Offensive Domain Policy

Version: February 2024

As a domain marketplace, Sedo does not wish to engage in selective censorship of domains people wish to buy and trade. However, Sedo is also a responsible global citizen and we have created a set of guidelines to determine whether the offensive nature of specific terms will be allowed placement in our domain database. Sedo reserves the right not to list domains that violate our Offensive Domain Policy.

Offensive Material

Application of guidelines that have the potential of restricting free speech require careful judgment and consideration of a domain’s potential for substantial social, artistic or political value. Domain names that, in Sedo’s sole discretion, reference inappropriate content related to sensitive events, promote or praise hatred, violence, child pornography, racial or religious intolerance may not be listed for sale or parked with Sedo and will be removed once discovered by, or reported to Sedo without warning or notice to the domain owner. Users who continually attempt to list for sale or park domains in violation of this policy risk suspension or cancellation of their Sedo accounts. In addition, domains that promote organizations that endorse and/or encourage hatred, violence, child pornography, racial or religious intolerance may not be listed for sale or parked with Sedo. This includes, but is not limited to, domains promoting organizations such as the KKK, Nazis, neo-Nazis, or the Aryan nation.

General Domain Policies

Domains that are submitted to Sedo, your parked domain webpages, and any linked websites may not contain, link to, promote, or distribute certain types of terms or content. User domains may not contain, link to, promote, or distribute any of the following (examples non-exhaustive):

  • Violent content
  • Content referencing inappropriate content or sensitive events such as natural disasters, war, tragedies, public health crises, or the victims of such events, including content promoting services that exploit, dismiss, or condone a sensitive event, and/or the use of  keywords related to a sensitive event to attempt to drive additional traffic.
  • Content referencing claims that victims of a sensitive event were responsible for their own tragedy or similar instances of victim blaming; claims that victims of a sensitive event are not deserving of remedy or support; or claims that victims from certain countries were responsible or deserving of a global public health crisis or other tragedy
  • Content that threatens or advocates for harm on oneself or others
  • Content that insults, harasses, intimidates or bullies an individual or group of individuals
  • Content that incites hatred against, promotes discrimination of, or disparages an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization
  • Excessive profanity
  • Hacking/cracking content
  • Software or other content that violates the Unwanted Software Policy
  • Malware or adware
  • Illegal Online gambling or illegal online casino-related content
  • Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia content
  • Sales of beer or hard alcohol, unless permitted by Sedo
  • Sale of tobacco or tobacco-related products
  • Sale of prescription drugs
  • Sale of weapons or ammunition (for example, firearms, firearm components, fighting knives)
  • Sale of products that are replicas or imitations of designer goods
  • Sale or distribution of coursework or student essays
  • Content regarding programs which compensate users for clicking on ads or offers, performing searches, surfing websites, or reading emails
  • Pages that automatically refresh including via Ajax, unless otherwise approved by Sedo
  • Content protected by copyright or trademark law unless you have the necessary legal rights to display that content
  • Any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity, or infringes on the legal rights of others
  • Popup windows, popunder windows or exit windows that interfere with site navigation, obscure Sedo ads, change user preferences or browser settings, or enable or initiate downloads (unless approved by Sedo)
  • Excessive, repetitive or irrelevant keywords; such keywords must also not appear in your web page templates
  • Deceptive or manipulative content or construction intended to improve your site's search engine ranking, for example, your site's PageRank in Sedo's search index
  • Incentives, including monetary and point-based incentives, to users to click links or ads
  • References to tragedies or other sensitive current events
  • Domain names or content involved in litigation or under dispute; domain names or content that violates any trademark (and related rights), copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property right of any third party

The following additional requirements apply to adult domains:

  • Domains that include adult or pornographic terms must be placed in an adult category while non-adult domains must be placed in non-adult categories.
  • You are responsible for notifying Sedo immediately of any domains that you believe have been classified with the wrong adult status.

Repeat Offenders

Sedo Users who repeatedly attract negative attention to Sedo, it’s affiliate, or its promotional and advertising partners, by listing or parking domains that violate Sedo’s acceptable use policies, including, but not limited to, this Offensive Domain Policy are subject to account suspension and/or account deletion, including the loss of any unpaid Click Balance, at Sedo’s sole discretion, with or without prior notice.

Featured Listings

The Offensive Domain Policy is aggressively applied in relation to Sedo’s domain showcase service. Orders for domain showcases involving domains that violate this policy will not be processed and the sales price will be refunded. As a member of the global community with sites servicing many different countries, domain showcase orders will be reviewed in accordance with the community standards of the country where the listing will appear.

Reporting Domains that Violate the Offensive Domain Policy

Despite Sedo’s best efforts, it is impossible for Sedo to monitor and verify the millions of domains that are bought, sold and parked with Sedo every year. For this reason, we seek the help of our global community to report any domains you feel may run afoul of this policy. If you would like to report a domain that violates Sedo’s Offensive Domain Policy you can submit an email through our contact page or [email protected]. Please include the domain in question and the date, time and location where you noticed the domain. Sedo will act expeditiously to review and remove and/or block, if necessary, all domains that violate this policy.