Advertising standards

Advertising and news are separate

Sponsors never choose, review, preview, shape or delay any story, and no story is written, kept or dropped to suit a sponsor. Our editorial rules and the editorial gate that holds sensitive stories apply the same way whether or not a sponsor is involved. If a sponsor is in the news, we report it like any other story, and we say they advertise with us when it's relevant.

Every ad is labelled

• On air, sponsorships are read as "presented by" the sponsor, separate from the story text.
• On screen, commercials are labelled Advertisement, and our "commercial break" and "back to the news" sounds mark the beginning and end of each break.
• Ads are never written to sound like a news report, and our news anchors don't read commercials in their news voice.
• Commercials voiced by AI are made with synthetic voices; we don't imitate real people.

Our own products

Chimes In LLC, which operates Relay, and the people behind it have other projects, such as books and apps. When we promote them we treat them as advertising: labelled, kept in ad breaks, held to these standards, and identified as coming from the company behind Relay. They get no editorial coverage because of that connection.

What we accept

Clear, truthful messages from real businesses and organizations: who you are, what you offer, and how to find you. Claims must be accurate and able to be backed up; we may ask for evidence. Endorsements and testimonials must reflect real experiences and follow the FTC's Endorsement Guides.

What we don’t accept

• Political, electoral, ballot-measure or issue advocacy.
• Claims of cures, health outcomes, guaranteed results, or investment returns; cryptocurrency or speculative investment offers.
• Adult content, weapons, tobacco, vaping or cannabis, gambling, payday or high-cost lending.
• Anything misleading, deceptive, discriminatory or unlawful, or that targets children.
• Messages that attack a named competitor, impersonate someone, or use another party's trademarks without permission.
• Anything made to look or sound like a news report, an emergency alert or a station announcement.

Review, scheduling and refunds

A person reviews every booking before it airs. If we don't approve it, we refund the full payment through Stripe. We may stop a running message that turns out to break these standards, with a pro-rated refund. We may decline any ad at our discretion. Ad breaks can be paused for breaking news or by our kill switch; paused airtime is made good or refunded.

Measurement and privacy

We report how many times a message played to the end, and regional totals only where at least five listeners are counted. We don't track individuals, don't target ads to people, and don't give sponsors any personal information about our audience. Figures are estimates.

Responsibility for your message

You confirm that you have the rights to everything you submit (names, claims, music, trademarks) and that your message is lawful and truthful. You're responsible for your offer and your own business practices.