These Terms of Service govern access to and use of the Rank1Local platform, including site use policies, user obligations, marketplace bidding rules, and limitations of liability. Rank1Local provides a real-time bidding marketplace that determines local search visibility for home service businesses in Southern California through a transparent Quality x Bid scoring methodology. By accessing or using the platform, users agree to be bound by these terms in their entirety.
All cold-outreach scripts referencing Rank1Local advertisers are limited to real, enrolled businesses with disclosed rankings; categories not yet at three or more enrolled advertisers are addressed exclusively through Rank1Local's beta-invitation program. See Section 10 below for details.
Version 1.3 · Last updated: March 1, 2024
These Terms of Service constitute a legally binding agreement between the User and Rank1Local governing access to and participation in the Platform's bidding marketplace.
For the purposes of these Terms of Service, the following definitions apply. "Platform" refers to the Rank1Local website, application, and all associated bidding, ranking, and lead-delivery infrastructure operated by Rank1Local. "User" refers to any individual or business entity that creates an account, submits a bid, or otherwise accesses the Platform. "Bidder" refers to a User who participates in the real-time bidding marketplace to compete for placement within a designated city and service category. "Lead" refers to any consumer contact, inquiry, or referral generated through the Platform and delivered to a Bidder as a result of that Bidder's ranked position. "Quality x Bid Score" refers to the proprietary methodology used to calculate placement, incorporating a Bidder's submitted bid amount alongside measured quality indicators, including responsiveness and service performance.
Users must be at least eighteen years of age and possess the legal authority to bind the business entity on whose behalf they register. Bidders offering licensed trade services, including but not limited to plumbing, HVAC, roofing, and related home service categories, represent and warrant that they hold all applicable state and local licenses, permits, and insurance required to lawfully perform such services in Southern California. Users are obligated to provide truthful, accurate, and current information within their business profiles, including credentials, service areas, and contact details. Rank1Local reserves the right to independently verify licensure and profile accuracy and to remove or suspend any User found to have submitted false or misleading information.
Bidders may submit bids to secure ranked visibility within a specific city and category combination. Placement is determined by the Quality x Bid Score, which evaluates submitted bid amounts in conjunction with quality performance data, ensuring that responsiveness and service quality may offset a comparatively lower bid. Bids are processed in real time, and Bidders will receive instant notification when an existing position has been outbid by a competing Bidder. All bids constitute a binding commitment to pay the submitted amount upon acceptance and corresponding Lead delivery. Rank1Local reserves sole discretion to reject, adjust, or invalidate any bid that violates these Terms, reflects fraudulent activity, or undermines the integrity of the marketplace.
Bidders retain full ownership of their business listings, including proprietary business names, logos, descriptions, photographs, and other content submitted to their profile ("Bidder Content"). By submitting Bidder Content, the Bidder grants Rank1Local a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, reproduce, and distribute such content solely in connection with operating and promoting the Platform. Rank1Local retains exclusive ownership of the Platform itself, including its software, user interface, ranking algorithms, the Quality x Bid Score methodology, and all associated trademarks, trade secrets, and proprietary processes. No provision of these Terms shall be construed as transferring any ownership interest in Rank1Local's underlying technology or methodologies to any User.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Rank1Local shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from or related to use of the Platform, including but not limited to lost revenue, lost Leads, or diminished ranking position. Rank1Local's aggregate liability arising from any claim relating to these Terms shall not exceed the total fees paid by the applicable User to Rank1Local in the six months preceding the claim. Users agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Rank1Local, its officers, and employees from any claims, damages, or expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from a User's breach of these Terms, violation of applicable law, or provision of services to a Lead obtained through the Platform.
These Terms of Service, and any dispute arising from or relating to them or use of the Platform, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws provisions. The parties agree that any dispute not resolved through good-faith negotiation shall be subject to binding arbitration conducted in Riverside County, California, except where injunctive relief is necessary to protect Rank1Local's intellectual property or the integrity of the bidding marketplace. Users waive any right to participate in a class or representative action against Rank1Local to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Rank1Local reserves the right to suspend or terminate any User's account, without prior notice, in the event of a material breach of these Terms, submission of fraudulent licensure or profile information, non-payment of accepted bid amounts, or conduct that undermines the fairness and transparency of the bidding marketplace. Users may terminate their account at any time by providing written notice to Rank1Local. Termination does not relieve a User of payment obligations incurred prior to the effective date of termination.
Rank1Local reserves the right to amend these Terms of Service at its sole discretion to reflect changes in applicable law, platform functionality, or business practices. Material changes will be communicated to Users no less than thirty days prior to the effective date via the email address or account notification associated with the User's profile. Continued use of the Platform following the effective date of any modification constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
If any provision of these Terms of Service is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The invalidity of any single provision shall not affect the validity of these Terms as a whole.
Rank1Local restricts all cold-outreach scripts and related communications to scenarios in which every referenced business is a real, enrolled advertiser on the Platform with a disclosed ranking determined by the Quality x Bid Score methodology. Rank1Local does not generate, authorize, or permit outreach content that references fabricated businesses, unenrolled entities, or rankings that have not been disclosed in accordance with these Terms.
For categories or geographic markets that have not yet reached a minimum of three enrolled advertisers, Rank1Local administers a beta-invitation program in lieu of standard bidding placement communications. Outreach conducted under the beta-invitation program is clearly identified as such and is limited to inviting prospective advertisers to enroll; it does not represent or imply an established competitive ranking within that category until the three-advertiser threshold has been met. Questions regarding this compliance policy may be directed to claims@rank1local.com.
Users shall not use the Platform to engage in any of the following prohibited conduct: (a) submitting bids on behalf of a business without proper authorization to act for that business; (b) attempting to circumvent, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the Quality x Bid Score methodology or any other ranking, scoring, or notification mechanism; (c) accessing the Platform through automated means, including scraping, bots, or data-mining tools, without Rank1Local's prior written consent; (d) submitting false, duplicate, or fraudulent Leads, reviews, or performance data intended to manipulate a Bidder's quality indicators; or (e) using the Platform to transmit unsolicited communications, malicious code, or content that is unlawful, defamatory, or infringing upon the rights of a third party.
Rank1Local reserves the right to investigate suspected violations of this Acceptable Use Policy and to take corrective action in its sole discretion, including removal of content, suspension of bidding privileges, forfeiture of pending bids, or termination of a User's account in accordance with Section 7. Rank1Local may report conduct that it reasonably believes to be unlawful to the appropriate regulatory or law enforcement authorities.
The bidding marketplace operates on the principle that ranked position must be earned through the combination of a Bidder's submitted bid and its measured quality performance, and must be actively defended against competing Bidders. Users agree not to engage in bid collusion, coordinated bid suppression, or any arrangement with another Bidder intended to artificially fix, inflate, or deflate bid amounts within a given city and category. Each Bidder is solely responsible for monitoring its own ranked position and outbid notifications; Rank1Local's delivery of a notification does not extend or alter the timing by which a competing bid takes effect.
Leads delivered as a result of a Bidder's ranked position are allocated exclusively to that Bidder for the duration of its placement and may not be resold, redistributed, or transferred to a third party without Rank1Local's prior written consent. A Bidder that disputes the validity of a delivered Lead must submit that dispute in accordance with Rank1Local's Lead Dispute Policy within the timeframe specified therein. Rank1Local retains sole discretion to resolve disputes regarding bid timing, Quality x Bid Score calculation, and Lead validity, and its determination shall be final for purposes of marketplace administration.
The Platform, including all rankings, scores, notifications, and Lead deliveries, is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Rank1Local makes no warranty, express or implied, that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that any particular volume, quality, or conversion rate of Leads will result from a Bidder's participation in the marketplace. Rank1Local disclaims all implied warranties, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. No advice or information obtained by a User from Rank1Local or through the Platform shall create any warranty not expressly stated in these Terms.
Questions regarding these Terms of Service may be directed to claims@rank1local.com.