How our no-bots policy protects contest promotion

What does our no-bots policy allow in a contest campaign?

Our policy allows promotion that invites people to consider an entry; it does not manufacture participation. We do not use bots, scripts, fake accounts or click farms, and we do not buy votes, followers or engagement. We also do not help people bypass a contest’s voting protections or ask supporters to exceed the limits in its rules.

That distinction shapes the work we offer. We can plan paid advertising through a platform’s own ad system, prepare campaign creative, arrange disclosed creator posts, or contact communities and lists where outreach is welcome. Each activity should be easy to explain to the contest organiser and to the people who see it. See our contest marketing options for the available approaches.

Before recommending a channel, we check the contest’s published rules for restrictions on outside promotion, required disclosures and voting steps. If the rules say not to promote an entry externally, we do not try to find a workaround; we decline that project. For other entries, the campaign plan identifies who will see the message, where it will appear and what action we are asking people to take. A request for artificial participation is outside our scope, regardless of the channel.

How do we check audience sources and campaign activity?

We review evidence that clients can see: the source of a planned audience, the activity reported by a platform, and the tracking available on the voting page. This helps us describe campaign delivery accurately without claiming to know private information about individual viewers.

For paid promotion, we use the advertising platform’s reporting to document delivery, such as spend, impressions and clicks. For a creator placement, we request relevant audience information from the creator’s own analytics and compare it with the contest’s intended audience before confirming the booking. Our creator outreach approach explains how that review informs a placement.

Where practical, we use tracking links and compare visits with the public entry counter. If the voting page does not show whether a visit became a completed vote, we say so in the report rather than treating clicks as votes. We can also record visible changes to an entry counter alongside campaign activity, while keeping unrelated movement separate from our work. Our contest promotion methodology sets out how we interpret these signals.

Before launch, a client can help by sharing the contest link, its rules, the intended audience and any available entry-counter information. With those materials, we can agree what evidence will appear in reporting and flag gaps before spending or outreach begins.

What should a client know before approving promotion?

A client should know what we will do, what evidence they will receive and where the campaign stops. We explain those points before work begins and put the agreed scope in writing, so the activity can be reviewed against the contest rules.

The plan identifies the selected channels, the creative or messages to be prepared, the audience source and the tracking available. For outreach, we confirm that the intended group or list welcomes the communication. For creators, we agree how a paid placement will be disclosed. For a protected voting form, we describe the steps supporters should expect and remind them to follow those steps as written. We do not provide instructions for getting around a captcha, email confirmation, phone code or other voting control.

Reporting uses information from platform analytics, tracking links and public contest information that is available to the client. We label projections as projections and distinguish them from delivered work. If the contest rules or a channel changes the approved plan, we pause and discuss the change rather than quietly switching tactics. A client considering community, email or messenger activity can review our consent-based outreach options before choosing a channel.

This approach gives the client a record of the work and a straightforward explanation to share with an organiser if asked. It also makes it easier to spot a mismatch between the approved plan and a proposed tactic before that tactic is used.

What happens if a proposed tactic crosses the line?

We reject tactics that conflict with the contest rules or rely on artificial participation, then explain which compliant options remain. If the contest prohibits outside promotion, our answer is no; our project refusal criteria describe other situations where we step back.

Platform ad review, an organiser’s eligibility decision and the contest’s vote-validation process are outside our control, so we promise only the agreed work and reporting—not a vote count, ranking or win. A campaign’s reach and delivery can also be affected by the platform’s own decisions, which we report from the information available rather than presenting as a result we control.

If you are unsure whether a proposed channel or voting step fits the rules, send us the contest link, the rules and a short description of the promotion you have in mind. We will review those materials through a free contest analysis, identify any clear restrictions and outline a suitable next step. You can also bring questions about audience sources, tracking or supporter instructions to that review. Start with the rules and entry link; we will take it from there.