Member standards
What LinkShare expects from every participating business, and how a concern is reviewed.
LinkShare is in development and is not yet accepting members. These standards describe how participation is intended to work. Review and appeal processes are not in operation until members are admitted.
Ownership verification
Before a site can display the box or be shown in it, the member proves they control it. There are three methods: a DNS TXT record, a meta tag on the home page, or a file at a well-known path on the site. A verification challenge expires, and an expired challenge must be repeated.
LinkShare checks only that the challenge is present. It does not review the quality of your products or your site.
Accurate categories
Category protection depends on honest category choices. We exclude businesses in your selling categories and the categories and businesses you block.
Choose every category that describes what you sell. Leaving out a real category weakens protection for you and for others, and a business with a missing or unmapped classification is not shown at all. Category labels cannot identify every possible competitor, which is why blocking and reporting exist.
Safe destinations
Every destination a member lists must load over HTTPS and pass health checks. A destination that fails is withheld from the box until it recovers.
Truthful descriptions
Names, categories and any description must describe the business as it operates. Do not claim endorsements, certifications or results you cannot support, and do not imply NOSA vouches for your products.
Prohibited items
The following can lead to a destination being withheld or an installation being suspended.
- Destinations that are unsafe, deceptive or that collect information under false pretenses.
- Sites that misrepresent who operates them or what they sell.
- Attempts to alter the box, remove or loosen its link attributes, or hide its disclosures.
- Attempts to bypass category protection, for example by registering under a different category set.
- Content or products that are unlawful in the markets the business serves.
Review and appeals
A member can report a category mismatch or a business that should not be shown beside them, and can ask for a decision to be reviewed. The reviewer will record a reason for each decision.
The moderation operator is not yet assigned and no review or appeal tooling is in operation. Contact details will be published before members are admitted.
Participation is voluntary
Hosting the box is never a condition of NOSA membership, and there is no reciprocal obligation. A member who sells only on a marketplace can take part as a destination, receiving referrals without displaying anything.