Terms of Service - Bidkernel

Last Updated: April 2026

1. Definitions

“Agreement” means these Terms of Service, including all policies referenced herein.
“Bidkernel,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refers to the operator of the bidkernel platform at bidkernel.io.
“Customer,” “you,” or “your” refers to the individual or entity that creates an account and agrees to this Agreement.
“Platform” means the Bidkernel web-based management dashboard, APIs, configuration delivery network, analytics services, and all related infrastructure.
“SDK” means the Bidkernel client-side software development kit that runs on publisher websites to execute ad auctions, render ads, and collect analytics data.
“Services” means the Platform and SDK collectively, including all features available under your subscription tier.
“Property” means a website domain registered within the Platform for ad configuration and delivery.
“End Users” means visitors to your Properties where the SDK is installed.
“Subscription Tier” means the pricing plan (Starter, Growth, Scale, or Enterprise) selected by the Customer.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account, accessing, or using any part of the Services, you agree to be bound by this Agreement. If you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity.

If you do not agree to this Agreement, you may not use the Services.

3. Account Registration and Security

To use the Services, you must create an account by authenticating through our supported identity provider. You agree to:

Provide accurate and complete information during registration.
Maintain the security of your account credentials and session tokens.
Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.
Accept responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account, including actions taken by team members you have invited to your publisher organization.

You may invite additional team members to your publisher organization. As the account owner, you are responsible for the actions of all members and for managing their access permissions.

4. Description of Services

Bidkernel provides a programmatic advertising infrastructure platform that includes:

Configuration management: A web-based dashboard for managing ad slot definitions, bidder configurations, environments, supply chain settings, User ID modules, and ad server integrations.
SDK delivery: A globally distributed SDK that executes ad auctions on publisher websites using the configurations defined in the Platform.
Analytics: Auction performance reporting, revenue analytics, viewability metrics, and usage dashboards.
Supply chain compliance: Automated generation and deployment of ads.txt and sellers.json files.
White-label capabilities: Custom domain support for SDK and edge delivery under your own branding.
API access: Programmatic access to Platform functionality.

You are responsible for maintaining your own contracts with supply-side platforms (SSPs), demand-side platforms (DSPs), and ad exchanges. Bidkernel provides the infrastructure to connect to these partners but does not act as an intermediary in the revenue flow between you and your demand partners.

5. Subscription, Billing, and Payment

5.1 Subscription Tiers

The Services are offered under tiered subscription plans (Starter, Growth, Scale, and Enterprise). Each tier includes a specified allowance of ad requests, custom domains, and analytics data. Current pricing and tier details are published on our pricing page.

5.2 Free Trial

New accounts may be eligible for a 7-day free trial on the Growth tier. No credit card is required to start a trial. At the end of the trial period, you must add a payment method and select a subscription tier to continue using the Services. If you do not add a payment method, access to configuration and delivery features will be restricted; your data will be retained for 90 days.

5.3 Billing

Billing is monthly, anchored to your signup date.
Invoices are generated and charged automatically on your billing date.
We accept payment by credit card or ACH bank transfer via our payment processor (Stripe).
Annual billing is available at a discounted rate (pay for 10 months, receive 12 months of service, approximately a 17% discount). Annual billing is optional and non-refundable once the billing period begins.
All prices are in US Dollars (USD). You are responsible for any applicable taxes.

5.4 Overage

If you exceed the ad request volume, custom domain count, or analytics data allowance included in your Subscription Tier, overage charges will apply at the published overage rates for your tier. Overage is billed on your next invoice.

We will never interrupt ad delivery mid-billing period due to overage. You will receive email notifications at 80%, 100%, and 150% of your allowance. A hard safety limit at 10x your tier allowance is enforced to prevent runaway costs.

5.5 Tier Changes

You may upgrade or downgrade your Subscription Tier at any time from the dashboard. Upgrades take effect immediately and are prorated for the remaining billing period. Downgrades take effect at the start of your next billing period.

5.6 Late Payment

If payment fails, your subscription status will be marked as “past due.” We will attempt to charge your payment method again. If payment remains outstanding for more than 14 days, we reserve the right to suspend ad delivery and restrict access to non-essential Platform features until payment is received. Cancellation of your account due to non-payment does not relieve you of the obligation to pay outstanding charges.

5.7 Price Changes

We may modify our pricing from time to time. We will provide at least 30 days' advance notice of any price increase via email to the account owner. Price changes will take effect at the start of your next billing period after the notice period.

6. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree to use the Services only for lawful purposes and in compliance with this Agreement. You must not:

Generate fraudulent traffic: Inflate ad impressions, clicks, or other metrics through bots, scripts, click farms, ad stacking, or any other form of invalid traffic (IVT).
Serve malicious advertising: Use the Services to distribute malware, phishing content, forced redirects, cryptominers, or any other form of malvertising.
Misrepresent inventory: Provide false or misleading information in ads.txt, sellers.json, or supply chain declarations, including domain spoofing.
Reverse engineer: Decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, or attempt to extract the source code of the SDK or Platform, except as permitted by applicable law.
Interfere with the Services: Attempt to disrupt, degrade, or circumvent the security, rate limiting, metering, or access controls of the Platform.
Abuse APIs: Exceed reasonable API usage rates, scrape data from the Platform, or use automated tools to access the Services in a manner that degrades service for others.
Violate third-party rights: Use the Services in a manner that infringes the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any third party.
Serve prohibited content: Use the Services on websites that host illegal content or content that violates the content policies of the demand partners configured in your account.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account immediately if we determine, in our reasonable judgment, that you have violated this Acceptable Use Policy.

7. White-Label and Custom Domains

The Platform provides white-label capabilities allowing you to serve the SDK and edge infrastructure under your own custom domain (e.g., tags.yourbrand.com).

You must own or control the domain you register as a custom domain. We verify domain ownership through DNS record verification.
SSL certificates for custom domains are provisioned automatically through our infrastructure partner (Cloudflare). You are responsible for maintaining the required DNS records.
Additional custom domains beyond your tier's included allowance are billed at the published per-domain rate.
We reserve the right to revoke a custom domain if domain verification fails, if the domain is associated with abusive activity, or if your account is terminated.

While our white-label architecture allows you to present the SDK under your branding, you remain fully responsible for the ad inventory you serve, the content of your Properties, and your interactions with End Users and demand partners.

8. Intellectual Property

8.1 bidkernel IP

The Platform, SDK, documentation, APIs, and all related technology are and remain the exclusive property of Bidkernel. Subject to this Agreement, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Services for the duration of your subscription. This license does not include the right to sublicense, modify, or create derivative works of the Platform or SDK, except as explicitly permitted by the white-label features of the Services.

8.2 Your Data

You retain all rights to your content, configuration data, and the ad inventory served through the Platform. You grant Bidkernel a limited license to use your data solely as necessary to provide and improve the Services.

8.3 Feedback

If you provide us with feedback, suggestions, or ideas regarding the Services, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use and incorporate such feedback into the Services without obligation to you.

9. Data and Privacy

Our collection and use of information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into this Agreement by reference.

As a publisher using our Services, you acknowledge and agree that:

You are the data controller for End User data collected through the SDK on your Properties. Bidkernel acts as a data processor on your behalf.
You are responsible for providing appropriate privacy disclosures to your End Users regarding the use of the Bidkernel SDK and the data collection described in our Privacy Policy.
You are responsible for obtaining any required consent from End Users prior to data collection, including implementing consent management tools where required by applicable law (e.g., GDPR, ePrivacy Directive).
You will cooperate with Bidkernel to fulfill data subject requests (access, deletion, portability) that relate to End User data processed through our Services.

If you require a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) in accordance with GDPR Article 28 or other applicable data protection laws, please contact us.

10. Confidentiality

Each party may disclose confidential information to the other in connection with the Services. "Confidential Information" means any non-public information disclosed by one party to the other, including business plans, pricing, technical data, customer data, and API keys.

The receiving party agrees to: (a) use Confidential Information only to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement; (b) protect Confidential Information using at least the same degree of care it uses for its own confidential information; and (c) not disclose Confidential Information to third parties except as required by law or with written consent.

Confidential Information does not include information that: (a) is or becomes publicly known through no fault of the receiving party; (b) was known to the receiving party prior to disclosure; (c) is independently developed without use of Confidential Information; or (d) is rightfully received from a third party without restriction.

11. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Without limiting the foregoing, Bidkernel does not warrant that:

The Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.
Any specific level of ad revenue, fill rate, or monetization yield will be achieved.
Third-party demand partners will respond to bid requests or fulfill their obligations.
The Services will be compatible with all browsers, devices, or network environments.

You acknowledge that programmatic advertising involves complex interactions between multiple third-party systems and that performance depends on factors outside of Bidkernel's control, including demand partner availability, network conditions, End User browser configurations, and ad blocking software.

12. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW:

No consequential damages: IN NO EVENT SHALL BIDKERNEL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR COST OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF BIDKERNEL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Aggregate cap: BIDKERNEL'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO BIDKERNEL IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In such jurisdictions, the limitations above shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law.

13. Indemnification

13.1 Your Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Bidkernel and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:

Your use of the Services in violation of this Agreement.
The content or legality of the ad inventory served through your Properties.
Your failure to provide adequate privacy disclosures or obtain required consent from End Users.
Your violation of applicable laws, regulations, or third-party rights.
Any claims brought by your End Users, demand partners, or ad exchanges.

13.2 Our Indemnification

Bidkernel will indemnify and defend you against third-party claims alleging that the Platform or SDK (as provided by Bidkernel) infringes a third party's intellectual property rights, provided that you give us prompt notice of the claim, allow us to control the defense, and cooperate with us in the defense. This obligation does not apply to claims arising from your modifications, configurations, or use of the Services in combination with third-party products or in violation of this Agreement.

14. Term and Termination

14.1 Term

This Agreement begins when you create an account and continues until terminated by either party. Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period (monthly or annually) unless cancelled.

14.2 Cancellation by You

You may cancel your subscription at any time through the dashboard or by contacting us. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You will retain access to the Services until the end of the period you have already paid for. No refunds are issued for partial billing periods (except for annual plans, which are non-refundable).

14.3 Termination by bidkernel

We may suspend or terminate your account immediately if: (a) you materially breach this Agreement (including the Acceptable Use Policy); (b) your payment is overdue for more than 30 days; (c) we are required to do so by law; or (d) we reasonably believe your use of the Services poses a security risk or legal liability.

We will provide at least 30 days' notice for termination without cause.

14.4 Effect of Termination

Upon termination:

Ad delivery stops: The SDK will cease serving ads for your Properties.
Data retention: Your configuration data and analytics data will be retained for 90 days after termination to allow for data export or account reactivation. After 90 days, all data will be permanently deleted.
Data export: You may request an export of your configuration and analytics data during the 90-day retention period by contacting us.
Outstanding charges: Termination does not relieve you of the obligation to pay any fees accrued prior to the termination date, including overage charges.
Survival: Sections 8 (Intellectual Property), 10 (Confidentiality), 11 (Disclaimer), 12 (Limitation of Liability), 13 (Indemnification), and 17 (Governing Law) survive termination.

15. Third-Party Services

The Services integrate with and depend on third-party services that are outside of Bidkernel's control. You acknowledge and agree that:

Demand partners: You are responsible for maintaining your own contracts with SSPs, DSPs, and ad exchanges (e.g., Magnite, PubMatic, Index Exchange). Bidkernel is not a party to those agreements and is not responsible for demand partner performance, payment, or policy changes.
Ad servers: If you integrate with Google Ad Manager or other ad servers, use of those services is governed by the respective provider's terms of service.
User ID modules: Third-party User ID modules (e.g., ID5, SharedID) that you enable through the Platform are governed by their respective provider's terms and privacy policies.
No warranty: Bidkernel does not warrant the availability, accuracy, or performance of any third-party service.

16. API Terms

If you access the Services through our API, the following additional terms apply:

API access is subject to rate limits. We reserve the right to throttle or suspend API access when usage exceeds reasonable levels or negatively impacts service availability.
API keys are confidential. You are responsible for securing your API keys and must not share them publicly. API keys should be stored securely and rotated periodically. Compromised keys should be revoked immediately.
We may deprecate or modify API endpoints with at least 90 days' notice. We will communicate deprecation timelines through API response headers and email notifications.
Automated access to the Platform outside of the documented API is prohibited.

17. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

This Agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of laws principles.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall be resolved through good-faith negotiation between the parties. If negotiation fails, disputes shall be submitted to binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall be conducted in English and the decision shall be final and binding.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction for the protection of intellectual property rights or Confidential Information.

18. Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, war, terrorism, pandemics, labor disputes, government actions, power failures, internet or telecommunications failures, denial-of-service attacks, or failures of third-party infrastructure providers. The affected party will make reasonable efforts to mitigate the impact and resume performance as soon as practicable.

19. Modifications to These Terms

We may update this Agreement from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email to the address associated with your account at least 30 days before the changes take effect.

For non-material changes (e.g., corrections, formatting, clarifications), updates will be posted with a revised “Last Updated” date and take effect immediately.

Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of material changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Agreement. If you do not agree to the changes, you may cancel your subscription before the effective date.

20. General Provisions

Entire Agreement: This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy and any applicable DPA, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Bidkernel regarding the Services and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings.
Severability: If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
Waiver: The failure of either party to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of that provision or the right to enforce it later.
Assignment: You may not assign or transfer this Agreement without our prior written consent. We may assign this Agreement in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.
No Third-Party Beneficiaries: This Agreement does not confer any rights on any third party.
Notices: Notices to you will be sent to the email address associated with your account. Notices to Bidkernel should be sent through our contact form.

21. Contact Information

For questions about this Agreement, please reach out through our contact form.