Terms of Service

These terms govern your use of Spotlight (the "Service"), operated by Spotlights. By listing a site or placing a bid you agree to them.

1. What we sell

Spotlight sells advertising placements, awarded by a weekly auction. Each display week runs from Monday 00:00 UTC to the following Monday 00:00 UTC.

• Spotlight: the highest bids get large, full-width strips at the top of the home page for the whole display week. Up to 3 strips are offered each week; some may be sold or reserved directly, and the live board always shows how many are up for grabs.
• Bidders: every other bid that was paid gets a smaller row directly below the spotlight for the same week, ranked by amount.
• All sites: once its week ends, every site that bid is listed on the All sites page, once, ranked by the total it has paid across all finished weeks. We may also list a site there earlier. This listing has no end date while the Service operates and the listing follows the Content Policy.

2. The auction

• Each auction is for the following display week and closes 4 hours before that week starts, unless extended.
• Bids are in whole US dollars. The minimum first bid and minimum raise are shown on the bid page. Raises add to your total.
• Bids are charged when placed. At close, the highest totals win the spotlight in order; ties go to the bid that reached the amount first.
• Soft close: a bid that enters a winning position during the final 10 minutes extends the close to 10 minutes after that bid, up to 120 minutes past the original close.
• A payment that completes after an auction has closed counts toward the auction that is open at that time.
• Bids cannot be withdrawn or reduced.

3. Payments are final

Every bid buys a placement — a spotlight strip or a bidder row for the week, plus a place on All sites — so all payments are final and non-refundable, whether or not the bid finishes in the top 3. See the payments & refunds policy.

4. Your week

Placements are locked for the entire display week: no one can outbid or displace them. You may edit your listing's name, tagline, description, logo and color at any time; the link must stay on the same domain.

5. Content and removal

Listings must follow our Content Policy. We may refuse, hide or remove any listing that breaks it, at any time, without refund. If we remove a listing for any other reason, we will give it an equivalent placement in a later week.

6. No guarantees of results

We guarantee placement, not traffic, clicks, sales or rankings. Outbound links are marked as sponsored and do not pass search-engine ranking value. We report impressions and clicks in good faith using the methods described on the site.

7. Availability

We aim for continuous availability but do not guarantee it. If the Service is unavailable for more than 24 consecutive hours during your week, contact us and we will extend your placement by the time lost.

8. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us for the affected week. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses.

9. Changes

We may change these terms or auction settings for future auctions. Changes never apply to an auction already in progress or a week already sold.

10. Contact

Questions: hello@spotlights.lol.