Hi everyone,

We've been working on new guidelines for SteamGifts to help clarify some questions raised by the community, and to help users better understand what type of content is allowed and not allowed on the site. I'm sharing the proposed guidelines below so the community can read them over, ask questions, and provide feedback that can be taken into consideration before the new guidelines are put in place. I would like to leave this discussion open for 10 days for review, and then have the official guidelines go live with any revisions.

I imagine people will have different viewpoints on a number of guidelines, neither of which are right or wrong, so please try to be considerate and constructive when commenting. Thanks!

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General

• Users are limited to one account per person, and accounts cannot be shared.
• Avatars need to be appropriate for all ages. If you have a NSFW Steam avatar, please change it prior to using the site.
• If you notice a user not following our guidelines, do your best to politely explain our rules with relevant links or quotes to our guidelines when appropriate. If they do not take action or deny any wrongdoing, please submit a user report ticket so we can take action if necessary.
• It is important giveaway creators are always given the benefit of the doubt when their giveaways appear too good to be true and, to remain respectful, you do not write comments that question the legitimacy of their giveaways.

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Giveaways

Creating

• All giveaways must be for Steam redeemable gifts or Steam redeemable keys.
• Beta keys which do not provide unrestricted access to the full game in the future, guest passes, demos, and coupons cannot be given away.
• Giveaways need to accurately reflect the game being given away. If the game is not available in the giveaway list, please contact support to have the game added, instead of posting the giveaway under an incorrect name.
• When a giveaway has ended, the gift is required to be sent to the winner within one week.

Entering

• Only enter to win games you do not already own, and do not enter to win DLC if you are missing the required base game.
• Try to refrain from entering giveaways for packages if you already own the majority of the games contained within. The giveaway creator may request a new winner if they believe you own too many of the packaged games.
• Respect the privacy of invite only giveaways and do not share the link with other users unless given permission by the giveaway creator. Entering an invite only giveaway through a leak from a third party may invalidate your entry.
• If you are taking part in a puzzle, do not disclose or hint towards any information that should remain private, such as the game being given away, how the puzzle may be solved, or the URL of the giveaway.
• We encourage users to write comments thanking the giveaway creator for their generosity, although this is not required.
• Scripts are not allowed to be used to automatically enter into giveaways. This includes scripts that enter multiple giveaways at once, or scripts that enter giveaways while you are away.
• An entry will be considered invalid if you enter a group restricted giveaway and the giveaway creator is able to prove you were removed from the corresponding Steam group prior to the giveaway ending.
• Exploiting a vulnerability or bug to access a restricted giveaway may result in your entry being invalidated. For example, if a user creates a puzzle giveaway using a third-party service and they are able to demonstrate you extracted the giveaway link through a security vulnerability in their code rather than solving the puzzle.
• If your account is suspended your giveaway entries are not eligible to be selected as a winner until the duration of your suspension has completed.

Winning

• Won gifts must be activated on the Steam account used during registration, and they cannot be regifted, traded, sold, or removed from your Steam account after activation.
• Allow the giveaway creator one week to send the gift. Please be patient and do not contact them during this time. If the gift is not received after one week, you may contact the giveaway creator on Steam to follow-up.
• Winners will need to correctly mark their gift as received or not received within one week of the gift being marked as sent by the giveaway creator. It is also necessary to keep this feedback up-to-date if the status of the gift changes.
• If you are selected as the winner of a giveaway and then your account is suspended, the giveaway creator has the option to request a new winner.

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User Content

The below is a list of content that is not allowed in our community. Content consists of any material you post or make available through our site, such as discussions, links, comments, usernames, or Steam avatars.

1. Illegal content. For example, sharing links to pirated content, or to services that assist in illegal activity, such as torrent websites.

2. Inappropriate content. If you are posting content that may be considered NSFW (not safe for work), prefix any links or images with a NSFW tag to warn others. Do not post pornography, or explicit content, such as real life images depicting severe injury, gore, or death.

3. Unsafe content. Products or services that are not credible or potentially dangerous, such as those that could lead to a user's Steam account being compromised, or their financial information stolen. Please do your due diligence prior to posting content or links, and if we have concerns about the safety of a product or service, we will try to remove it from our site or close the offending discussion.

4. Personal attacks or hate speech. Threats or harassment is not allowed, neither are slurs against race, sexual orientation, or gender.

5. Referral links. If you choose to post a link, please be sure all referral codes have been removed. For example, by changing http://www.example.com?ref=12345 to http://www.example.com. Also, do not attempt to circumvent this rule by adding referral links through intermediary processes as users try to reach their intended destination.

6. Spam. Do not repeatedly post content to increase visibility. This also includes creating multiple discussions for content that could be more appropriately consolidated into a single discussion.

7. Private or identifying information. Users in the community have a right to privacy. Do not post their private or identifying information without their consent. For example, their name, address, phone number, photos, or private messages.

8. URL shortening. When posting links, make sure you are not using URL shorteners as they obscure the destination of links and make it difficult for users to know what they are clicking.

9. Inappropriate use of comment formatting. The intended use of comment formatting is to improve the readability of your posts. An inappropriate use of formatting would be writing all of your content with headings, or using all caps for your comments.

10. Untagged spoilers. Refer to our instructions on comment formatting for learning how to add spoilers to your content. A spoiler is content that reveals important plot elements of games, movies, tv series, or other types of fiction released in recent years.

11. Unreasonable bumping. When bumping a discussion you should try to ensure it is in the best interest of the community. If you notice our community is not engaging with the content after it has been bumped a couple of times, then you need to stop bumping the discussion unless important new information or updates would make it appropriate to do so.

12. Begging. Do not ask game developers or users for keys or games, unless they are offering and searching for interested parties.

13. Trading. This site is not for trading, so do not attempt to directly trade games or other items with users in our community. If you attempt to indirectly trade or express a willingness to trade with an unusually high frequency, it will also be viewed as trading. If you would like to conduct trades, refer to our sister site, SteamTrades.

14. Reselling keys and links to reseller stores. Do not use our site to resell keys, and do not post offers from stores which allow third parties to resell their keys or gifts. For example, do not ask others if they are interested in buying your leftover keys from a recent bundle purchase, or link to keys for sale on sites such as Kinguin, G2A, or Eneba.

15. Collecting money, items, or games for giveaways, lotteries, or group access. For example, asking users to donate a few dollars, with the promise of giving away a valuable game once adequate funds have been raised. Or, asking users to personally send you games and items for an event. Or, requiring users to send you annual fees to participate in your Steam group.

16. Third party giveaways that require or reward users for performing profitable actions. For example, linking to a giveaway on another service that requires or incentivizes users to click a referral link, like a Facebook page, follow a Twitter account, join a Steam group, complete a survey, sign-up for a newsletter, or make a donation.

17. Gambling. Do not post content or links to gambling related sites, such as those to bet on the outcome of gaming matches, or those that collect money or items for a chance to win a prize.

18. Whitelist solicitation. Do not ask or hint for other users to whitelist you, unless they are explicitly asking or searching for such users and you fulfill their requirements.

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Advertising

Advertising is when you are promoting products or services you are associated with, or when you are posting content that is paid or sponsored. Directly naming or linking to an associated product or service will always be viewed as advertising. General references (e.g. referring to your "website", "YouTube channel", or "Steam group") may also be viewed as advertising when we believe their purpose is to bring attention to an associated product or service for publicity or sales. Below is a breakdown of when advertising is allowed in our community. Remember, the above rules regarding user content still apply. For example, we might allow you to advertise in giveaway descriptions, but that does not permit you to post referral links or link to your website with illegal content.

Giveaways

When creating a giveaway you are able to write a description. In this space you are welcome to advertise your products or services, including social media channels (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter), games, groups, curators, or other giveaways.

Discussions

Our forum allows you to create discussions for engaging in conversation with our community. In these discussions you are able to promote your SteamGifts giveaways, but only when there is a greater reason for the discussion, such as including the giveaways in part of an event, puzzle, cake day, or milestone. For category specific advertising, please refer to the below.

1. Add-ons / Tools

   • If you are the creator of an add-on, extension, script, or tool for either Steam or SteamGifts, you can promote it here along with relevant products or services (e.g. a Twitter account where users can follow updates for your add-on).

2. Game Showcase

   • You are invited to share your Steam game in this category when you are a game developer. You can show us your work-in-progress, let us know when your game launches on Steam, or poll our community for feedback. We encourage you to provide additional information about the game, such as a description, what you are trying to achieve, why we may find it interesting, or how your game differs from others in the same genre. You are limited to one open discussion per game. Be considerate to not repeatedly bump your content if the community is not engaging with your post.

3. Group Recruitment

   • In this category you are allowed to promote your Steam group, corresponding group giveaways and events, and relevant products or services (e.g. a website with group information or statistics). One of the primary aspects of your group needs to be SteamGifts or gifting using our platform.

4. User Projects

   • In this category you can show us projects you are working on. For example you could share a website you are developing, a YouTube channel you recently launched, or home renovations for your gaming / theater room. Projects do not need to be gaming related. You are limited to one open discussion per project. Each discussion should have work-in-progress or a finished product or service to show our community. Be considerate to not repeatedly bump your content if the community is not engaging with your post.

Comments

This refers to comments throughout our site, such as those contained within giveaways or discussions. You are able to advertise in your comments, but only when it is both relevant and valuable to the conversation. For example, if a user is searching for a giveaway group only available to users that have not yet won a game, and you are the owner of such a group, it would be appropriate to post a link to your Steam group. Or, if a user is searching for new strategy games, and you have a Steam curator page highlighting your recommendations from that genre, you could share a link since it would be helpful to those reading.

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Support

• All questions and concerns must be directed through the support system on our site, and we ask users not to add support members on Steam for help.
• Due to the large number of support tickets and reports we receive, we encourage users to be patient when waiting for help. It is not necessary to bump tickets, and if your ticket is pending, it is in the queue to be reviewed by a support member.

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Chat

• The chat room is not to be used for trading.
• Use the Steam /spoiler command when posting spoilers in the chat.
• Follow the community guidelines, and do not post referrals, spam, inappropriate material, or ask users for gifts within the chat.

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Changes based on community feedback below.

Before

Scripts are not allowed be used to automatically enter into giveaways.

After

Scripts are not allowed to be used to automatically enter into giveaways.

Reason

• Grammar

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Before

Personal attacks or hate speech. Threats, harassment, discrimination, or negative comments or slurs against race, sexual orientation, or gender are not allowed.

After

Personal attacks or hate speech. Neither threats or harassment is allowed, nor are slurs against race, sexual orientation, or gender.

Reason

• Improved clarify. Also as pointed out, the only discrimination we will likely see is limiting access to giveaways or groups, which is integrated into the site in many ways through restrictions to regions, contributor levels, and whitelists. Therefore, it's been removed from the guideline. Negative comments towards certain groups could be viewed as too vague and broad of a guideline, so it was also removed.

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Before

Trading. This site is not for trading, so do not attempt to trade games or other items with users in the community. It is acceptable to discuss the general topic of trading, but it is not allowed to use our site to facilitate actual trades.

After

Trading. This site is not for trading, so do not attempt to trade games or other items with users in the community. It is acceptable to discuss the general topic of trading, but it is not allowed to use our site to facilitate actual trades. If you would like to conduct trades, refer to our sister site, SteamTrades.

Reason

• Added a note regarding SteamTrades as requested by users.

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Before

Winners will need to correctly mark their gift as received or not received within one week of the giveaway closing. It is also necessary to keep this feedback up-to-date if the status of the gift changes.

After

Winners will need to correctly mark their gift as received or not received within one week of the gift being marked as sent by the giveaway creator. It is also necessary to keep this feedback up-to-date if the status of the gift changes.

Reason

• Adjusted the time frame to one week after the gift was sent to provide the winner with adequate time to leave feedback.

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Before (this refers to the FAQ)

If you've been unable to reach the winner of your giveaway using email and Steam after one week of your giveaway ending, and they have not yet activated or redeemed any keys or gifts you attempted to send, please contact support to request a new winner.

After

If you contacted the winner of your giveaway on email and Steam over one week ago, and they have not yet responded or redeemed any keys or gifts you attempted to send, please contact support to request a new winner.

Reason

• Technically, in the past a giveaway creator could first contact their winner one week after their giveaway ended and try to immediately request a new winner. The change means they need to allow the winner one week to respond after making a reasonable effort to contact them.

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Added

Unreasonable Bumping. When bumping a discussion you should try to ensure it is in the best interest of the community. If you notice our community is not engaging with the content after it has been bumped a couple of times, then you need to stop bumping the discussion unless important new information or updates would make it appropriate to do so.

Reason

• Trying to help users understand when it's appropriate to bump discussions. In short, if a discussion is being repeatedly bumped and we don't feel the community is finding the content interesting (i.e. we're not seeing comments or activity), we'll see future bumps as being unreasonable.

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Before

If posting spoilers in chat, include a spoiler warning before and after your message to warn users.

After

Use the Steam /spoiler command when posting spoilers in the chat.

Reason

• The /spoiler command is a new addition to Steam chat and should be reflected in the guidelines now.

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Before

Inappropriate content. Do not post pornography and other material that may be inappropriate for a general audience. If you are posting anything that may be considered NSFW (not safe for work), please prefix any links or images with a NSFW tag to warn others.

After

Inappropriate content. If you are posting content that may be considered NSFW (not safe for work), prefix any links or images with a NSFW tag to warn others. Do not post pornography, or explicit content, such as real life images depicting severe injury, gore, or death.

Reason

• There was some prior confusion about whether pornography was allowed when tagged as NSFW. This change makes it more clear that it's never allowed. The previous guideline also mentioned that "other material that may be inappropriate for a general audience" was not allowed, but NSFW content was allowed when appropriately tagged, which was confusing because those two categories frequently overlap. The change makes it more clear that general NSFW content is allowed when tagged, while more explicit imagery or links are not.

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Before

Giveaways restricted to Steam groups can only be advertised in giveaway descriptions, the "Group Recruitment" discussion for the group, or in the comment section of other giveaways for the group. Whitelist restricted giveaways can only be advertised in giveaway descriptions corresponding to the whitelist, the "Group Recruitment" discussion for the whitelist, or in the comment section of other giveaways for the whitelist.

After

Giveaways restricted to Steam groups or whitelists can only be advertised in giveaway descriptions, their corresponding "Group Recruitment" discussions, or in the comment section for other giveaways available to the group or whitelist.

Reason

• Update so group and whitelist giveaways are treated equally, since a giveaway can combine the two options, and having separate rules would cause confusion about where a giveaway is allowed to be advertised.

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Added

Private or Identifying Information. Users in the community have a right to privacy. Do not post their private or identifying information without their consent. For example, their name, address, phone number, photos, or private messages.

Reason

• We do not want users to search out and identify individuals in the community which could result in harassment.

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Removed

Community giveaways available to everyone or invite only giveaways can be advertised anywhere on our site. Since giveaways open to everyone are displayed on our homepage, it is not necessary to create a discussion to advertise them, so please only do so when there is a greater reason for the discussion, such as including the giveaways in part of an event, cake day, or milestone. Giveaways restricted to Steam groups or whitelists can only be advertised in giveaway descriptions, their corresponding "Group Recruitment" discussions, or in the comment section for other giveaways available to the group or whitelist.

Reason

• More flexibility for sharing group and whitelist giveaway links throughout the site.

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Added

You are able to create discussions to promote your invite only giveaways. You can also promote other types of community giveaways, including those which are whitelist or group restricted, when there is a greater reason for the discussion, such as including the giveaways in part of an event, puzzle, cake day, or milestone.

Reason

• Prevents discussions that are just straightforward giveaway links, and requires more of a reason for them to exist.

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Removed

This content can be monetized, but there cannot be any content blocks preventing users from freely reaching their destination. For example, if you are linking to your website in a giveaway description, that website could contain banner advertisements, but it cannot require users to sign-up for a newsletter before they are able to reach the content. Or, if you are linking to a relevant YouTube video you have created, your YouTube channel could reference a Patreon, but the video itself cannot be behind a paywall.

Reason

• Trying to shrink the advertising section, and this part feels unnecessary.

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Added

Content consists of any material you post or make available through our site, such as discussions, links, comments, usernames, or Steam avatars.

Reason

• Usernames and avatars should follow the content guidelines.

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Before

Use the appropriate avenues for support. Submit a ticket with a user report if you believe a user is not following the rules or is causing an issue. This will allow support to resolve the situation, rather than bringing public attention to their behavior which could result in unnecessary arguments between users.

After

If you notice a user not following our guidelines, do your best to politely explain our rules with relevant links or quotes to our guidelines when appropriate. If they do not take action or deny any wrongdoing, please submit a user report ticket so we can take action if necessary.

Reason

• We frequently have users explain rules to new users to help them out, so we shouldn't discourage it.

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Removed

When you disagree with a user in the community, do your best to explain your viewpoint rather than attacking the individual.

Reason

• Seems unnecessary.

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Added

It is important giveaway creators are always given the benefit of the doubt when giveaways appear too good to be true and, to remain respectful, you do not write comments to question the legitimacy of their giveaways.

Reason

• Users shouldn't comment "fake" in giveaways, because they've been wrong numerous times in the past.

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Removed

Paid add-ons, extensions, or tools for Steam or SteamGifts. You may be able to advertise add-ons, extensions, or tools for Steam or SteamGifts, based on the below advertising guidelines. However, they must always be free for users, and not require a payment for use.

Donations. Do not ask for donations directly on our site. For example, linking to your Patreon in your giveaway descriptions, creating a discussion with a reference to your PayPal, or sharing a GoFundMe to raise money for a family member or friend.

Reason

• I think I'll leave these to fall under the final advertising guidelines we decide on. It also seemed a bit strange to allow users to advertise paid products or services in giveaway descriptions, but not paid Steam add-ons, which would likely be more relevant and interesting to the community.

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Before

Community events or third party giveaways that require or reward users for performing an action for promotional, commercial, or monetary benefit. For example, linking to a giveaway on another service that requires or incentivizes users to click a referral link, like a Facebook page, follow a Twitter account, join a Steam group, complete a survey, sign-up for a newsletter, or make a donation. Or, running an event that challenges users to collect achievements for a game you're associated with (e.g. you're the developer, publisher, or promoter of the game), an event that asks users to promote your product or service on social media, or an event where users need to write a review on Steam for your game.

After

Third party giveaways that require or reward users for performing profitable actions. For example, linking to a giveaway on another service that requires or incentivizes users to click a referral link, like a Facebook page, follow a Twitter account, join a Steam group, complete a survey, sign-up for a newsletter, or make a donation.

Reason

Rethinking this section a bit. Similar to the above, the community events aspect might be better covered in revised advertising guidelines.

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Before

Trading. This site is not for trading, so do not attempt to trade games or other items with users in the community. It is acceptable to discuss the general topic of trading, but it is not allowed to use our site to facilitate actual trades. If you would like to conduct trades, refer to our sister site, SteamTrades.

After

Trading. This site is not for trading, so do not attempt to directly trade games or other items with users in our community. If you attempt to indirectly trade or express a willingness to trade with an unusually high frequency, it will also be viewed as trading. If you would like to conduct trades, refer to our sister site, SteamTrades.

Reason

The update more clearly defines what we mean by trading.

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Before

You cannot ask users to perform any special action in order for their entry to be considered valid, such as liking a Facebook page, or following a Twitter account.

After

If a user has access to your giveaway they are free to enter and their entry will always be considered valid. Use the available group or whitelist options if you would like to add restrictions to your giveaway, or create an invite only giveaway and distribute the link either manually or with the help of third party tools to those that meet your requirements.

Reason

• Trying to clarify that users cannot invalidate giveaway entries (e.g. if you didn't write a poem in the giveaway comments, your entry will be invalid and I'll select a new winner), but users can have restrictions for distributing giveaway links (e.g. write a poem and I'll invite you to my giveaway).

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Before

Whitelist recruitment. Do not ask or hint for other users to whitelist you.

After

Whitelist solicitation. Do not ask or hint for other users to whitelist you, unless they are explicitly asking or searching for such users and you fulfill their requirements.

Reason

• Small changes to hopefully avoid confusion.

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Removed

If a user has access to your giveaway they are free to enter and their entry will always be considered valid. Use the available group or whitelist options if you would like to add restrictions to your giveaway, or create an invite only giveaway and distribute the link either manually or with the help of third party tools to those that meet your requirements.

Reason

• Causes confusion because it says an entry is always valid, but we have a variety of reasons where we allow the creator to request a new winner.

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Before

Respect the privacy of invite only giveaways, and if you are invited to a private giveaway, do not share the link with other users unless given permission by the giveaway creator.

After

Respect the privacy of invite only giveaways and do not share the link with other users unless given permission by the giveaway creator. Entering an invite only giveaway through a leak from a third party may invalidate your entry.

Reason

• Added a note that joining an invite only giveaway through a leak may cause your entry to be invalid.

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Added

An entry will be considered invalid if you enter a group restricted giveaway and the giveaway creator is able to prove you were removed from the corresponding Steam group prior to the giveaway ending.

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Before

If you are taking part in a puzzle, do not leak or hint towards any information that is intended to remain private, such as the game being given away, or the URL of the giveaway.

After

If you are taking part in a puzzle, do not disclose or hint towards any information that should remain private, such as the game being given away, how the puzzle may be solved, or the URL of the giveaway.

Reason

• Minor update.

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Added

Exploiting a vulnerability or bug to access a restricted giveaway may result in your entry being invalidated. For example, if a user creates a puzzle giveaway using a third-party service and they are able to demonstrate you extracted the giveaway link through a security vulnerability in their code rather than solving the puzzle.

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Before

Advertising is when you are promoting products or services you are associated with, or when you are posting content that is paid or sponsored.

After

Advertising is when you are promoting products or services you are associated with, or when you are posting content that is paid or sponsored. Directly naming or linking to an associated product or service will always be viewed as advertising. General references (e.g. referring to your "website", "YouTube channel", or "Steam group") may also be viewed as advertising when we believe their purpose is to bring attention to an associated product or service for publicity or sales.

Reason

• Tried to remove some uncertainty around the definition so everyone is on the same page.