Note: The following item was last updated and went into effect on June 1, 2022.

We believe in offering our advertisers the greatest value for their dollar on Myrick Multimedia products, but we also believe that each individual business owner, marketing executive, sales representative, etc. understands the following items that we enforce for those purchasing advertising directly for any of the websites.

All of that being said, Myrick Multimedia seeks friendly relations first with all customers – no matter of size or their business – so with that in mind, we don’t want to seem harsh with a bunch of “rules and regulations.”

However, we do want to make it clear that we do not deny services to anyone based solely on sex, race, religious beliefs, or political affiliation, so long as the message in the advertisement is not in any way discriminatory toward others.

So make it easier to understand our position, we’re offering this question and answer rundown of certain guidelines of what we will and won’t allow in the form of ads, and other handy information that potential clients would want to know up front. We have put these rules in place through learning via experience, and as we continue to grow and work with new people we will likely be updating this in the months and years to come.

What is allowed for advertising?

Here’s the truth: we LOVE to sell new advertisements, but doing so also with a careful eye toward what is acceptable toward our audience being served content on a daily basis.

We follow internal editorial standards and practices developed through years of experience in the media industry to best serve advertisers and our readers. In order to maintain the level of these practices, we do reserve the right to deny advertising services to individuals and organizations who do not meet the ethical standards that we uphold within all our publications.

Usually, we have no issue with advertisements of any kind, though there are exceptions. We don’t want to be accused of allowing a snake oil salesman onto one or all of the sites to ply their wares.

We can control that via direct sales, but we don’t have complete control over the advertisements available via Google AdSense.

Thus, if you are absolutely determined to get an ad on in a category that we don’t allow, we suggest you try Google AdSense as a viable option. It probably won’t work. But you can try.

Ensuring that both customer and business don’t have to worry about inappropriate ads being served to readers on Polk Today, Paulding Today or Polk Sports Wire directly (our main properties as of the most recent update), the following categories are not welcome for ad purchases:

• Any items that seek to defame, slander, or libel an individual, group, organization, product, brand, or other example that may not be listed here at the immediate moment.
• Any items, services, or campaign that might result in potential criminal activity, such as the exploitation of user information for a company’s direct and illicit profit, theft, etc. (For example: An ad promoting users to download an app that is being sold via an app store, but provides no real utility or value for consumers once a purchase is made.)
• Contains materials that may copyrighted by a third party without their express permission or payment made for its use
• Promotion or sale of alcohol, tobacco or drugs, with the exception of local bars, restaurants, or convenience stores. Advertisements will not explicitly include the depiction of alcoholic beverages in any of the above establishments content, nor the promotion of products available to readers 21 and over.
• Promotion or sale of firearms; or any weapon that may be licensed or controlled by state and federal regulation
• Promotion or sale of material, content, items, apparel, or services for readers who are aged 18 and above (for example: we would not allow something that would be considered adult content to be included.)
• Promotion or sale of any item that would seek to entice any user that is under the age of 18 to make a purchase without their parent’s expressed permission. (I.e. – Someone trying to sell users under the age of 18 through tailored advertising a digital product such as Roblox bucks through a one-click purchase.)
• Political campaign advertisements (separate costs of advertising services and guidelines are provided for primary and general election campaigns.)
• Materials that is deemed explicit, uses language that would be deemed offensive, aggressive or exploitative in content or form by any reasonable person (for example: George Carlin’s list of 10 dirty words would be deemed completely unacceptable for use on ads on Polk Today, Paulding Today or Polk Sports Wire.)
• Anything that might infringe upon editorial standards set for Polk Today, Paulding Today and Polk Sports Wire or any future products or services provided via Myrick Multimedia-based website, or may hinder, infringe, seek to profit from a Myrick Multimedia brand or property.
• Advertisements that seek to hinder, infringe, seek to profit from a third-party business, service, brand, logo, video, photo, or form of media that has not been listed.
• Advertisements that use business name, logo, or brand in order to seek an unfair competitive advantage (for example: no use of phrases such as “Our brand is 4 times better than [competitor brand], etc.”)

Do you offer refunds?

No.

Purchasing advertising directly through Myrick Multimedia for any product or service we offer means that you understand that you are making a commitment for that item to run, for an agreed upon time both verbally and through monthly invoices or annual agreements. Once the ad begins, no matter how many users visit the site, your ad is running for all to see through the agreed upon time.

Additionally, we make clear the following with any potential advertisers: we cannot predict user behavior. We have a general idea of what coverage is going to get a greater response, but that isn’t a guarantee. Therefore, we make no promises that the numbers represented in ad pricing for a monthly advertisement will reach a maximum set level of impressions (or clicks). We can’t make people look at an ad. We can’t make people click on anything. Our job is to provide them the opportunity to interact with advertising around the content. We take this job seriously, and do our best to provide the greatest experience and content to ensure your ads are successful.

When a user clicks on the link you have provided for your ad, we also understand this philosophy: once a user has clicked on your link, what you do with them is more or less up to you as a business owner.

Individuals and businesses need to understand this part of the effectiveness of online advertising: if you don’t have a website where a user on a Myrick Multimedia property can click and interact with your product or service immediately, then how are you capturing that user?

We also can’t predict forces of nature, of life, that may bring down the website for a period of time. Sometimes technology breaks, and Myrick Multimedia uses remote servers to power our many websites– this means we do not always have complete control over the uptime of our websites.

We understand that can be frustrating. It is for us too. We have every incentive to ensure that we further increase our user traffic on a daily basis.

BUT, we make it clear: you understand that when your ad begins, the clock begins on your time period of which you have purchased the ad.

All new potential advertisers are required to pay up front for their runtime for either monthly or annual advertising costs.

Customers who have an established relationship with Myrick Multimedia, and have paid their bills on time or not dropped their service for any reason, are welcome to continue their relationship with us so long as either party finds the agreement they made previously amenable to move forward with regular invoicing.

What’s this 10% fine on the invoice at the bottom?

Myrick Multimedia wants to work with any business, organization or individual who seeks to get the word out about their products or services, but also within reason. We believe like any business, we have a right to financially protect our best interests.

One of those ways is if you pay for advertising services and then try to cancel the check, or write a bad check after.

Therefore, we charge a 10% fine for any advertisement invoice that is paid by check and fails to clear on any invoice that comes following, plus a $40 returned check fee from the bank.

Customers are additionally responsible for any card processing fees that are required via Paypal for their payment for credit card.

Additionally, if your payment is late in any way in pre-established relationships with Myrick Multimedia, we additionally charge a 10% late fee for all payments that have not been submitted within seven business days of an invoice being received – if your ad is still running. (See below for additional details.)

What happens if I submit an ad, but haven’t paid for it yet?

Until payment arrangements are made, no ad you submit will appear on a Myrick Multimedia website.

HOWEVER, we understand that larger organizations work differently than those who are a small business. Some arrangements need to be made beforehand in those cases, and Myrick Multimedia will work with potential partners who have corporate practices differing from ours within reason.

Should an organization fail to pay their bill within 30 days of when an invoice is submitted, a 10% fee will be required to be paid on a post-due invoice before any advertising services will continue. Failure to pay on time more than twice in a row will be grounds for us to terminate any agreement we have with a larger organization, and we will refrain from doing business with them in the future.

We additionally look at marketing and advertising with the following in mind:

Advertising and marketing is not cheap, and we understand the costs of small business growth annually. However, if it comes down to a choice between whether you as a business owner are going to eat versus pay for advertising, we’d prefer you to eat first and avoid racking up unnecessary fees with us. PLEASE DO NOT BUY ADS YOU CAN’T AFFORD.

We do suggest that small businesses BUDGET APPROPRIATELY before considering advertising services with Myrick Multimedia and determine your best course of action before moving forward. We understand as much as the next small business owner that we all fall on hard times, but we have to eat too. Promising to pay for advertising then failing to do so only hurts both parties in the end.

Any business who fails to meet previously agreed upon payment arrangements made with Myrick Multimedia and hasn’t immediately communicated reasons or made partial payment WILL FIND THEMSELVES PERMANENTLY BANNED FROM FUTURE AD OPPORTUNITIES OF ANY KIND.

What’s with these Google Ads

Notable to our local and direct advertising partners: we additionally provide advertising services through Google AdSense as a publisher, and may add additional global advertising opportunities to our online publications and services as Myrick Multimedia continues to grow.

We reserve the right to block any local advertiser who has previously been a client of Myrick Multimedia and no longer wishes to work with us directly, or was denied advertising opportunities for any infraction or violation of our standards and practices. We will do this at our discretion, at any time, and without notice to local businesses.

Google Ads provide a way for Myrick Multimedia properties to help cover expenses as we provide free local news and sports coverage to our operating area.

Also, use of Google AdSense gives Myrick Multimedia a direct competitive advantage for direct ad purchasers to target various categories of users through statistical information we are able to gather via Google Analytics, and what they are allowed to collect.

We have a specific privacy policy covering all Myrick Multimedia websites about that data being gathered, and what we do with it.

Why isn’t my ad in the paper?

Because we’re not the newspaper.

Polk Today, Paulding Today and Polk Sports Wire are all online-only products, and we have no plans now or in the future to provide any print-based product in our coverage territory.

Printing is time-consuming, costly, manpower-intensive and distribution of the end result is outdated and environmentally unfriendly all the way through from the moment trees are cut down and metal ores are dug from the ground to get the paper and ink, to the product that ends up in your mailbox.

Our philosophy as a company is that with a changing world, it is our responsibility to provide the lowest environmental impact with our free products as possible. Part of that commitment is to stay away from printing all together.

The consequence of that decision is that Myrick Multimedia– in our operations area– is in no way a legal organ, and is in no way required to provide any services that such status would bound a news organization to in the community.