Rules for placing advertisements in communities
Latest version: 18.10.2022
1. An advertisement (text, attached images, audio and video materials) must comply with the Terms of Use of the VK website, the Rules for Competitions and applicable law, in particular the law on advertising.
2. The advertisement must comply with the formatting guidelines:
3. On the VK website, it is forbidden to advertise:
4. For advertising of certain types of goods (services, jobs), among other requirements of the applicable law, the following restrictions apply:
When advertising printed, audiovisual products, mass media products, computer programs and databases, entertainment events and in other cases provided for by applicable law - the indication should be a number with a plus (for example, "18+") or a phrase (for example, "for persons over 18 years old") depending on the category of the advertised products.
5. Substitution of the content of the landing page to something contrary to the Rules (including by setting a redirect or in any other way) after moderation is prohibited. In case of violation of the prohibition established in this clause, the VK Administration reserves the right to unconditionally block the advertiser's personal account, as well as to issue a fine in the amount of up to 100,000 (one hundred thousand) rubles, depending on the nature and degree of the violation, by direct debiting of funds from the advertiser’s personal account.
6. By placing an advertising post, you unconditionally accept the terms of the Engagement Agreement.
7. The administration reserves the right to refuse to place any advertising post without explanation.
8. Payment rules for placing an advertising post in communities:
When sending an application for placing an advertising post in the community, an amount equal to the cost of placing an advertising post is blocked in the budget in the advertising account. The blocked amount is debited from the budget of the advertising account after the successful placement of the advertisement, in other cases it is returned to the budget of the advertising account. A successful placement is considered hosting a post in the community for 24 hours. After this period, the promotional post may be removed from the community.
VK Administration has the right to make changes and / or additions to these Rules unilaterally without any special notice. These Rules are an open and public document. The current version of these Rules is located on the Internet at: https://vk.com/adsmarket?act=office_help&union_id=2002727542&terms
Notes
[1] – potable ethyl alcohol, spirits (including vodka), wine (including natural wine); beer and drinks made on its basis.
[2] - tobacco, raw materials for the manufacturing of tobacco products, tobacco products in general, as well as various types of tobacco products, such as smoking articles - cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos (cigarites), mouthpiece cigarettes, hookah tobacco, smoking tobacco, incl. finely cut, shag - rolling tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidi, kretek, as well as smokeless tobacco products - dipping tobacco (snus), chewing tobacco, snuff, naswar; other tobacco products, various ingredients of tobacco products.
[3] - smoking accessories, incl. electronic cigarettes, vaping devices (vapes, etc.), pipes, hookahs, lighters and other similar products; non-tobacco materials that give the tobacco product the characteristics, features and shape specified by the manufacturer - cigarette, rim and mouthpiece paper, wrapping paper for filters (ficella), filter material, adhesives, ink, wrapping material for a portion of dipping tobacco (snus).
[4] - among other things: licenses; certificates of conformity and registration certificates; documents confirming the qualification of a specialist; certificate of registration of a legal entity / individual entrepreneur, charter of the organization, extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities; documents confirming the rights to the results of intellectual activity; documents confirming the legitimacy of using the image of citizens; documents confirming permission to organize and conduct lotteries.
[5] - among other things: in cases where unverified, dubious goods, jobs or services are advertised, including the services of psychics, healers (without an appropriate diploma), clairvoyants, fortune tellers, "black" and "white" magicians , the so-called "financial pyramids" and mutual aid funds; when advertising contains links to dubious sites, contains unsupported guarantees, promises, including promises of “quick money”, “weight loss without effort”; advertising negatively affects or risks to affect the mental state of users, or attracts the interest of users to the object of advertising with similar properties; advertising can potentially violate the rights, cause harm or threaten the safety of users, according to the personal opinion of the Administration.
1. An advertisement (text, attached images, audio and video materials) must comply with the Terms of Use of the VK website, the Rules for Competitions and applicable law, in particular the law on advertising.
2. The advertisement must comply with the formatting guidelines:
- 2.1. The norms of the Russian language (or other language which is used in advertisement).
- 2.2. Rules for using punctuation marks and special characters. Spaces must be placed between words and after punctuation marks. (Allowed: “Petya + Masha = Love!”, “Pandas, wolves, foxes. All kinds of soft toys!” Not allowed: "==++ Sale!!!!!!++==", "Pandas, wolves, foxes. All_kinds_of_soft_toys!").
- 2.3. Capitalization rules. Capital letters are used at the beginning of each new sentence and when writing proper names. Words written entirely in capital letters are allowed in case they are well-known abbreviations or registered trademarks. A scanned copy of the trademark registration certificate must be sent to Support. (Allowed: CASCO, UFNS. Not allowed: "SALE", "Sale of Washing Machines", "DiScOuNts").
- 2.4. The text of the advertisement must not contain special characters or emoji.
- 2.5. Image in advertisement:
- 2.5.1. Must be high quality. When using text in an image, it is important to avoid intrusive, annoying inscriptions on a bright background, and to pay attention to the readability and clarity of the inscriptions, the text must not cover more than 20% of the image.
- 2.5.2. Must not contain explicit, frightening or aesthetically unacceptable images (including naked or provocatively dressed people, diseases, injuries, disasters, etc.), as well as images of alcohol (including beer) or tobacco products or the process of using such products. This rule also applies to video ads, with the possible exception of movie trailers, subject to appropriate targeting.
- 2.5.3. Must not contain logos or other attributes of competing companies.
- 2.5.4. Must not contain images of banknotes.
- 2.5.5. Must not contain aggressive colors and their combinations.
- 2.5.6. Must not draw attention to negative details.
- 2.5.7. Must not contain sexual subtext.
- 2.5.8. In case of advertising cosmetic or other medical procedures, there should be no "before" and "after” comparison. Video demonstration is also not allowed.
- 2.5.9. Must be easy to read; the image should not consist of several pictures merged together.
- 2.5.10. The text in the image should follow the capitalization rules. An exception may be a 2-5 word slogan or the text containing well-known abbreviations and registered trademarks.
- 2.6. The text and image in the advertising post must correspond to the content of the landing page.
- 2.7. It is forbidden to use offensive and obscene language, as well as the to mention tragic events (for example: murder, death, terrorist attack, funeral). This rule also applies to video ads, with the possible exception of movie trailers, subject to appropriate targeting.
- 2.8. It is forbidden to imitate interface elements that mislead users about the possibility to perform certain actions (for example: pressing a button, ticking).
- 2.9. Incorrect comparisons with goods and services provided by other companies are not allowed.
- 2.10. An advertising post must not contain direct mentions of the name, age or other personal characteristics of users, as well as information about sexual orientation, financial status, beliefs and other personal data (for example, “Are you 25?”, “Anna, only for you!”)
- 2.11. An advertising post must not contain links that automatically redirects users from one site to another.
3. On the VK website, it is forbidden to advertise:
- 3.1. Sites that collect personal data and / or contact information (including phone numbers, email addresses), without explaining the purpose and / or consent to the processing of personal data.
- 3.2. Activities prohibited by the VK administration, incl. hacking pages, promoting communities and applications, as well as artificially increasing the indicators of the “Like” counters using any programs, automated scripts, the functionality of your own account, or on behalf of other users; spam mailings.
- 3.3. Goods and services for adults: pornographic materials, intimate goods, escort services, services aimed at finding partners who provide services of an intimate nature, as well as intimate trainings and seduction trainings (including pickup).
- 3.4. "Digital drugs" and smoking blends, salts, poppers, laughing gases and any psychotropic substances.
- 3.5. Any alcohol [1] (including beer) and tobacco products [2], smoking accessories (including electronic cigarettes) [3], as well as VK applications and communities that advertise such products.
- 3.6. Medical services for artificial termination of pregnancy.
- 3.7. Anabolic steroids, other drugs, specialty food products influencing muscle growth, the effect of which is similar to that of steroids.
- 3.8. Military products and weapons (hand-held small combat arms and bladed weapons, service and civilian weapons, including self-defence, weapons, sports weapons with a muzzle energy exceeding 3 joules, hunting and signal weapons). If confirming documents are available, it is allowed to advertise products that are structurally similar to weapons, but are not weapons (documents can be sent to Support).
- 3.9. Games based on risk and betting, incl. gambling, as well as products / services, the content of which is associated with them.
- 3.10 Sites, as well as communities and applications that encourage illegal actions and actions that call for violence and cruelty, promotes hatred, as well as contains discriminatory or disparaging statements about a person or group of people on the basis of gender, race, nationality, profession, social group, age, language, origin, religion, as well as on other grounds on which systematic discrimination is possible.
- 3.11. Sites, as well as communities and applications aimed at oppression, intimidation, harassment of a person or a group of people.
- 3.12. Sites, as well as communities and applications that encourage causing physical or mental harm to yourself or others.
- 3.13. Sites and communities that host advertisements that do not comply with clauses. 1, 3.1.–3.12. of these Rules.
- 3.14. It is prohibited to host advertising containing political appeals and (or) campaigning, comparison of political ideas and movements, symbols of political ideas and movements, description of political activities (for example, advertising websites of deputies, political figures or officials, promoting rallies, demonstrations, processions, pickets, etc.). An exception may be election campaigns on the territory of the Russian Federation, provided that all requirements are met.
4. For advertising of certain types of goods (services, jobs), among other requirements of the applicable law, the following restrictions apply:
- 4.1. Advertising of medicines, medical equipment, medical devices and medical services, including treatment methods, requires mandatory indication of information about the presence of contraindications and the need for prior consultation with a specialist in the text of the advertising post (for example, “There are contraindications. Specialist consultation is necessary). Advertising of these goods and services is allowed if all the necessary documents are available; the documents must first be sent to Support.
- 4.2. Advertising of baby food requires mandatory indication of information about the need for prior consultation with a specialist in the text of the advertising post (for example, “Specialist consultation is necessary”). Advertising of these goods and services is allowed if all the necessary documents are available; the documents must first be sent to Support.
- 4.3. Advertising of dietary supplements requires mandatory indication of information that the object of advertising is not a medicine in the text of the advertising post (for example, “dietary supplement. It is not a medicine.” Advertising of these goods and services is allowed if all the necessary documents are available; the documents must first be sent to Support.
- 4.4. Advertising of the results of intellectual activity is permitted only if there are relevant documents confirming the rights to use the results of intellectual activity. Documents and a link to the advertising post can be sent to Support.
- 4.5. VK Administration has the right to request the relevant documents for any goods and services [4]. Documents can be sent to Support.
- 4.6. The text of the advertising post must indicate information about age restrictions:
When advertising printed, audiovisual products, mass media products, computer programs and databases, entertainment events and in other cases provided for by applicable law - the indication should be a number with a plus (for example, "18+") or a phrase (for example, "for persons over 18 years old") depending on the category of the advertised products.
- 4.7. Advertising the services of astrologers is allowed only if there is a relevant link to a page exclusively offering services of an astrological nature, which does not contain a link to services, the advertising of which is contrary to these Rules, in particular, clauses 3.1, [5], etc.
- 4.8. Dating services may be advertised if the requirements for the advertising entry and the object of advertising are met. At the same time, VK Administration reserves the right to refuse to place advertisements for dating services in case of inconsistency with the aesthetic views and beliefs of the company.
5. Substitution of the content of the landing page to something contrary to the Rules (including by setting a redirect or in any other way) after moderation is prohibited. In case of violation of the prohibition established in this clause, the VK Administration reserves the right to unconditionally block the advertiser's personal account, as well as to issue a fine in the amount of up to 100,000 (one hundred thousand) rubles, depending on the nature and degree of the violation, by direct debiting of funds from the advertiser’s personal account.
6. By placing an advertising post, you unconditionally accept the terms of the Engagement Agreement.
7. The administration reserves the right to refuse to place any advertising post without explanation.
8. Payment rules for placing an advertising post in communities:
When sending an application for placing an advertising post in the community, an amount equal to the cost of placing an advertising post is blocked in the budget in the advertising account. The blocked amount is debited from the budget of the advertising account after the successful placement of the advertisement, in other cases it is returned to the budget of the advertising account. A successful placement is considered hosting a post in the community for 24 hours. After this period, the promotional post may be removed from the community.
VK Administration has the right to make changes and / or additions to these Rules unilaterally without any special notice. These Rules are an open and public document. The current version of these Rules is located on the Internet at: https://vk.com/adsmarket?act=office_help&union_id=2002727542&terms
Notes
[1] – potable ethyl alcohol, spirits (including vodka), wine (including natural wine); beer and drinks made on its basis.
[2] - tobacco, raw materials for the manufacturing of tobacco products, tobacco products in general, as well as various types of tobacco products, such as smoking articles - cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos (cigarites), mouthpiece cigarettes, hookah tobacco, smoking tobacco, incl. finely cut, shag - rolling tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidi, kretek, as well as smokeless tobacco products - dipping tobacco (snus), chewing tobacco, snuff, naswar; other tobacco products, various ingredients of tobacco products.
[3] - smoking accessories, incl. electronic cigarettes, vaping devices (vapes, etc.), pipes, hookahs, lighters and other similar products; non-tobacco materials that give the tobacco product the characteristics, features and shape specified by the manufacturer - cigarette, rim and mouthpiece paper, wrapping paper for filters (ficella), filter material, adhesives, ink, wrapping material for a portion of dipping tobacco (snus).
[4] - among other things: licenses; certificates of conformity and registration certificates; documents confirming the qualification of a specialist; certificate of registration of a legal entity / individual entrepreneur, charter of the organization, extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities; documents confirming the rights to the results of intellectual activity; documents confirming the legitimacy of using the image of citizens; documents confirming permission to organize and conduct lotteries.
[5] - among other things: in cases where unverified, dubious goods, jobs or services are advertised, including the services of psychics, healers (without an appropriate diploma), clairvoyants, fortune tellers, "black" and "white" magicians , the so-called "financial pyramids" and mutual aid funds; when advertising contains links to dubious sites, contains unsupported guarantees, promises, including promises of “quick money”, “weight loss without effort”; advertising negatively affects or risks to affect the mental state of users, or attracts the interest of users to the object of advertising with similar properties; advertising can potentially violate the rights, cause harm or threaten the safety of users, according to the personal opinion of the Administration.