Board rules

1. Rounds

Each round contains a live bidding period followed by a short results break. The countdown shown on the board is authoritative. Rankings lock when live bidding ends. When the next round starts, every current-round total returns to zero.

2. Paid bids

Every accepted bid is paid. A first bid in a round charges the full total entered. A later bid for the same website must increase its current total by at least the displayed minimum, and only the difference between the current total and new total is charged. Bids do not carry into a new round.

3. Ranking and ties

Higher valid paid totals rank above lower totals. If two websites have the same total, the website that first reached that total in the relevant period stays ahead. Current, previous-round, daily and all-time boards use the period stated on each view.

4. URLs and duplicate listings

One canonical listing is kept for each normalised URL. We remove common variations such as www, unnecessary trailing paths and tracking parameters where appropriate. Entering an existing URL loads that listing so it can be raised rather than duplicated.

Anyone may pay to promote an eligible website. Payment does not prove ownership of the website or grant permission to write a custom public description.

5. Categories and public metadata

The public name is based on the normalised domain. Descriptions and favicons are retrieved from public website metadata where available. A bidder may select a category; a successful later bidder may change it unless an administrator has locked the category. Administrators may correct categories or apply a verified description override.

6. Prohibited destinations

Listings must be lawful, genuine and reasonably safe to visit. We do not permit malware, phishing, impersonation, deceptive schemes, stolen content, illegal goods or services, material that promotes criminal activity, hateful or exploitative content, pornography, sexually explicit content, adult services, destinations primarily used to promote them, or anything that could materially harm visitors or Hold Your Place. General social, modelling, fashion, fitness and creator profiles are not prohibited merely because the person also operates adult content elsewhere; we assess the submitted destination itself and may review borderline cases manually.

Link shorteners, misleading redirects, affiliate links and tracking parameters must not be used to disguise the true destination.

7. Click counts

Clicks are counted for the leaderboard view from which the visitor opened a listing. Short-lived browser markers and technical checks may prevent immediate repeat clicks from being counted. Click figures are informational and may be corrected where automated or abusive activity is detected.

8. Thumbs up and down

Thumbs-up and thumbs-down counts are informal lifetime reactions to a listing. They do not affect paid ranking, bid requirements or leaderboard position. We may disregard or correct clearly automated or abusive voting.

9. Promotional placement

A rank is a paid promotional placement. It does not promise clicks, customers, sales, investment, press coverage or any other commercial result. Another valid bid may change the position at any time while bidding is live.

10. Enforcement

We may reject, remove, block or suspend a listing that breaks these Rules or creates a legal, safety, payment or reputational risk. Category or metadata errors may be corrected. Refunds are handled under the refund section of the Terms.

11. Questions and corrections

Report an incorrect category, unsafe destination or technical error to info@ostariogroup.com. Include the listing URL and enough detail for us to review it.