Advertising Policy

Advertising and sponsorship policy

Written by the Sharp Muscle team. July 2020.

Sharp Muscle’s mission is to be your most trusted partner in the pursuit of your health and well-being. We are committed to bringing you authoritative, acceptable, and actionable content that motivates and guides you toward the best possible health outcomes for you and your family. The content and experiences produced by Sharp Muscle are created under strict editorial and medical guidelines to ensure accuracy, currency and clarity. Sharp Muscle is funded through the sale of advertising appearing on its properties, including websites, social media, and partner publications. Be assured that we are absolutely inflexible about our editorial autonomy. In addition to input about broad subject areas, we do not allow sponsors to influence the editorial content of Sharp Muscle. In some cases, Sharp Muscle may create co-branded or branded content in partnership with our sponsors, and/or current content created by our sponsors. This material is always clearly labeled, and is detailed in below sections.

Specific guidelines we have given about the types of advertising we accept are as follows:

1. We review advertisements

We have sole discretion in determining the types of advertisements to be accepted and displayed on Sharp Muscle Property. We reserve the right to refuse, cancel, or remove any advertisement at any time and for any reason. We will provide advertisers with prompt notice upon rejection, cancellation, or removal of any advertisement with clarification. We also hold the right to determine the appropriate location of advertisements at Sharp Muscle Property.

2. We do not endorse any advertised products or services

Although products may appear on our site in the form of advertisements, under no circumstances will our acceptance of any advertisement be considered an endorsement of the product(s) and/or service(s), or endorsement of the company that Manufactures, distributes, or promotes these products. In some cases, Sharp Muscle’s editorial team may rate or rank certain products or services. These ratings or rankings are only determined by the editorial team(s) in relation to any financial or advertising relationship that may exist with companies that provide products or services.

3. We will not accept certain types of advertisements.

We will not accept any advertising that is factually inaccurate and/or, in our opinion, in poor taste. Pharmaceutical advertising is accepted only for approved indications(s) as prescribed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Advertised products should be more readily available in the market. Sharp Muscle will not, at any time, allow the placement of any advertisements for harmful, illegal or objectionable products or services. Ads must not contain deceptive, misleading, or objectionable content, including content that misrepresents, ridicules, or impersonates a person or group based on age, color, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or disability. Attacks. Advertisements should not be related to alcohol, firearms, ammunition, fireworks, gambling, pornography, tobacco, or the imitation of news or any emergency. All advertisements must clearly identify the advertiser. Any advertisement that can be misconstrued as editorial content will be clearly labeled as an advertisement.

4. We clearly distinguish advertisements from editorial content

In every instance, we maintain a definite separation between advertisements and editorial content. All advertisements for Sharp Muscle’s property are clearly and unambiguously identified in this way. Clicking on an advertisement will take the user to an advertiser’s site or to a sponsor’s resource center hosted on a Sharp Muscle property. Sponsored resource centers are labeled as such, displaying the sponsoring unit’s name.

5. We clearly differentiate between sponsored and non-sponsored content

Sharp Muscle seeks sponsorship from reliable and credible research organizations, manufacturers and other service providers. Sponsorships provide financial benefits to Sharp Muscle, but also benefit our users by providing current information on health services, medicines and treatments. An advertiser-sponsored editorial content is subject to our editorial policy and is reviewed by our editorial staff and medical affairs team. When content is provided or influenced by a designated sponsor, we take meaningful steps to ensure that our users do not confuse Sharp Muscle’s sponsored content with their original editorial content. Here are the types of sponsored content Sharp Muscle offers:

Sponsored Content:

Sponsored content refers to content created by Sharp Muscle covering a subject area that is relevant to an advertiser. Sharp Muscle has sole editorial control, and no advertiser has any input into the content beyond the broader subject area. Sponsored content will be labeled in one of like this ways: “sponsored by our partners,” “sponsored by,” “by our sponsor,” or “brought by you.”

Co-Branded Content:

This content is created in partnership with our sponsor and may contain a sponsor logo on a page, article, video, or other content. This content follows Sharp Muscle’s editorial guidelines and may include products, promotions or links on the advertiser’s site. In some cases, a portion of the content will be produced or directed by an advertiser. Co-branded content are going to be labeled with the sponsors’ logo, also because the following text: “Made in partnership with the brands name.”

Brand Page:

Sharp Muscle may host webpages that feature content created by our sponsors or advertisers. This content does not undergo editorial or medical review by Sharp Muscle, and Sharp Muscle is not responsible for providing the products or services described on these pages. These pages are hosted as an audience resource, and are not meant to be recommendations or endorsements. Brand pages are labeled: “Paid for.”

Native Advertising:

Native advertising refers to links or advertisements that link to other content. These links may direct users to other content on Sharp Muscle assets, or link to a page owned by an advertiser or sponsor. These links are displayed between the paragraphs of a Sharp Muscle article, to the right of the content page, and/or to the bottom of the page under an article or other content. In cases where these directly connect viewers with co-sponsored content, brand pages, or sponsor-owned web pages, such links will be labeled with one or more of the following: “sponsored,” or “paid for.”

Social Media Posts:

Sharp Muscle may present advertising messages, advertisements or sponsored posts in its social media channels. These ads will be labeled “#ad” and may also include “#Sponsored”, “#PartnerPromotion,” or “#HLsponsor”.

6. Affiliate Program (e-commerce link in Sharp Muscle content)

As part of the article creation process, our health and wellness editors will sometimes include links to relevant products that they think may be useful to our readers. While all products are chosen independently, we want Sharp Muscle to receive payment when you shop on the retailer’s site within 24 hours of receiving a link.

We clearly distinguish content that is part of a companion program.

Sometimes Sharp Muscle will work with products, services or organizations that align with our mission. Sharp Muscle offers these products, services, or organizations for quality and only offers what it thinks is best for our users. Sharp Muscle does not medically review the content and is not responsible for providing the products or services described on these pages. Any such partner material will be labeled with the following language, “The following is paid by our sponsor. The sponsor of this content has sole editorial control”. In instances where Sharp Muscle receives payment, when users make a purchase, or sign up for a product or service, this language may also be included, “Sharp Muscle and our partners may receive a portion of revenue If you shop using the link above”. Partner pages may include a “what is link” which takes users to a page that explains the nature or types of the partnership.

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