Reputation

We know that for app owners considering publishing ads the most important concern is your reputation.

We are a publisher

Our sister product outposts.io is where we dogfooded specify and we continue to publish targeted Specify ads in the newsletter. So we fully understand the risks and concerns you feel when deciding if publishing ads could hurt your reputation. So with every decision we make in Specify we ask ourselves if we'd be ok with this applying not only to our partners but also to our own product.

No 18+ or gambling

We do not currently work with anything 18+ or gambling related . In fact we have already turned down gambling advertisers.

If we ever support these industries they will be explicitly opt-in for publishers.

Ad Screening Process

Every ad on Specify undergoes a multi-step review process before appearing on any publisher's platform:

• Initial automated scanning for prohibited keywords and suspicious URLs

• Manual review by at least two team members against our content guidelines

• Technical validation to ensure ad creatives meet performance standards

• Web3 Verification - We validate that all onchain projects have required security audits of their contracts complete

• Final approval by a senior team member with publisher experience

We maintain a public record of rejected ad categories and common reasons for rejection, which you can request from us. This transparency helps publishers understand our standards and builds trust in our process.

Publisher Control

We are building a complete publisher control dashboard:

• Custom exclusion lists: Block specific advertisers, industries, or keywords

• One-click rejection: Easily reject any ad that doesn't align with your standards

Privacy-First Approach

We understand that protecting user data is critical to maintaining trust:

• GDPR, CCPA, and global compliance: Our platform is built to meet the highest regulatory standards for data privacy

• Minimal data collection: We only collect the data necessary to deliver relevant ads

• No persistent user tracking: We don't build persistent profiles of your users

• Transparent data usage: Clear documentation on what data is collected and how it's used

• Publisher-controlled consent: You control how consent is gathered from your users

Content Standards

Beyond our prohibition of 18+ and gambling content, we maintain strict standards for all advertisers.

Prohibited Content:

• Unverified health claims or unapproved medical treatments

• Discriminatory or hateful messaging

• Misleading or deceptive claims

• Counterfeit products or intellectual property violations

• Weaponry or dangerous products

• Political campaign materials

All advertisers must adhere to these standards, which we regularly update based on industry best practices and publisher feedback.