Vendor Participation Rules

Vendors are welcome in the Ostrich community forum, but must follow disclosure and conduct rules that protect buyer trust. Undisclosed vendor participation is the fastest path to getting banned — if you work for a vendor, disclose it every time you post.

Required disclosure

If you work for, consult for, or have a financial relationship with a vendor, you must state it clearly at the start of any post or reply that mentions that vendor. The community has a zero-tolerance policy for undisclosed affiliation. A disclosure looks like: "Disclosure: I'm on the [Company] team." This applies even if you're responding to a thread that doesn't mention your company specifically.

What vendors can and can't do

• Allowed: Answer direct questions about your product with disclosure
• Allowed: Share product updates, case studies, or research in the Vendor Announcements category
• Allowed: Respond to negative mentions of your product with factual context and disclosure
• Not allowed: Recommend your own product in response to "what should I use?" threads without disclosure
• Not allowed: Coordinating employees or partners to upvote vendor posts or downvote competitor threads
• Not allowed: Creating buyer-appearing accounts to post positive sentiment about your product

Verified vendor accounts (linked to a claimed listing) have a "Vendor" badge on their profile visible to all community members. Using a personal account without disclosure to avoid scrutiny is a permanent ban offense.