Code of ethics for Internet marketing vendors

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Internet ethics are defined as values that generally focus on the proper use of online resources. These serve as a guide for online vendors that sell products and services in a virtual environment.

For an emerging business, “the temptation to cut corners or compromise one's values is pervasive,” writes Dan Crawford, a senior fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, in his article, How to Navigate Your Way Out of No Man's Land With Ethics, published on the Santa Clara University website. Internet ethics serve as a “backbone” that helps online companies decide and act on what’s right. The rules set may change over time as values and Internet usage change, but the existence of a guideline provides direction.


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TopSEOs.com, an independent authority on vendors who supply Internet marketing products and services, has created its own EthicsViolations code of ethics to guide companies and individuals in using the Internet for marketing purposes. The following are cited in its code of ethics:

• Do not intentionally charge customers for non-delivered services or products.
• Do not intentionally set false expectations for services or products.
• Do not provide customers with inaccurate or false information.
• Do not demean, threaten, incite violence, or be hateful to another individual, service provider, competitor, client, or any other entity.
• Do not make false allegations of competitors.

TopSEOs notes that a continuous pattern of complaints against any entity deemed breaching any of the codes above will result in blacklisting. The agency has also warned that customers of Internet marketing services should be cautious when dealing with companies that have been identified as ethics violators.


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Are you a victim of unethical services from an Internet marketing service provider? File a violation report here.