For us to take on the distribution of your press release, your release must meet the criteria below.
Content requirements
News value: the release must be newsworthy for the press. Examples include the launch of a new product or service, an organizational change, winning an award, an expert opinion on a current topic, or the publication of survey results. The headline must clearly indicate what the news is about.
News source: the title or text of the press release must make the source of the news clear, meaning the company, institution or organization issuing the release. If an agency submits the release, the news source is the agency’s client.
Objective tone: your release must not address the reader directly or use first- or second-person forms (I, we, you), except within quotes. Addressing the reader directly suggests that the release is advertising rather than news. You should also avoid exaggerated claims and writing in all caps, as these undermine the credibility of the news.
Prohibited content: the release must not be offensive, threatening, aggressive, defamatory, violent, intimidating or otherwise objectionable. It must not attempt to cause panic or fear, and must not be intended to cause harm.
Quotes: clearly mark opinions in your release and do not present them as facts. If you quote an external source, make sure it is a verified source.
Written authorization: for major corporate announcements, such as mergers or acquisitions, we may ask the company’s executive for written approval to distribute the release.
Legal accuracy: for any press release concerning legal or criminal matters, we require a court case number or other appropriate documentation.
Formal requirements
Length: your release must be at least 300 words long. Search engines have a harder time indexing content that is too short.
Grammar and spelling: your release must be free of grammatical and spelling errors. Avoid jargon and make sure the content can be understood by as many people as possible.
Formatting: do not use tables or embedded images in your release. Attach images as separate files when submitting. If your release contains links, make sure the web pages they point to actually work. If one or more links in the release lead to an error page, we cannot publish the release.
Maximum number of links: the release may contain no more than 1 link per 100 words.
Prohibited content
Our press service does not distribute the following types of content.
Advertisements: if a press release is primarily aimed at selling a product or service, it is an advertisement, not a press release. A good press release informs the media and the public about a newsworthy topic. If the main purpose of the document is to sell, we cannot distribute it.
Sexual and adult content: the press release must not contain references or links to sexual products or content, illegal products, or profanity.
Copying: news, opinion pieces and editorial articles taken from other websites or publications, especially copyrighted ones, do not qualify as press releases.
Duplicate content: a press release can be distributed through our press service only once. In addition, a significant part of every press release must be original content. Boilerplate content is not allowed.
Third-party legal announcements: our press service only accepts press releases from law firms that represent one of the parties in the case. We do not accept press releases about legal matters from companies that are third parties to them.
We also do not distribute press releases on the following topics:
- online gambling,
- drugs and other illegal substances,
- firearms,
- get-rich-quick schemes,
- specific investment advice,
- promotion of smoking.