SMIG Personal Pages

Here are the answers to frequently asked questions about which types of banners are allowed in SMIG Personal Pages. For complete content guideline information, please visit our page Content Guidelines and Licensee Terms of Service Page.

What do you mean by "sponsorship banner"?

A sponsorship banner is any graphic image on your home page for which you receive reimbursement of any kind. Reimbursement can include money, prizes, sweepstakes entries, rewards, banner swaps, hits, material goods, etc.

What kinds of sponsorship banners are allowed on my SMIG personal page?

Does that mean I can't put any graphics for any commercial company on my home page?

No. For example, if you use Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, and you want to display a graphic button to tell your viewers which browser you use, that's fine. However, if someone asks you to put a banner or graphic on your page in exchange for compensation or a specific reward, that's against the rules. Or if you put a banner or graphic on your page and then solicite compensation or a specific reward, that's against the rules.

Hey, these are my pages, right? Why can't I put whatever banners I want on them?

SMIG Personal Pages is a free home page service for our personal licensees. Commercial web pages are a source of revenue for SMIG. Outside sponsorship banners on SMIG Personal Pages would reduce revenues and are a violation of your personal license. We ask you to follow our guidelines so that together we can continue to provide the best Internet service to your community.

I still don't get it. Can you give me some examples of the banners that aren't allowed here?

There are lots of banner exchange programs out there. Some of the most common are PageCount, BannerAd, WebPromote and Commonwealth, but there are more. Just remember the golden rule: If you get any kind of reward, reimbursement or compensation for putting a banner on your page, it's a violation of our guidelines.

If I win an award, can I put their graphic on my page?

Yes.

All I want to do is bring more traffic to my site. How can I promote my home page?

One of our primary goals is getting people to your home page, so we've got several great programs to help you promote your site. First, make sure your home page meets our Content Guidelines. Then, refer to Ways To Promote Your Home Page.