RackNerd Affiliate Program Terms of Service

1. Agreement Parties

This agreement involves RackNerd LLC ("RackNerd", "we", “our”, or "us"), a web hosting and infrastructure services provider, and you, the Affiliate ("you" or "Your"). Participation in the RackNerd Affiliate Program signals your complete acceptance of these Terms of Service (“Terms”).

2. Program Objective

The RackNerd Affiliate Program aims to incentivize affiliates in promoting our services and enhancing our brand recognition through authorized channels.

Misuse of the program that contradicts this objective or harms RackNerd's reputation or other affiliates' interests will be viewed as a breach of these Terms.

3. Affiliate Duties

As a RackNerd Affiliate, you agree to:

- Operate solely one affiliate account (unless otherwise approved by Management)
- Assume full responsibility for your website's operation and the content therein
- Ensure that your website's content is lawful, not defamatory, and does not infringe on the rights of third parties
- Acknowledge that RackNerd is not responsible for your site's content, even if it includes our promotional materials
- Represent RackNerd's services truthfully, avoiding the use of misleading or generic content
- Provide details on all channels used for promoting RackNerd if requested
- Avoid utilizing affiliate materials in any form of unsolicited communication or illegal channels
- Refrain from engaging in or benefiting from illegitimate traffic activities

4. Definition of a Valid Customer

A valid customer is:

- Someone who has accurately completed the sign-up process.
- Not marked for fraud or high fraud risk.
- Independently chosen to use RackNerd hosting services.
- Used a legitimate payment method for their account.
- Agreed to all Terms of Service without violating RackNerd policies.
- Service has remained active past the 30 day maturation period.
- Meets the other criteria mentioned within this Affiliates Terms of Service.

5. Advertising Standards

Affiliates must abide by the following:

- Avoid using RackNerd intellectual property without permission.
- Promotional pages mentioning RackNerd are not permitted to promote or suggest vouchers, coupons, cash-back offers, discount codes, or similar monetary incentives within their Metadata, Title, and URL address. The use of terms such as "discount", "coupon", "offer", "promo", "promos", "promotion", "cashback", and any similar iterations of "% off" etc. in the URL, title, metadata, and page description may be rejected at our discretion. For example, RackNerd reserves the right to withhold or reject commissions from any pages, websites, or domains that predominantly drive traffic by relying on these financial incentives, rather than delivering actual user value and resourceful content (i.e. instances where the main purpose of a page is to capitalize on RackNerd keywords for coupon-related searches is not permitted).
- RackNerd prohibits the use of mechanisms on coupon sites where clicking on a 'Show Code' (or similar prompt) automatically activates the affiliate link. Affiliate link activations must be a result of deliberate and informed user actions.
- Generating sales through masking, cookie stuffing, cloaking, using iframes, or other techniques that do not involve genuine affiliate link/banner click-throughs, etc are not allowed.

6. Tracking and Commissions

RackNerd utilizes cookies for affiliate tracking through the industry-renowned billing software “WHMCS,” which is the billing/support software system that we use for order processing at: my.racknerd.com. The WHMCS affiliate system utilizes browser cookies for tracking purposes. These cookies are set when a visitor clicks on an affiliate link and is consequently redirected to the targeted page through our affiliate program's URL. During instances of technical issues, hardware or software malfunctions, or other disruptions, it's possible that cookies may not be correctly placed. RackNerd cannot be held liable for any potential losses incurred during such periods. However, we will assess claims regarding such commissions on an individual basis, reserving the right to determine the legitimacy of each claim.

The lifespan of these cookies is set to a minimum of 30 days, although this duration is subject to alteration at any time, with or without notice. RackNerd is not responsible for any loss of commission that may occur due to cookies being deliberately or accidentally removed by users, or if the user registers for our services using a different browser, computer, or in Incognito/Privacy mode.

In cases where a pre-existing affiliate cookie is present in the customer's browser, any new cookies from subsequent clicks will supersede the older ones. Therefore, sales are attributed to the affiliate associated with the most recently clicked link or banner.

7. Payout Structure

- RackNerd provides 15% recurring commission on all Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, VPS, and Hybrid Dedicated Server products, while providing 10% recurring commission on Dedicated Servers, Colocation, DRaaS, and Private Cloud Solutions. Custom products that contain either of the words: 'Flash', 'FLASH', 'Exclusive', or 'EXCLUSIVE' within their product title, may not be eligible for affiliate commissions as they are intended to be custom deals designed to be distributed to specific groups (i.e. community or niche specific promos). This exclusion primarily applies to our flash deals, but be assured that most of our special promotions that are designed for the general public, including Black Friday and New Year offers, are included in the affiliate program. Should you require any clarification or further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
- RackNerd’s affiliate program is recurring, which means you will receive commission on referred service’s renewals as well.
- Payouts are made through PayPal, or in the form of RackNerd account credit.
- RackNerd has the discretion to withhold or refuse commissions that do not meet our Terms.

8. Legal Responsibilities and Ownership

- RackNerd claims ownership of the customer relationship from the initial contact.
- Affiliates must respect RackNerd's intellectual property and legal obligations.
- Affiliates are responsible for their site's content and legal compliance.
- This Agreement does not establish a joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative, employment, or similar relationship between the two parties. The Affiliate is not authorized to make or accept any offers or representations on behalf of RackNerd. Furthermore, the Affiliate is prohibited from making any statements, on their website or elsewhere, that could reasonably be interpreted as contradictory to the terms outlined within our Affiliate Terms of Service (ToS).

9. Agreement Duration and Termination

- Either party can terminate this agreement with written notice via e-mail to bizdev[@]racknerd[dot]com. 
- Affiliates must promptly remove RackNerd materials upon termination.
- RackNerd may modify these terms at its discretion, with any modifications being binding upon posting.

10. RackNerd Paid Search Policy

RackNerd allows the use of paid advertising (excluding RackNerd branded terms) to drive traffic to pages containing RackNerd affiliate links. Affiliates must adhere to the following guidelines when participating in paid search campaigns on search engines or social media platforms such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Non-Competition with RackNerd's Search Results:

Affiliates are strictly prohibited from competing with or interfering in RackNerd's direct advertising campaigns. Engaging in Pay per Click, Pay per Impression, pop-ups or pop-unders, traffic exchanges, or similar methods using RackNerd's name, trademarks, or any variations or misspellings of RackNerd's trademarks is strictly forbidden.

Restrictions on Use of RackNerd Marks:

The use of RackNerd's trademarks, service marks, or any variations in the headline or description of pay-for-placement search engines and paid advertising is not permitted.

Bidding on RackNerd Trademarks:

Bidding on keywords or phrases that include RackNerd's trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, registered URLs, or any variations, abbreviations, or misspellings of these is forbidden without prior written consent from RackNerd. Prohibited keywords include, but are not limited to, "RackNerd," "racknerd.com," "Rack Nerd," "racknerd hosting," “RackNerd coupons,” etc.

Direct Linking and URL Restrictions:

Direct linking to RackNerd.com or any of its subdomains from paid search ads is prohibited.

Using RackNerd.com or any variations as a display URL in paid advertisements is not allowed.

Compliance with these guidelines is mandatory for participation in the RackNerd Affiliate Program. Violations of this policy may result in the revocation of affiliate commissions and possible exclusion from the program. By participating in the RackNerd Affiliate Program, you agree to these terms and understand that our program terms may be updated at any time without notice, ensuring that your promotional efforts are in line with our focus on delivering quality and value-driven web hosting services. Any questions regarding our affiliate program may be directed to bizdev[@]racknerd[dot]com via e-mail.

Last Revised Nov 24, 2023