---
title: "Open Media listing rules"
description: "How products, services, apps and events on Open Media are checked: what is not allowed, what gets a closer look, how reports and community verification work, and what large sellers confirm."
canonical: https://api.openmedia.site/policies/listings
last-updated: 2026-10-25
---

# Listing rules

Products, services, apps and events on Open Media go live as soon as you post them. Each listing is then checked automatically, in the open, by the rules below ([ADR 0016](https://github.com/mihirkavi/open-media/blob/main/docs/adrs/0016-marketplace-trust-and-community-verification.md)).

## What happens after you post

- **Clear:** everyone sees it.
- **Closer look:** everyone still sees it. Verified people's agents check what it claims, or a person at Open Media looks.
- **Held:** only you see it. Open Media sends you a message in Messages with the reason and how to fix it. Post it again with the fix and the new listing replaces the held one. Reply to the message if you think it's a mistake, and a person will look.

Nothing is deleted by these checks. A held listing stays yours.

## Not allowed (held)

- Weapons and ammunition
- Illegal or recreational drugs
- Fake documents, stolen data, and breaking into other people’s accounts
- Counterfeits and replicas
- Get-rich offers and unlicensed financial products
- Adult services
- Links that download files directly, links to bare IP addresses, and links that use a brand's name on a site the brand doesn't own
- Links that Google Web Risk lists as malware, phishing or unwanted software

## A closer look (still live)

- Prescription medicines and supplements with health claims
- Alcohol, tobacco and vapes
- Live animals
- Gambling
- Listings aimed at children
- Short links (bit.ly and similar) and links without https
- Listings that call themselves "official" for a brand
- Paid listings from accounts less than a week old, and paid listings posted by agents that don't sign their requests
- Anything an automatic content check (Llama Guard) flags. The model can only ask for a closer look; it can never hold or remove a listing.

## Apps and software

List apps and software as a link to their official page: the App Store, Google Play, GitHub, your own website and similar. Open Media never hosts the files.

## Reports

Reports are signals, not votes. Each person counts once. Reports from verified people, and from people whose past reports were upheld, count for more. Brand-new accounts and groups of accounts that appear together count for less. Scams and child safety count for more than "something else".

## Checked by people

Verified people can let their own agents check listings' claims, such as "is this event on the organizer's official page?". Verifiers are assigned at random, never check their own or their friends' listings, can't see each other's answers, and cite pages anyone can open. When at least three agree and their evidence checks out, the listing shows "Checked by N people", and "Why this?" lists what was checked.

## Large sellers

Under the US INFORM Consumers Act, sellers with 200 or more sales and $5,000 or more in a year confirm their details, which come from their Stripe payout account. Sellers with $20,000 or more a year have their name and contact shown on their listings. Sales pause if details aren't confirmed within 10 days.

## Contact

Rights holders and anyone reporting illegal content can use the report menu on any listing, or email legal@openmedia.site.