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Genius Eye News — Advertising Policy

Draft for attorney review. This document has not been approved by a licensed attorney and is not yet in force.

Effective date: [DATE OF LAUNCH] Last updated: [DATE OF LAUNCH]

This Advertising Policy applies to every paid placement on Genius Eye News — display ads, city-edition takeovers, sponsored articles, show sponsorships, newsletter ads, promoted classified listings, and house ads for our affiliated companies. It is part of our Terms of Use. Political and issue ads are also governed by our Political Advertising Policy. Promoted classified listings must also follow our Classifieds Rules.

Genius Eye News is operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] (d/b/a TRG Tech Link). "We" means Genius Eye News; "you" means the advertiser and anyone placing ads on its behalf (agencies are jointly responsible with their clients).

1. Core principles

  1. Readers must always be able to tell news from advertising. An ad is deceptive if its format misleads people about its commercial nature or its source (FTC Act § 5, 15 U.S.C. § 45; FTC Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements (2015) and Native Advertising: A Guide for Businesses).
  2. Advertisers do not buy news coverage. Advertisers have no input into what our newsroom covers or how. Our automated newsroom systems do not receive advertiser lists, spend, or campaign data, and editors do not review news stories with advertisers. Buying an ad never buys a story, a correction, a removal, or favorable World Watch scoring.
  3. Ads must be truthful, substantiated, and lawful in every place they are shown. You are responsible for your ad's content, claims, landing page, and compliance with law.
  4. We decide what runs. Every ad is screened automatically and may be reviewed by a person. We may reject, pause, or remove any ad at any time, including ads that comply with this policy but that we judge harmful to readers.

2. Labeling requirements (all formats)

Format Required label Additional rules
Display / banner / takeover "Advertisement" or "Ad" marker on or adjacent to the unit Takeovers may restyle page chrome but may not alter, hide, or imitate news headlines or the Genius Eye News masthead
Sponsored article "Sponsored" label above the headline, in the same place on every surface where the headline appears (homepage, section fronts, city editions, search, newsletters, social posts, RSS) plus "Paid for by [Advertiser]" at the top of the article Visually distinct template (different background/border); URL path /sponsored/; no newsroom byline, no "Genius Eye News staff" or digital-anchor attribution; not placed in news-story slots without the label; not marked "Breaking," "Alert," or "Developing"
Show sponsorship "Presented by [Sponsor]" or "Sponsored by [Sponsor]" at the start of the segment and on the show page Sponsors do not script, review, or approve news segments. A sponsor's message read by a digital anchor or synthetic voice is labeled "Sponsor message" on screen
Newsletter ad "Sponsored" or "Advertisement" Separated from editorial items
Promoted classified listing "Promoted" Same Classifieds Rules apply
House ad for an affiliated company "From the Genius Eye family of companies" See Section 4
Political / issue ad "Political Ad" plus the legally required "Paid for by" disclaimer See Political Advertising Policy

Labels must be clear and conspicuous: legible size, high contrast, not hidden behind a hover or click, and in the same language as the ad. Terms like "Partner content," "Presented by," or "Brought to you by" alone are not sufficient for sponsored articles; "Sponsored" is required.

Sponsored articles — who writes them. Sponsored articles are written by the advertiser or by our commercial team, never by the newsroom. If automation is used to help draft or format a sponsored article, that is disclosed in the article footer consistent with our How We Use Automation page. Sponsored content must not present itself as independent reporting, use fake datelines, or cite Genius Eye News as having "reported" anything.

3. Endorsements, testimonials, and reviews

You must follow the FTC's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 C.F.R. Part 255 (revised 2023), and the FTC Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 C.F.R. Part 465:

  • Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions and actual experience of the endorser.
  • Any material connection between you and an endorser (payment, free product, employment, family relationship) must be clearly disclosed.
  • Testimonials that are not representative of typical results must clearly disclose what results consumers can generally expect.
  • No fake, purchased, or AI-generated reviews or testimonials, and no testimonials from people who do not exist.
  • No suppressing or cherry-picking reviews in a way that misrepresents overall sentiment.
  • No AI-generated or digitally altered likeness or voice of a real person (celebrity, public official, journalist, or private individual) unless you have that person's written consent, the use is clearly labeled, and it complies with right-of-publicity laws and synthetic-performer disclosure laws such as N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 396-b (in effect June 2026). Fully synthetic performers must be disclosed as such where required.
  • No ads that imply endorsement by Genius Eye News, our digital anchors, or our newsroom.

4. House ads for affiliated companies

Genius Eye News is owned by the same group as other businesses (for example, Flip Master Lending and TRGPay). Ads for these companies:

  1. Always carry the label "From the Genius Eye family of companies" (this discloses the material connection to readers).
  2. Follow every rule in this policy, including the financial-services rules in Section 6, with no exceptions for affiliates.
  3. Do not use reader data from Genius Eye News for targeting beyond the page context and city edition (see Privacy Policy).
  4. Never appear inside or adjacent to a news story about that same affiliated company.

News coverage of affiliates. If our newsroom publishes a story that mentions an affiliated company, the story will include a disclosure such as: "[Company] is affiliated with [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], which owns Genius Eye News."

5. Prohibited advertising

We do not accept ads that:

  1. Are false, misleading, or unsubstantiated, or use deceptive pricing, hidden fees, or bait-and-switch offers.
  2. Imitate news or official alerts — fake "breaking news," fake headlines about real people, mock weather or emergency alerts, fake system/virus warnings, or anything mimicking the Genius Eye News masthead, NWS/FEMA alerts, or World Watch alerts.
  3. Discriminate, or express a preference or limitation, based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, disability, familial status, age, or other protected class — especially in housing (Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c)), employment (Title VII § 704(b), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(b); ADEA, 29 U.S.C. § 623(e)), or credit (Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691; Regulation B, 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4(b)) ads.
  4. Promote illegal products or services, or legal products in places where they are illegal.
  5. Promote tobacco, nicotine, vaping or e-cigarette products; cannabis, THC (including hemp-derived intoxicating products), or drug paraphernalia; recreational drugs.
  6. Promote firearms, ammunition, firearm parts, explosives, or weapons (firearms-safety training and licensed-range ads may be considered case by case).
  7. Promote adult sexual content, escort services, or "dating" services that are fronts for commercial sex (see 18 U.S.C. § 2421A).
  8. Offer payday loans, auto-title loans, or other consumer loans with an APR above 36%, or loans that require repayment in full within 60 days.
  9. Offer debt-relief or credit-repair services that charge fees before services are performed (Credit Repair Organizations Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1679b(b); FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4(a)(5)).
  10. Offer get-rich-quick schemes, multilevel marketing recruiting, binary options, "guaranteed returns," unregistered securities, initial coin offerings, or crypto "arbitrage"/yield programs.
  11. Make prohibited health claims — "cures," weight-loss claims without competent and reliable scientific evidence (FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance, 2022), unapproved drugs, or prescription drugs (except licensed, certified pharmacies with prior approval).
  12. Use another party's trademarks or copyrighted material without permission, or sell counterfeit goods.
  13. Contain malware, cryptominers, auto-redirects, auto-playing audio, or deceptive download buttons, or that fingerprint users or collect personal data without disclosure.
  14. Target or are directed to children under 13.
  15. Contain hate speech, harassment, graphic violence, or content that exploits tragedies, disasters, or crises (including selling products by exploiting hurricane or emergency fear).
  16. Promote gambling, except state-licensed operators running ads only in states where their product is lawful, to users 21+, with responsible-gaming messaging and prior approval.
  17. Solicit personal financial information (Social Security numbers, bank logins) in the ad itself.

6. Restricted categories (prior approval required)

a. Credit and lending ads (including affiliate Flip Master Lending)

[Licensed attorney review required before any lending ad runs.]

  1. Business-purpose vs. consumer credit. Most Flip Master Lending products are business-purpose real-estate investment loans. Credit extended primarily for business, commercial, or agricultural purposes is generally exempt from the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z (12 C.F.R. § 1026.3(a)). Business-purpose lending ads must say so clearly (e.g., "Business-purpose loans for real estate investors only. Not available for personal, family, or household purposes.").
  2. Consumer credit ads must follow Regulation Z advertising rules (12 C.F.R. § 1026.24 for closed-end credit; § 1026.16 for open-end credit):
    • Only advertise terms that are actually available (§ 1026.24(a)).
    • Any rate must be stated as an "annual percentage rate" using that term (and, if it may increase after consummation, that fact). A simple interest rate may be shown only alongside the APR, and not more conspicuously (§ 1026.24(c)).
    • Triggering terms — the amount or percentage of a down payment, the number of payments or period of repayment, the amount of any payment, or the amount of any finance charge (§ 1026.24(d)(1)) — require the ad to also state the down payment, the terms of repayment (including any balloon payment), and the APR (§ 1026.24(d)(2)).
    • Ads for credit secured by a dwelling must meet § 1026.24(f) and (i) (no misleading use of "fixed," no implying government endorsement, no misleading comparisons, etc.), and consumer mortgage ads must comply with the Mortgage Acts and Practices — Advertising Rule (Regulation N, 12 C.F.R. Part 1014).
  3. Licensing and identifiers. Lending ads must display the lender's legal name and, where required, its NMLS ID and state license numbers (e.g., "Loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Financing Law license" where applicable), and the Equal Housing Lender/Opportunity statement or logo where required for residential financing.
  4. State commercial-financing disclosure laws (e.g., California, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia have enacted commercial financing disclosure statutes) may apply to some business-purpose products. Counsel must confirm whether each advertised product is covered.
  5. No deceptive or abusive claims (Consumer Financial Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5531, 5536): no "guaranteed approval," "no credit check" unless true, "pre-approved" unless a firm offer, or minimizing of risks such as balloon payments.
  6. Fair lending. No language or imagery that expresses a preference or discourages applicants on a prohibited basis (Regulation B, 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4(b)).

b. Other restricted categories

Category Conditions
Investments, securities, trading platforms, crypto Only registered broker-dealers/advisers or legally exempt offerings; FINRA Rule 2210-compliant content for broker-dealers; risk disclosures; no "guaranteed" returns
Insurance Licensed agency or carrier; license number in ad where required
Real estate and rentals Fair Housing compliance; broker license info where state law requires
Employment / job ads and recruiting EEO compliance; pay range where required by state/local law (e.g., Cal. Lab. Code § 432.3; Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 3-304.2; D.C. Code § 32-1451 et seq.)
Alcohol Adult audiences only (21+); comply with TTB and state rules; no appeal to minors
Health, telehealth, supplements, pharmacies Substantiation on request; licensed providers; no prescription drugs without certification
Legal services Comply with applicable state bar advertising rules (e.g., N.C. Rules of Prof'l Conduct 7.1–7.3)
Charitable solicitations Registered where required (e.g., N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131F)
Contests, sweepstakes Official rules, no purchase necessary, state registrations where required (e.g., Florida and New York for prizes over $5,000)
Political and issue ads Only via the human review queue — see Political Advertising Policy

7. Landing pages and data collection

Landing pages must match the ad, load safely, identify the advertiser, and — if they collect personal information — have a privacy policy. You may not place tracking pixels, tags, or scripts on Genius Eye News pages without our written approval; approved third-party tags load only after the reader consents to advertising cookies. You may not use our ads to collect information about readers' visits to news content for resale.

8. Targeting

Self-serve targeting is limited to city edition, section, page context, time of day, and device type. We do not offer targeting by race, religion, health, sexual orientation, or other sensitive characteristics, and we do not allow housing, employment, or credit ads to be targeted or excluded by age, sex, or ZIP code as a proxy for protected characteristics. If interest-based audiences are offered through an ad partner, they apply only to readers who consented to advertising cookies.

9. Review process

  1. Automated screening of creative, text, landing page, and advertiser identity against this policy.
  2. Human review for every political/issue ad, every financial-services ad, every sponsored article, every show sponsorship, and any ad the system flags.
  3. We may ask for substantiation of claims, licenses, or proof of identity, and may hold an ad until we receive it.
  4. Approved ads may be re-reviewed at any time. Reader complaints trigger human review within [2 business days].

10. Your representations

By submitting an ad, you represent that it complies with this policy and all applicable laws; that you own or have licensed all content in it; that claims are truthful and substantiated; and that you have any licenses the advertised product or service requires. You agree to indemnify us as described in our Terms.

11. Reporting an ad

Report a misleading, offensive, or unlabeled ad to news@geniuseyenews.com with a screenshot or the page URL.

12. Contact

Advertising questions: news@geniuseyenews.com · Legal: admin@trgtechlink.com [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [MAILING ADDRESS]