These guidelines define the requirements, rights, and obligations of all parties participating in the Bazaarvoice Content Network. Bazaarvoice strives to deliver a superlative experience to consumers, allowing them to easily access authentic feedback and content from other consumers, retailers, and brands. These guidelines apply across a number of industries, including the retailer and supplier ecosystem, travel, financial services, and services. Because retailers and suppliers represent the widest participation, the majority of examples used are for the retail industry and the brands that supply the products offered by retailers. Finally, these guidelines hold true for all industries, with the appropriate adjustment for industry type. They define the general use cases that occur for companies participating in the Bazaarvoice Content Network. It is possible that use cases not currently imagined will occur. In that event, Bazaarvoice will make reasonable business efforts to define new guidelines to address the new use cases in a timely way.

Review syndication enables companies participating in the Bazaarvoice Content Network to collect review content and then share it with other companies that sell or market the same product or services. Bazaarvoice has defined general syndication guidelines to apply across all forms of syndication. In addition, Bazaarvoice has defined additional guidelines that apply to specific types of review syndication. These more specific guidelines override the general syndication guidelines. For example, some of the general syndication guidelines—such as the requirement that a review include information reflecting that it was originally collected elsewhere—apply to all syndication types. However, the standard syndication guidelines provide additional rules for standard syndication, in which brands or suppliers send reviews to retailers.

Syndication types and their more specific guidelines are:

  • Standard syndication
  • Reverse syndication
  • Intra-site syndication

General syndication guidelines

Syndication across the Bazaarvoice Content Network is regulated by the following guidelines. Bazaarvoice maintains these guidelines to:

  • Maximize the value of the syndication network to our clients and partners
  • Meet our obligation of providing an authentic and useful experience to consumers
  • Fulfill our commitment to preserving a fair and non-misleading shopping experience

Absent extraordinary circumstances, failure to comply with these guidelines will result in Bazaarvoice stopping delivery of the syndication service. Exceptions must be approved by the Bazaarvoice Network Syndication Guidelines Committee.

To syndicate content to the Bazaarvoice Content Network, syndication senders and receivers must provide Bazaarvoice with the product information needed to perform product matching. Successful matching is based on common content information being provided by both parties. If only one party provides the needed product information, or if a party provides only partial data, matching will not be successful and syndication will not occur. The product data feed should:

  • Be updated regularly. The minimum standard is to provide an updated feed monthly. The best practice is to provide an update daily. The next best option is to provide weekly updates.
  • Include all products to be matched.
  • Include complete product data, as defined in Bazaarvoice’s documentation. Complete product data includes, but is not limited to:
    • Brand name. This should be the name of the specific brand of the product (such as Tide, Dove, or Galaxy), not the name of the manufacturer (such as P&G, Unilever, or Samsung).
    • Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), such as UPCs, EANs, or ISBNs
    • Manufacturer part numbers
    • Product name
    • Product page URL
    • Product image URL

Product matching

The guidelines for product matching are in place to ensure, as much as possible, an authentic consumer experience in accordance with Bazaarvoice’s Authenticity Policy and definitions. It is important to ensure that matches and content are relevant. This means that the content should be applicable to and match the product and/or service being reviewed as best as possible and in a way that consumers would generally agree with. These guidelines and definitions are available here .

Bazaarvoice performs product matching based on the product information provided by the syndication sender and syndication receiver. The amount of time needed for matching varies based on the quality of the data provided by both the syndication sender and receiver. Automatic, algorithmic matching happens daily. The better the data quality and the more data provided, the higher the confidence level of the match. If only partial information is available, then Bazaarvoice will attempt to manually verify the match. Manual verification for low confidence matches occurs through a queue-based process with the Bazaarvoice matching staff, which will extend the time necessary to create matches.

Because of the dependency on product data coming from multiple parties, Bazaarvoice cannot guarantee successful matching, nor can we guarantee matches within a particular time frame. We will use our best efforts to successfully match products. Additional fees may apply if manual verification is needed.

Please note that it is not possible to explicitly outline detailed criteria for every product, service, or product type and that this criterion has been written to best address the majority of product matching needs. This criterion is intended to ensure an authentic consumer experience for our clients and is reviewed and updated on a recurring basis. While Bazaarvoice will make reasonable efforts to be flexible and address exceptional situations, the final criteria are managed and defined by Bazaarvoice.

Sufficient data is required to match products that, when provided, will be matched if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • The products are identical, meaning the products are the same in every and all aspects.
  • The only difference between the products is size, AND the size does not affect the functionality of the product or the consumer experience. For example, we would match a small shirt to a large shirt when the material/composition is the same in every other way.
  • The only difference between the two products is the color, AND the color does not affect the functionality of the product or the consumer experience. For example, we would match a black metal toaster to a white metal toaster that is otherwise identical.
  • The only difference between the two products is packaging, packaging size, or quantity included in the package. For example, we would match a package of 10 diapers with a package of 50 diapers, assuming the individual diapers themselves are identical.

Products will not be matched if they differ in a way that affects functionality or consumer experience, their intended uses differ, or if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • The products differ in scent. For example, different scents of perfume or scented candles.
  • The products differ in flavor. For example, different flavors of toothpaste or candy.
  • The products differ in component materials. For example, a down pillow versus a cotton pillow.
  • The products differ in dimensions or size in a way that alters the user experience or the functionality of the item. For example, a 10-liter garbage can versus a 50-liter garbage can.
    • Televisions may be matched despite differences in size if all of the following conditions are met:
      • The components critical to the functionality of both televisions are the same or similar enough that functionality is identical.
      • The televisions are the same brand and model.
      • The user experience for the average consumer could reasonably be considered the same with either television.
    • If the differences between items is enough that functionality or the user experience could be affected, the items may not be matched.
  • The products differ in their intended users or use. For example, men’s shoes versus women’s shoes or a vacuum designed specifically for hard surfaces versus one for all surfaces.
  • One product is merely a component of another product. For example, a computer chip in a computer.
  • The products are not sold as being in identical conditions. For example, a new product versus a refurbished product.

Product bundles

Bundles present a special challenge to product matching since they contain more than one product. The products could be identical, similar, or completely different. When a product is reviewed as a standalone item, the reader of the review can reasonably assume that the content is specific to the one product being reviewed. If this product is offered in a bundle, the same cannot be said since the other products within the bundle could influence the review. Matching a review of a product with a review of a bundle that contains that product, but also contains other products, requires a bit more specificity.

Packages that contain parts that are essential to the product itself should not be matched. For example, a camera lens contributes to the overall effectiveness of a camera. Ask yourself if a review written on one product almost certainly applies to the other and vice versa. If not, it is likely that these products should not be matched.

Matching is acceptable if one product is being sold as a component of a bundle and the other product(s) are likely to have little to no influence on the consumer experience. For example, we would match a 50-shade eye shadow set with a bundle that includes a 50-shade eye shadow set and a bag to hold it in, assuming the eye shadow in both sets is the same formula and brand. Regardless of whether the bag functions well, one can reasonably assume that the consumer’s experience with the eye shadow will be the same.

Product launches

If new items are added to a sender’s product feed, such as for the launch of a new product, and the sending party wants to ensure that Bazaarvoice conducts the matching within a specific time period, a case should be opened with the Bazaarvoice Support team. Bazaarvoice recommends 2 to 3 weeks of advance notice to allow time for matching and to address any gaps in the receiving parties’ product feed(s) that may be discovered.

Note: Bazaarvoice cannot guarantee 100% product matching success, as matching is heavily dependent on the quality and timeliness of uploaded product feeds from both sender and receiver.

Up-to-date business and technical contacts for syndication program

Companies participating in the Bazaarvoice Content Network shall maintain a business contact and a technical contact to help manage the program. Bazaarvoice will work with participants to identify contacts during the onboarding process. Network participants shall inform Bazaarvoice of personnel changes and provide up-to-date contact information as needed.

Syndication senders send to the entire Bazaarvoice Content Network

The content sent by a syndication sender may be sent to all eligible syndication receivers in the entire Bazaarvoice Content Network where a valid product match is found. The eligibility of syndication receivers is based on the type of syndication the senders and receivers have purchased or otherwise opted-in for. This means that senders cannot select subsets of syndication receivers to whom their content will be sent.

Syndication receivers receive from the entire Content Network

Likewise, where a valid product match is found, syndication receivers will receive content from all eligible syndication senders in the Bazaarvoice Content Network. Eligibility is based on the type of syndication the senders and receivers have purchased or otherwise opted-in for. This means that receivers will not be able to select subsets of the syndication senders from which they receive content.

Intra-site review syndication

In addition to these general guidelines for review syndication, Bazaarvoice has defined the following guidelines for syndication of content between two related companies, such as between the web properties of two related brands or retailers in the same geographic market, or between the web properties for a brand or retailer in two different geographic markets (“intra-site review syndication”).

To be eligible to send content, the sender is required to:

  1. Purchase or otherwise opt in for intra-site syndication.
  2. Ensure the same product identifier is present in the source and destination product feeds. There is a Bazaarvoice requirement for intra-site syndication to auto-match based on one of the following identifiers: UPC, EAN, ISBN, and typically External Product ID.

Cross-region syndication

Bazaarvoice has defined these regions for content syndication as common markets:

  • EU—Bazaarvoice will treat the European Union as a single region.
  • North America—Bazaarvoice will treat North America as a single region.
  • APAC—Bazaarvoice will treat Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand as a single region.

When sending review content, by default, Bazaarvoice will enable the same language across countries and regions to increase the volume of content that can be sent and received on the network.

There is a Bazaarvoice requirement for cross-region syndication to auto-match products based on one of the following identifiers in the product feed:

  • UPC
  • EAN
  • ISBNs

The purpose is to maintain review accuracy by preventing review syndication to products that are not the same. For example, many products will have different active ingredients or components within different markets, even though they may have the same name. Additionally, some cultures value different things within products, making a review in one market or country unhelpful in a different market.

For retailers:

  • You will receive product reviews (in languages you display) from other countries. For example, French retailers will receive French language reviews from Belgium and US retailers will receive English language reviews from Canada.

For brands:

  • Reviews you collect will more easily syndicate to retailers in other countries if they display the language the review was collected in.

Syndication of reviews in multiple languages

Syndication senders can send content in multiple languages. However, only content in languages supported on the syndication receivers’ properties will display. For example, a brand could send content in English, French, and Spanish to retailers that sell its products. If the retailer supports only French, then only the French language content will display. If the retailer later adds support for English and Spanish, these additional languages would then display as well.

Content is syndicated for all products

For a syndication sender, content will be sent for all products that are part of a syndicated brand. This includes both active and inactive products. This means that senders are not allowed to choose to send only some products from a product catalog. The purpose of syndicating content for inactive products is that they may still be carried at the retailer after the brand has stopped offering them.

For a syndication receiver, content will be received and displayed on all products. This includes both active and inactive products. This means that it is not possible to choose to receive only some products from a product catalog.

Authenticity standard for Bazaarvoice Content Network

All content sent to the Bazaarvoice Content Network must meet Bazaarvoice’s Authenticity Policy. As the operator of the Bazaarvoice Content Network, Bazaarvoice maintains control of the Authenticity Policy. Bazaarvoice will halt syndication from syndication senders if content is found to violate the Authenticity Policy. Device fingerprinting must be included with submissions in order for content to syndicate, unless it falls under an exception in the Authenticity Policy.

The Authenticity Policy is enforced using industry-leading fraud detection technology and a team of analysts. This team monitors submissions to ensure that content is approved for publication and syndication only if it is free from fraud and spam and contains all appropriate disclosures and badges.

Moderation standards for content in the Bazaarvoice Content Network

In addition to the requirements of the Authenticity Policy, all content sent to the Bazaarvoice Content Network is moderated for appropriateness and relevance. To be eligible for syndication, content originating from brands or suppliers must meet Bazaarvoice’s Network Content Moderation Guidelines in addition to the moderation standards of the syndication sender. This means that some content may be approved to appear on a syndication sender’s property, but may not be approved to syndicate to receivers.

Because syndicated content will appear in multiple locations, the network moderation guidelines are frequently stricter than the customized standards put in place by individual syndication senders. For example, references to price, sales or promotions, or the location of purchase, are grounds for rejecting content originating from a brand site in the Bazaarvoice Content Network. Depending on the syndication sender’s moderation guidelines, this content may still be available for the client that originally collected the content.

Content originating on a retailer’s site is not re-moderated according to the network moderation guidelines.

As the operator of the Bazaarvoice Content Network, Bazaarvoice maintains control of these standards and may change them from time to time as needed to ensure the quality of content syndicated to the network and deliver the best experiences possible to consumers.

Display and content treatment

With the exception of the required content attribution to the syndication sender (explained below), syndicated review content will be treated identically to native review content in any location that reviews are displayed. This means that syndicated reviews may not be displayed in a separate location from native reviews, nor can they be filtered or sorted in some way to be treated differently. For example, it is not permissible for a syndication receiver to display all of their native content before the syndicated content. Both must be treated consistently.

Review response may be syndicated and displayed per the request of the syndication sender.

Content attribution

Note: Bazaarvoice's attribution statement policy is influenced by mandates and guidance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Many of our policies and the requirement for transparency are based on FTC guidelines and rules.

Content syndicated through the Bazaarvoice Network must be attributed to the syndication sender. The purpose of the attribution statement is to be transparent and avoid misunderstandings, such as a consumer thinking a review originated on website Y when it really originated on website X.

The standard attribution statement for desktop websites includes the sender’s logo and text that discloses the content was collected at another location, as shown in the following image. The logo is optional if the text clearly indicates the source of the review.

For mobile properties, a text-only attribution is sufficient.

Attribution example

The attribution statement is required for all syndication types. However, link usage in the attribution logo and text statements varies depending on the type of syndication:

  • Standard syndication—Inclusion of a link from the syndication receiver back to the syndication sender is at the discretion of the receiver.
  • Reverse syndication—Inclusion of a link from the syndication receiver back to the syndication sender is at the discretion of the sender.
  • Intra-site syndication—Inclusion of a link back to the original location is at the discretion of the syndication sender and syndication receivers.

All links must be implemented as no-follow links.

Incentivized review disclosure

If any form of incentive was provided to the reviewer when a review was originally written and collected, this must be disclosed in order to syndicate content through the Bazaarvoice Content Network. Examples of incentives include but are not limited to payments, loyalty points, samples, or entry into a sweepstakes. Bazaarvoice has created a standard disclosure statement to be used in all cases. Incentivized reviews that do not contain the standard disclosure statement will not be syndicated to the Bazaarvoice Content Network.

For content senders, this means that content collected via incentives shall be marked as such using the Context Data Value (CDV). This can be done automatically for clients on the Bazaarvoice Conversations platform.

For content receivers, this means that content received shall be disclosed as such. To do so, the receiver should enable the Context Data Value (CDV) and configure display properly.

For all syndicated content, content receivers cannot pick and choose which reviews they want to display, as this would violate the Bazaarvoice Authenticity Policy .

Additional instructions for how to set up incentivized reviews is available in the Conversations knowledge base or from the Bazaarvoice Support team.

Use of content outside of the Bazaarvoice Content Network

Unless otherwise specified, syndicated content received through the Bazaarvoice Content Network cannot be used outside the Network. The license provided to syndication receivers is limited to use of the content as part of the Bazaarvoice Content Network. Following is a list of acceptable uses for content received through the Network:

  • Appearance in whole or part on a product page, catalog, or listing page, or search results for a desktop, mobile, or tablet website; iOS or Android mobile application.

Content is licensed to be syndicated on your site on the Bazaarvoice Content Network only. Any electronic re-syndication or use in advertising is prohibited, including but not limited to:

  • Use in advertising, including but not limited to search ads, display ads, email, print, radio, and television
  • Use on boxes or any form of packaging
  • Use on end caps, store signage, etc.
  • Use in analytics, other than that provided by Bazaarvoice

Syndication reporting

All parties participating in the network, both senders and receivers, agree to share data on the volume of content being syndicated. Parties working directly with Bazaarvoice to collect and syndicate content, or to host and display syndicated content, will have access to Bazaarvoice’s Inbound and Outbound Syndication reports as applicable.

Third-party content providers that wish to send content to the Bazaarvoice Content Network must:

  • Apply for partnership status under the Bazaarvoice Third-Party Content Provider Program, and
  • Meet all of the standards and guidelines of the Bazaarvoice Content Network.

Treatment of review content when joining the network

When new companies join the network by becoming Bazaarvoice clients, Bazaarvoice is able to import existing content already collected by the company prior to their Bazaarvoice partnership (“legacy content”). Legacy content is not eligible for syndication unless certain conditions are met and the content is approved for syndication by Bazaarvoice.

Additional guidelines for standard review syndication

In addition to the foregoing general guidelines for review syndication, Bazaarvoice has defined the following guidelines for syndication of review content from a brand or supplier to their retailer channel partners (“standard review syndication”). In the case of standard review syndication, the brand or supplier is the syndication sender and the retailer is the syndication receiver.

Rules for brands and suppliers using standard syndication

To be eligible to send content, a brand or supplier must have opted in for standard review syndication. Additionally, the sender must create or produce the products about which reviews are being collected. For senders, all eligible review content for all products will be sent to all the retailers in the Bazaarvoice Content Network. Content will never be sent to another brand or supplier. In some cases, a brand or supplier may not want content to be syndicated to a specific retailer. The following is a list of valid reasons for a brand or supplier to decide to not send content to a specific retailer:

  1. The syndication receiver is a grey market retailer.
  2. The products appear on the syndication receiver’s properties because of a marketplace relationship with another retailer.
  3. The products produced by the syndication sender are highly regulated, such as pharmaceuticals.
  4. The products and/or the brand produced by the syndication sender are related to guns or other weapons, sex, abortion, or other controversial topics.
  5. There is active or explicitly threatened litigation related to the products.
  6. There is active or explicitly threatened litigation between the syndication sender and syndication receiver.

Outside of those reasons, review content will syndicate to all retailers. For the sake of clarity, the following is a list of invalid reasons to not syndicate content to a retailer:

  1. The syndication receiver is not an authorized retail channel partner.
  2. The syndication receiver does not have a direct relationship with the retailers. Instead, the products are supplied to the retailer via a distributor.
  3. The syndication sender or syndication receiver are in unrelated contract negotiations and want to use syndication as leverage in those negotiations.

Rules for retailers using standard syndication

To be eligible to receive review content, a retailer must have purchased or otherwise opted in for standard review syndication. Additionally, the receiver must sell the products that reviews are being syndicated for.

For retailers, all eligible review content for all products will be received from the network. For the sake of clarity, content will never be received from another retailer.

In some cases, a retailer may not want content to be syndicated from a specific brand or supplier. The following is a list of valid reasons for a retailer to decide to not receive content from a specific brand or supplier:

  1. The products produced by the syndication sender are highly regulated, such as pharmaceuticals.
  2. The products appear on the syndication receiver’s properties because of a marketplace relationship with another retailer.
  3. There is active or explicitly threatened litigation related to the product.
  4. There is active or explicitly threatened litigation between the syndication sender and syndication receiver.

Outside of those reasons, review content will syndicate from all suppliers. For the sake of clarity, the following is a list of invalid reasons to not syndicate content from a supplier:

  1. The syndication sender or syndication receiver are in unrelated contract negotiations and want to use standard review syndication as leverage in those negotiations.
  2. The retailer carries a competing private label product.

Additional guidelines for reverse review syndication

In addition to these general guidelines for review syndication, Bazaarvoice has defined the following guidelines for syndication of content from a retail channel partner back to a brand or supplier (“reverse review syndication”). In the case of reverse review syndication, the retailer is the syndication sender and the brand or supplier is the syndication receiver.

Rules for retailers using reverse review syndication

To be eligible to send review content, a retailer must have purchased or otherwise opted in for reverse review syndication. Additionally, the retailer must carry the products that reviews are being collected about. A retailer may select which brands or suppliers they choose to send content to. For these brands or suppliers, all eligible review content for all products will be sent to the network. For the sake of clarity, content will never be sent to another retailer.

Rules for brands or suppliers using reverse review syndication

To be eligible to receive review content, a brand or supplier must have purchased or otherwise opted in for reverse review syndication. Additionally, the brand or supplier must create or manufacture the products that reviews are being syndicated for. For brands or suppliers receiving reverse syndication, all eligible review content for all products will be received from the network. For the sake of clarity, content will never be received from another brand or supplier. In some cases, a brand or supplier may not want content be syndicated from a specific retailer. The following is a list of valid reasons for a retailer brand or supplier to decide to not receive content from a specific retailer:

  1. The retailer is a grey market retailer.
  2. The products are highly regulated, such as pharmaceuticals.
  3. The products and/or the brand produced by the syndication sender are related to guns or other weapons, sex, abortion, or other controversial topics.
  4. There is active or explicitly threatened litigation related to the product.
  5. There is active or explicitly threatened litigation between the syndication sender and syndication receiver.

Outside of those reasons, review content will syndicate from all retailers. For the sake of clarity, the following are a set of invalid reasons to not syndicate content from a retailer:

  1. The retailer and brand or supplier are in contract negotiations and want to use syndication as leverage those negotiations.
  2. The retailer is not an authorized retail channel partner and/or is an aftermarket retailer.

How to deactivate syndication for a specific syndication receiver or from a specific syndication sender

To request syndication be deactivated, submit a support case to the Bazaarvoice Support team. You will be required to do the following before the request will be considered:

  1. Provide a written explanation identifying the specific reason for the deactivation request. The list of valid reasons is provided in the guidelines for each specific syndication type. These include instances where the sender is involved in active litigation with the receiver, claims that the receiver is a “grey market” retailer, or otherwise where the receiver is not an approved seller of the sender’s products or one of the sender’s approved distribution partners.
  2. Identify the specific retailer and all impacted properties.
  3. Provide a written statement, which Bazaarvoice will share with the impacted syndication sender or syndication receiver to explain why the content was disabled.
  4. Provide a contact name at your company that Bazaarvoice will share with the affected syndication sender or syndication receiver to contact in the event that they have questions.

Once the request for deactivation is submitted, it will be reviewed by the Network Syndication Guidelines Committee at Bazaarvoice, which will evaluate the request and notify the affected parties. Expect a target turnaround time of 5-7 business days.

Definitions

Bazaarvoice Content Network

Collection of content by Bazaarvoice and eligible third parties on behalf of content senders that is sent to content receivers.

Syndication

Bazaarvoice’s syndication service enables a single piece of submitted content or aggregations of multiple pieces of content to reach many more users across the Bazaarvoice Content Network than it otherwise would if it remained only on the site on which the content was collected. Clients can receive syndicated content collected on the sites of other clients in the Bazaarvoice Content Network or authorized third parties.

Bazaarvoice Network Committee

Cross-functional team at Bazaarvoice that defines the guidelines for the network and rules on requests to activate or deactivate syndication.

Standard review syndication

For content that flows from a brand, supplier, and/or vendor to a retailer channel partner that sells the product to consumers.

Reverse review syndication

For content that flows from a retailer channel partner back to the brand, supplier, and/or vendor that manufactures and supplies the product.

Intra-site syndication

For content that flows from one website owned by a company to another website owned by the same or an affiliated company. Common examples are:

  • Two websites for different brands owned by the same company.
  • Two websites for the same brand, but in two different countries.

Syndication sender

Party that collects a piece of content originally, then works with Bazaarvoice to send that content to eligible syndication receivers on the Bazaarvoice Content Network that carry the product to which the content relates.

Syndication receiver

Eligible party that receives pieces of content originally collected by a syndication sender that works with Bazaarvoice to use the Bazaarvoice Content Network to distribute the content.

Product matching

Process of identifying two products as the same, such that content can be shared between sender and receiver properties with confidence of accuracy.

Bazaarvoice Content Network moderation guidelines

PRI Guidelines (Price Reference)

If content in any way references a specific price of the reviewed product, any other product, or shipping, then code PRI. Such references might be definitive (“I paid $20.00”), comparative (“I paid less than $20.00”), or approximate (“It costs around $20.00”). Very general references to a product being, for example, a “good value” or having a “great price” do not warrant the PRI code.

The application of this code to a review will prevent syndication to a retailer website.

RET Guidelines (Retailer Reference)

If content makes any reference to any retailer, then code RET.

The application of this code to a review will prevent syndication to a retailer website.

PC Guidelines (Promotions and Sales)

If content contains mention of coupons, sales, clearances, or any other promotions, then code PC.

CSN Guidelines (Customer Service - Neutral)

If content mentions a customer service issue but does not dwell on it, the content will not be rejected, but it will have this stop code applied.

The application of this code to a review will prevent syndication to a retailer website.