when the advertiser’s sample has been approved by us. We shall not be liable to insert non-conforming inserts or inserts not delivered by any deadline specified by us but the advertiser shall remain liable for the full charges. All insert orders should allow for 1% wastage (or else part of the ordered quantity may be used as waste and the advertiser will still be liable for the full charges). Short deliveries of inserts will be billed at full quantity rates. Excess quantities will be destroyed. Our print-runs are estimates only. We will issue a credit for set-off against another order from the same advertiser where a print-run is less than 95% of any written estimate given, such credit being an amount of the invoice value proportionate to the print-run shortfall in excess of 5%, subject to a maximum credit of 10%.
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Data protection
Advertisers placing an order with us consent to the following: i) communications with us may be monitored or recorded for administrative or training purposes; ii) we may use information supplied by an advertiser for administration, marketing, credit scoring, customer services and profiling purchasing preferences and we may retain it for a reasonable time to do so; iii) we may share this information for similar purposes with other companies in Newsquest Media Group and we may contact the advertiser by any means of communication about our own similar goods or services unless you ask us not to by contacting [email protected]; iv) we may make enquiry and share advertiser information with credit reference agencies , who may keep it and share it with other parties; v) where required or permitted by law, we may disclose detail of advertisers to the police, trading standards or any other relevant authority or third party with a proper interest in receiving it. Further detail is given in our Privacy Policy (which may be found here) and forms part of these terms)
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The terms of the Standard Data Processing Addendum (which can be found here) shall apply as between Newsquest and an advertiser in respect of any processing of personal data in connection with an ad agreement.
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General
We shall not be liable if our publishing activities are restricted or prevented by any law, act or event beyond our reasonable control (including for example power cuts, equipment failure or industrial disputes). In such case, the advertiser shall accept publication when available or otherwise may cancel the order by written notice and pay only for work done and materials used.
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Our delay or failure to enforce or our waiver of any of our rights under these terms on any occasion shall not restrict the exercise or enforceability of such rights in the future.
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These terms together with any insertion order and other document referred to in the terms are the entire agreement between the advertiser and us. All other terms and conditions are excluded and void to the extent permitted by law. Nothing in these terms shall give any right or benefit under the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to any person who is not a party to it, except a company in the Newsquest Media Group. If any term is is found to be invalid by any court with competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of that provision will not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these terms, which shall remain in full force and effect.
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An advertiser shall not assign or otherwise deal with any of its rights or obligations under an ad sale agreement with us without obtaining our prior written consent. The ad space is for the advertiser’s use only and under no circumstances may the advertiser re-sell it to a third party. We may assign any of our rights or obligations upon written notification to the advertiser.
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Indemnity
The advertiser will be liable to pay us for all losses, damages, costs (including legal costs) and expenses of any kind suffered or incurred by us as a result of claims or actions from third parties, actual or threatened, arising from or in connection with the advertiser’s breach of these terms or the publication of an ad, unless arising from our own negligent act or failure.
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Goverance
The advertiser will be liable to pay us for all losses, damages, costs (including legal costs) and expenses of any kind suffered or incurred by us as a result of claims or actions from third parties, actual or threatened, arising from or in connection with the advertiser’s breach of these terms or the publication of an ad, unless arising from our own negligent act or failure.
Terms & Conditions of Acceptance of Advertising
Newsquest Media Group publishing services include services under the S1 Homes, S1 Cars, S1 Jobs and Exchange & Mart brands and the following group companies:
Newsquest Media Group Limited, registered in England & Wales; company number: 01676637; registered office address: 1st Floor, Chartist Tower, Upper Dock Street, Newport, Wales NP20 1DW
Newsquest Specialist Media Limited, registered in England & Wales; company number: 02231405; registered office address: 1st Floor, Chartist Tower, Upper Dock Street, Newport, Wales NP20 1DW
Newsquest (Clyde & Forth) Limited, registered in Scotland; company number: SC132609; registered office address: 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB
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