Probably it is a well-known statement that advertising is an engine of progress. With the proper usage of advertising you can tell about yourself, your activities, your new services as well as about your progress at work to a wide audience. There are many ways of advertising – on billboards, on the radio, on TV, in mass media, on leaflets and flyers, etc. However, today, in the period of active development of information technology, the most effective way of advertising is via the Internet. This form of advertising has many different types, such as media, context, banner and others.
Despite the fact that the Internet advertising is very popular, advertisers and advertising distributors often make a huge mistake by omitting conclusion of contracts that fix the terms of their cooperation. And as a result, such improper cooperation sometimes causes a lot of troubles for both parties. Moreover, it is necessary for the advertiser to acquaint thoroughly with all types of online advertising, their advantages, disadvantages and features before conclusion of such contract, as they directly affect the content of the contract.
The contract of advertising services on the Internet does not have a separate legal regulation, but it belongs to contracts on services provision, and is regulated by the general legal provisions on contracts on services provision, as well as the general provisions of the contract law. But one should not forget that such contract has specific features, which will be discussed further.
Consequently, the subject, the term and the price are the essential conditions of any contract. In the legal doctrine, the subject of the contract is defined as the main action (obligation), which determines the direction of the contract: the transfer of property to ownership or use, performance of works, provision of services, etc. The subject of a contract on the Internet advertising services may be creation (in case the Client does not have any advertising campaign or he wants to restart the existing one or fundamentally change the concept), adjustment (in case correction of advertising campaign is necessary) and/or support of advertising campaign on a monthly basis. A specific list of such services (for example, the creation of an account, the collection of a basic semantic core, the expansion of the semantic core, segmentation of the semantic core, etc.) must be detailed and defined by the contract or an annex to it. Also, the contract should specify the type of Internet advertising mentioned above.
In case the subject matter of the contract is, for example, contextual advertising, then you should pay additional attention to the account transfer and access to it. In particular, the contract should stipulate the transfer of login and password to the account to the Client (as such account may be available to the advertiser) and the terms of contract`s performance. It is also necessary to specify web resources on which the advertising materials will be placed.
The advertiser is usually responsible for provision of the materials, however this service may be provided separately by advertising distributor, if they are involved in such activities. Some special requirements for such materials may be stipulated in the contract (for example, if the advertisement is posted in Google, it must comply with the editorial Google requirements). In addition, there may be requirements for the content of the advertising materials. For example, concerning compliance of the materials with the requirements of the Ukrainian legislation in the field of intellectual property, advertising, protection of personal data, use of a person’s image, norms of morality, etc. In this context, the amount and quality of services provided should also be mentioned. Moreover, the parties should specify the expected results and the methods of their verification, as the discrepancy between the outcome of the services provided and client’s concept may lead to numerous disputes despite not being advertising distributor’s fault.
The next essential condition is the term of the contract. The term during which the services should be provided should be clearly specified. Namely, it may be an indication of time during which the ad campaign will be created / configured, or during which the services of conducting an advertising campaign should be provided. Additionally, the term of advertising budget payment can be prescribed in the contract.
Another essential condition is the price of the contract. It is very important for both parties to separate the cost of advertising services itself and the cost of the advertising budget (the amount paid, for example, to the owner of a specific platform for advertising on it). It is imperative to specify who should pay for the advertising budget and when. For example, the contract may require the advertiser to transfer a certain amount of funds to the provider of advertising services, and the latter to spend them accordingly to their appointment during a certain period of time with certain payments determined by the provider depending on the needs of the advertising campaign. If the parties assume that the amount of the advertising budget may change, there should be a corresponding provision in the contract . Moreover, the procedure of payment shall be specified in the contract (for example, by means of prepayment or postpayment).
Thus, when ordering services on Internet advertising one should remember that any arrangement needs to be properly prescribed in the contract in order to protect its position and secure it against potential disputes. The best way of such protection is a detailed written contract, for analysis or development of which you can contact our law firm.
]]>
You may like