We will use a few terms in these Terms:

  • “App”: any downloadable application we may make available to you.
  • “Consumer”: any individual that accesses our Site or uses any of our Services or Content, other than a Service Provider.
  • “Content”: text content, notifications, emails, videos, images, audio or any other content, or any combination of the foregoing, in each case, that we make publicly available in our Site(s) and/or App(s) or that we permit you to access through the Site(s) and/or App(s), whether created by us or otherwise.
  • “Services”: any software or services we make available to you, including the Site or App, as well as any offline services we may provide to you.
  • “Service Provider”: any third party service provider (including any freelance journalist), online affiliation network or advertiser with whom we have contracted to provide Content or Services.
  • “Site”: SMB Guide
  • “Terms”: These Terms of Service, which are a legally binding agreement that governs your access to our Services.
  • “we”, “us” or “our”: SMB Guide DBA
  • “you” or “your”: you
  • “User”: a user of our Services, whether a Consumer, Service Provider or otherwise.

Through our Services, we provide Content regarding a variety of topics. Use of our Services is for informational purposes only.

Our Site provides you with information about certain products or services. We hope that this information will help you with thinking about and managing the products and services that will suit you. Please note that you are responsible for your own decisions relating to the subject matter of the Site.

Our Services provide Content that is broad in scope and that does not take into account important details (financial or otherwise) relating to your personal situation. Your personal situation is unique and information included in the Content may not be applicable to your personal situation. You should consider additional information from other sources before making decisions about use or purchase of any product or service.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY, AS THEY CONTAIN AN AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE, WHICH REQUIRES THAT YOU AND SMB Guide DBA ARBITRATE CERTAIN CLAIMS BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION INSTEAD OF GOING TO COURT AND LIMITS CLASS ACTION CLAIMS, UNLESS YOU OPT OUT OF THE AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE AS DESCRIBED IN THE ARBITRATION SECTION (SEE SECTION 20 “AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE”).

1. Acceptance of Terms.

PLEASE REVIEW THESE TERMS BEFORE USING OUR SITE, AS THESE TERMS MAY HAVE CHANGED SINCE YOUR LAST VISIT. IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE, YOU CAN ALSO VIEW THESE TERMS VIA A WEB BROWSER AT smbguide.com/terms/. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, THEN DO NOT USE OUR SERVICES, INCLUDING OUR SITE OR APP. BY USING OUR SERVICES, INCLUDING OUR SITE OR APP, YOU REPRESENT TO US THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OLD AND HEREBY INDICATE YOUR UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS.

SMB Guide reserves the right to revise these Terms in its sole discretion at any time and without prior notice to you other than by posting the revised Terms on our Site. Revisions to the Terms are effective upon posting.

The Terms will be identified as of the most recent date of revision. Your continued use of our Site or our App after a revised version of these Terms has been posted on our Site constitutes your binding acceptance of the revised Terms.

2. Our Services.

a. Internet Publications.

We and our affiliates, through our Services, may provide a venue through which a Consumer or other Users can obtain information about the subject matter of the Site, which may include information on a variety of topics. Through our Services, we and our affiliates may provide Content created by our Service Providers.

We have contracted with freelance journalists and/or content writers who may recommend the services of other Service Providers with whom we have contracts. Our Service Providers may also advertise their products or services through our Services.

Content relating to the subject matter of the Site provided through our Services is informational in nature only and does not create any fiduciary or other relationship or duty of any kind between or among you, us or any of our affiliates or Service Providers. Content may include hyperlinks to websites that are not hosted by us (“Third Party Sites”). These Terms will not apply to any Third Party Sites, as more fully described in Section 11.

b. Not a Service Provider.

You acknowledge and agree that we are not a Service Provider. Our Services may connect you with a Service Provider and provide general information about the subject matter of the Site or other types of services or products.

We are not a financial institution, credit card issuer, insurance provider, communications service provider or any other Service Provider.

c. Use of Data.

We may make available to our Service Providers certain statistical information that we collect from you in accordance with and as more fully described in our Privacy Policy.As set forth in Section 4, we reserve the right to alter, suspend or discontinue our Services or your access to our Services in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, without notice.

As set forth in Section 8, you are responsible for ensuring that any Content that you provide complies with all applicable laws and regulations.

3. Fees.

a. For Consumers.

This Section 3(a) applies to Consumers only.

i. Fees.

There is currently no fee for any Consumer’s use of our Services. You understand that in the future we may decide to charge fees for the use of our Services at any time in our sole discretion by providing notice to you of any such fees and requiring you to create an account to access our Services.

ii. Service Provider Charges.

Although we currently do not charge fees to Consumers for the use of our Services, each Service Provider may charge fees once you establish a contract with such Service Provider.

These Terms do not govern your relationship with any Service Provider or any activity on any Third Party Site. Terms regarding activity on a Third Party Site are more fully described in Section 11.

iii. Your Payment.

In the event that we decide to charge fees for the use of our Services, you agree that we may charge your payment method for the fees and other amounts described in this Section 3. All payments must be made in United States Dollars.

iv. Credit Cards.

In the event that we decide to charge fees for the use of our Services, we may also charge you a fee for using a credit card to pay such fees, as set forth on the applicable Site or on our App, and as may be updated by us from time to time.

The fee for using a credit card may be a percentage of the fee you have to pay to us, as set forth on the applicable Site or App, and as may be updated by us from time to time.

v. Billing and Payment Policy.

All information that you provide to register with us is subject to our Privacy Policy. We may use a third party payment service to bill you through an online account for fees in lieu of directly processing your credit card information.

By submitting your payment account information, you grant us the right to store and process your information with the third party payment service, which may change from time to time; you agree that we will not be responsible for any failures of the third party to adequately protect such information.

The processing of payments will be subject to the terms, conditions and privacy policies of such third party payment service in addition to these Terms. You acknowledge that we may change the third party payment service and move your information to other service providers that encrypt your information using transport layer security technology (TLS) or other comparable security technology.

vi. Refunds or Credits; Reversals of Purchases.

Other than as may be expressly set forth on the applicable Site or our App as updated from time to time, we have no obligation to provide refunds or credits, but may grant them in certain circumstances, as a result of specific refund guarantee promotions, or to correct any errors made by us, in each case in our sole discretion.

b. For Service Providers.

This Section 3(b) applies to Service Providers only.

i.

The amount that we pay you or the amount that you pay us, together with any associated payment terms, shall be governed by our separate written agreement with you.

4. Scope of Service.

We may change our Services at any time. If you do not like our Services or these Terms, please let us know and provide constructive feedback by sending us an email at [email protected]. We do not promise to make any changes that you suggest, and your sole remedy if you are dissatisfied with our Services or these Terms is that you may discontinue your use of our Services at any time.

We may alter, suspend, or discontinue our Services in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, without notice. Our Services may also periodically become unavailable due to maintenance or malfunction of computer equipment or for other reasons. In order to use our Services, you must have a computer with Internet access that can access our Site or a compatible mobile device enabled with our App.

When using our Services, your telecommunications carrier’s normal rates and charges apply. We are not responsible for any charges you incur from your telecommunications carrier as a result of use of our Services. You are responsible for ensuring that, at all times while using our Services, you are not in violation of your agreement with your telecommunications carrier.

Please note that we may be paid by a Service Provider. Content that appears on our Site or on our App may be sponsored by a Service Provider.

5. License to Use; Privacy Policy.

Subject to these Terms and any other agreement between you and us, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to install and use our App on a compatible mobile device for your personal, non-commercial purposes and use our Site, in each case, solely in the manner enabled by us.

Your license to use our Services is automatically revoked if you violate these Terms. From time to time, we may upgrade our Services or make improvements to our Services. You agree that these Terms will apply to all such upgrades or improvements.

The foregoing license grant is not a sale of our App or our Site or a sale of a copy of our App or our Site, and we and our partners and suppliers retain all rights and interest in our Services. Any attempt by you to transfer any of the rights, duties or obligations hereunder, except as expressly provided for in these Terms, is void. We reserve all rights not expressly granted under these Terms.

Our Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”), describes the collection, use and disclosure of data and information by us in connection with our Services. The Privacy Policy, as may be updated by us from time to time in accordance with its terms, is hereby incorporated into these Terms, and you hereby agree to the collection, use and disclosure practices set forth therein. By using our Services, you consent to receiving communications from us as further described in the Privacy Policy.

Please read the Privacy Policy to learn more about your choices regarding our electronic communications practices. You agree that any notices, agreements, disclosures or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including written communications.

6. Login Credentials.

In order to use some functionality of our Services, you will be required to register by providing certain information. We may ask you to complete a registration form and create a user name and password or we may permit you to login using a social media account (“Login Credentials”).

During any such registration, you are required to give truthful contact information (such as name and email address) in accordance with these Terms. You are responsible for protecting your Login Credentials from unauthorized use, and you are responsible for all activity that occurs on your account (including without limitation financial obligations).

You agree to notify us immediately if you believe that your Login Credentials have been or may be used without your permission so that appropriate action can be taken. We are not responsible for losses or damage caused by your failure to safeguard your Login Credentials.

All information that you provide through our Services is subject to our Privacy Policy, as may be in effect from time to time. You are responsible for keeping your registration information up to date through your account page, to the extent such feature is made available through our Services.

7. SMB Guide Content; Uploaded Content.

Subject to these Terms and any other agreement between you and us, we hereby grant you a limited, personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable license to access and use Content that we make available through our Services (“SMB Guide Content”), solely for your personal and non-commercial use, and subject to any restrictions on certain types of Content set forth in these Terms. You understand that the SMB Guide Content that is posted on our Services is used by you at your own risk.

Nothing contained on our Services should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use our Services or any Content, through the use of framing or otherwise, except: (a) as expressly permitted by these Terms; or (b) with our prior written permission or the permission of the third party that may own the trademark or copyright of material displayed on our Site.

SMB Guide does not claim any ownership rights in the Content posted by a User to our Services (collectively, “User Content”). You represent and warrant to us that you own the User Content posted by you or that you otherwise have sufficient right, title and interest in and to such User Content to grant us the licenses and rights set forth below without violating, infringing or misappropriating the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, intellectual property rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay all royalties, fees and any other monies owed to any person by reason of any User Content posted by you.

After posting User Content to our Services, you continue to retain such responsibility for and rights in such User Content as you held prior to posting such User Content on our Services, except that you waive all moral rights in such User Content.

By posting any User Content to our Services, you hereby grant to us a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, sub licensable, worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, adapt, modify (e.g., re-format), translate, re-arrange, display, publicly perform and otherwise use your User Content for any purpose through any manner, mode of delivery or media now known or developed in the future (e.g., including to anonymize or re-purpose such User Content).

We have no obligation to use, or to continue to use, any User Content. You retain sole authorship responsibility for any User Content you post to our Services regardless of whether we modify your User Content.

We reserve the right to make changes to any Content, descriptions or specifications of our Services, or other information without obligation to issue any notice of such changes.

8. Prohibited Conduct.

As a condition of your use of our Services, you will not use our Services for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms. It is your responsibility to ensure that any Content that you provide is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

You may not use our Services in any manner that in our sole discretion could damage, disable, overburden, impair or interfere with any other party’s use of our Services. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through our Services.

You agree not to use false or misleading information in connection with your user account or impersonate any other person living or dead, and acknowledge that we reserve the right to disable any user account with a profile which we reasonably believe is false or misleading (including a profile that impersonates a third party).In addition, you agree that you will not and will not authorize or facilitate any attempt by another person to use our Services to:

  • a. Transmit any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, offensive, obscene, pornographic, lewd, lascivious, or otherwise objectionable, as determined by RI.
  • b. Use a name or language that we, in our sole discretion, deem offensive.
  • c. Post defamatory statements.
  • d. Post hateful or offensive Content or Content that disparages any ethnic, racial, sexual, gender, religious, or other group.
  • e. Post Content that depicts or advocates the use of illegal drugs.
  • f. Post Content that characterizes violence as acceptable, glamorous or desirable.
  • g. Post Content that infringes another’s copyright, trademark or trade secret.
  • h. Post unsolicited advertising or unlawfully promote products or services.
  • i. Harass, threaten, stalk or intentionally embarrass or cause distress to another person or entity.
  • j. Promote, solicit, or participate in any multi-level marketing or pyramid schemes.
  • k. Exploit children under 18 years of age.
  • l. Engage in disruptive activity, such as sending multiple messages in an effort to monopolize a forum.
  • m. Invade the privacy of any person, including without limitation posting personally identifying or otherwise private information about a person without their consent (or their parent’s consent in the case of a child under 13 years of age).
  • n. Solicit personal information from children under 13 years of age.
  • o. Create a false identity or impersonate another person or entity.
  • p. Encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal or civil offense.

We reserve the right to consider other conduct to be prohibited; the restrictions above are intended to be illustrative.

You agree not, and will not permit any person or entity, to:

  • (i) use, or allow the use of, our Services for any unfair or deceptive practices or in contravention of any federal, state, local, foreign, or other applicable law, or rules and regulations of regulatory or administrative organizations;
  • (ii) act in a fraudulent, tortious, malicious, or negligent manner when using our Services;
  • (iii) obtain unauthorized access to any computer system through our Services;
  • (iv) circumvent, remove or otherwise interfere with any security-related features of our Services, features that prevent copying or using any part of our Services or features that enforce limitations on the use of our Services or any Content;
  • (v) introduce viruses, worms, Trojan horses or harmful code to our Services; or (vi) use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve, scrape or index any portion of our Services or any Content, except as permitted by our robots.txt file on the applicable Site.

We reserve the right, without prior notice and in our sole discretion, to decide whether your use of our Services violates these Terms for any of the above reasons or for any other reason, and if we do so, we may terminate your access to our Services.

9. Indemnification.

By using our Services, you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless us and our officers, directors, employees and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and all costs and expenses of defense (collectively, “Claims”), including without limitation attorneys’ fees, resulting directly or indirectly from a claim by a third party that arises in connection with (i) your provision of any Content, (ii) your use of our Services; (iii) any User or other third party’s use of any Content that you submit via our Services; or (iv) any interaction you have with another User, including without limitation making an offer to a User of any of your products or services. At our option and in our sole discretion, you agree to defend us from any such Claims.

10. Intellectual Property Rights.

You agree and acknowledge that the structure, organization and code used in conjunction with our Services are proprietary to us. You shall not, and shall not permit any person or entity to: (i) use our Services on a service bureau, time sharing or any similar basis, or for the benefit of any other person or entity; (ii) alter, enhance or make derivative works of our Services or any Content available through the foregoing; or (iii) reverse engineer, reverse assemble or decompile, or otherwise attempt to derive source code from, our Services.

You shall not sell, transfer, publish, disclose, display or otherwise make available our Services including without limitation any modifications, enhancements, derivatives or other software or materials provided hereunder by us or copies thereof to others in violation of these Terms.

Unless otherwise noted, all SMB Guide Content contained on our Services is the property of us or our affiliates or licensors, and is protected from unauthorized copying and dissemination by United States copyright law, trademark law, international conventions and other intellectual property laws. Product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

11. Links to Third Party Sites. 

Our Services may contain links to third party sites. These links are provided to you as a convenience, and we are not responsible for the content of any linked third party site. Any third party site accessed from our Services is independent from us, and we have no control over the content of that site.

In addition, a link to any third party site does not imply that we endorse or accept any responsibility for the content or use of such site. Use of any third party site is subject to its terms of service and privacy policy. We request that you exercise caution and good judgment when using third party sites.

12. Providers of Third Party Platforms.

You hereby acknowledge and agree that all of our licensors, suppliers or other third parties:

  • (i) are not parties to these Terms;
  • (ii) have no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance or support services with respect to RI;
  • (iii) are not responsible for addressing claims by you or any third party relating to our Services, including without limitation any product liability claims, claims under consumer protection laws or claims under any other law, rule or regulation; and
  • (iv) have no responsibility to investigate, defend, settle or discharge any claim that our Services or use thereof infringes any third party intellectual property rights.

13. Disclaimer.

Under no circumstances will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by failed delivery or receipt of Content, your reliance on or use of information from our Services, information provided by another User or by your use of our Services.

It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through our Services. You are solely responsible for any loss or damage caused by your decision to use or rely on any information, opinion, advice or other content available through our Services.

OUR SERVICES AND ALL CONTENT ON OR ACCESSIBLE FROM OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SPECIFICALLY, BUT WITHOUT LIMITATION, WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT:

  • (i) THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR SERVICES IS FREE OF ERRORS;
  • (ii) THE FUNCTIONS OR SERVICES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION MECHANISMS FOR THE DOWNLOADING AND TRANSMITTING CONTENT) PROVIDED BY OUR SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR FREE OF ERRORS;
  • (iii) DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR
  • (iv) THAT OUR SERVERS OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKE THEM AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.WE AND OUR AFFILIATES AND LICENSORS CANNOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY YOU WILL NOT BE MISAPPROPRIATED, INTERCEPTED, DELETED, DESTROYED OR USED BY OTHERS.

14. Limitation of Liability; Release.

a. Disclaimer.

IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE TO YOU, ANY OTHER USER OF OUR SERVICES, THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHER INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF USE OR COSTS OF OBTAINING SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES) ARISING OUT OF THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OR MISUSE OF OUR SERVICES, YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, CONTENT OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREON, WHETHER BASED UPON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES.

b. Limitation.

OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATEST OF (I) $100.00; OR (II) (A) IF YOU ARE A CONSUMER, THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID TO US IN FEES, IF ANY, IN THE THEN-PRIOR SIX (6) MONTH PERIOD, OR (B) IF YOU ARE A SERVICE PROVIDER, THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF FEES WE HAVE PAID YOU, IF ANY, IN THE THEN-PRIOR SIX (6) MONTH PERIOD.

c. Exclusions.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU BUT SHALL INSTEAD APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

d. Release.

Our Services are only a means of providing information to Consumers and we do not provide advice, nor do we take part in the use of such information on the part of our Consumers to make any type of decisions.

As a result of our lack of involvement in any such decisions, you hereby release us, and our officers, directors, employees, agents, investors, subsidiaries and contractors from any and all claims, demands or damages (actual or consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with

  • (i) disputes between or among Users;
  • (ii) third party sites, products and services, including without limitation insurance policies; or
  • (iii) claims relating to the unauthorized access to any data, communications or content stored under or relating to your account, including without limitation unauthorized use or alteration of such communications or your Content. We expressly disclaim any liability or claims that may arise between or among Users of our Services. You waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor.” You waive any other similar provision of applicable law that applies to you.

15. California Users

If you are a California resident, you may reach the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs via mail at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N112, Sacramento, CA 95834 or telephone at (916) 445-1254 or (800) 952-5210. Hearing impaired Users can reach the Complaint Assistance Unit at TDD (800) 326-2297 or TDD (916) 322-1700.

16. Jurisdictional Issues.

We make no representation that information on our Services is appropriate or available for use outside the United States. Those who choose to access our Services from outside the United States do so on their own initiative and at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.

By using our Services, you consent to having your Login Credentials and any personal information that you provide as part of the account creation process transferred to and processed in the United States subject to the restrictions on such data as provided in our Privacy Policy posted through our Site from time to time.

17. Modifying and Terminating Service.

We may terminate your access to our Services, in our sole discretion, for any reason and at any time, upon electronic notice to you at the email address provided by you at registration. You agree that we are not liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to our Services.

We may change and update our Services from time to time. We may add or remove features including without limitation making free Services into paid Services and vice versa. We will give you appropriate advance notice about any major changes, although you understand that we may stop, suspend or change our Services at any time without prior notice.

If we determine that you are using our Services inappropriately, we may suspend or terminate your account at any time with no notice. If we do so, you may contact us at [email protected] and we may consider any concerns that you express regarding the suspension or termination of your account.

You may terminate these Terms at any time by ceasing to use our Services or by closing your account, if you have an account. On our Services, we will include instructions for how to close your account. We may update these instructions and our process to close your account from time to time. Please follow the instructions on our Services to close your account if you would like to do so.

The following Sections of these Terms and any accrued obligations will survive any termination of these Terms: 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.

18. Unsolicited Ideas and Feedback.

We welcome your feedback, ideas and suggestions (collectively, “Suggestions”). It is important to be aware of the following restrictions with regards to your Suggestions. If you send us any Suggestions, you agree that:

  • (1) your Suggestion(s) become our property and you are not owed any compensation in exchange;
  • (2) none of the Suggestion(s) contain confidential or proprietary information of any third party;
  • (3) we may use or redistribute Suggestion(s) for any purpose and in any way;
  • (4) there is no obligation for us to review your Suggestion(s); and
  • (5) we have no obligation to keep any Suggestions confidential.

19. Governing Law; Dispute Resolution.

These Terms, and any dispute between you and us, shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York, USA, without regard to principles of conflicts of law that would result in the application of the law of any other jurisdiction other than New York General Obligations Law 5-1401, except that the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of the arbitration provisions set forth below.

Unless you and we agree otherwise, in the event that Section 20 is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim or dispute, either as a result of your decision to opt-out of the Arbitration Procedures (as defined below) or as a result of a decision by the arbitrator or a court order, you agree that any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you and us must be resolved exclusively by a state or federal court located in New York, New York, USA, except that you or we are permitted

  • (1) to bring small claims actions in state court in the county in which you reside if such court has a small claims procedure;
  • (2) to bring claims for injunctive relief in any court having jurisdiction over the parties; or
  • (3) to seek enforcement of a judgment in any court having jurisdiction over the parties. To the extent permitted by law, you and we agree to waive trial by jury in any court proceeding.

20. Agreement to Arbitrate; Waiver of Class Action.

Except if you opt-out or for disputes relating to your or our intellectual property (such as trademarks, trade dress, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights and patents) or for items (1)-(3) set forth in Section 19, you agree that all disputes between you and us (whether or not such dispute involves a third party) arising out of or relating to these Terms, our Services or our Privacy Policy shall be finally resolved by arbitration before a single arbitrator conducted in the English language in New York, New York, U.S.A. under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”).

You and we shall appoint as sole arbitrator a person mutually agreed by you and us or, if you and we cannot agree within thirty (30) days of either party’s request for arbitration, such single arbitrator shall be selected by the AAA upon the request of either party. The parties shall bear equally the cost of the arbitration (except that the prevailing party shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with the arbitration in such an amount as may be determined by the arbitrator).

All decisions of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on both parties and enforceable in any court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding this, application may be made to any court for a judicial acceptance of the award or order of enforcement. Under no circumstances shall the arbitrator be authorized to award damages, remedies or awards that conflict with these Terms.

Any claims brought by you or us must be brought in that party’s individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding. Neither you nor us will participate in a class action or class-wide arbitration for any claims covered by these Terms.

You hereby waive any and all rights to bring any claims related to these Terms or our privacy policy as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding. You may bring claims only on your own behalf.

You may opt out of this Agreement To Arbitrate. If you do so, neither you nor we can require the other to participate in an arbitration proceeding. To opt out, you must notify us in writing within thirty (30) days of the date that you first became subject to this arbitration provision.

The opt-out notice must state that you do not agree to the Agreement To Arbitrate and must include your name, address, phone number and a clear statement that you want to opt out of this Agreement To Arbitrate. You must sign the opt-out notice for it to be effective. This procedure is the only way you can opt out of the Agreement To Arbitrate. You must use this address to opt out: SMB Guide DBA, ATTN: [email protected]

Notwithstanding any provision in these Terms to the contrary, you and we agree that if we make any change to the Arbitration Procedures (other than a change to any notice address or Site link provided herein) in the future, that change shall not apply to any claim that was filed in a legal proceeding against us prior to the effective date of the change.

Moreover, if we seek to terminate the Arbitration Procedures from these Terms, such termination shall not be effective until thirty (30) days after the version of these Terms not containing the Arbitration Procedures is posted to the Site, and shall not be effective as to any claim that was filed in a legal proceeding against us prior to the effective date of removal.In accordance with Section 17, this Arbitration section will survive the termination of your relationship with us.

YOU AND WE EACH KNOWINGLY, VOLUNTARILY AND WITHOUT DURESS, INTIMIDATION OR COERCION, WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO A TRIAL BY JURY OF DISPUTES ARISING UNDER THESE TERMS.

21. Miscellaneous.

You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms in whole or in part to any third party without our consent. These Terms shall bind and inure to the benefit of the parties to these Terms and their respective successors, permitted transferees and permitted assigns.

We and you are independent contractors and are not partners, joint venturers, agents, employees or representatives of each other. These The headings and captions used in these Terms are used for convenience only and are not to be considered in construing or interpreting these Terms.

If any part of these Terms is held to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that part will be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

22. Entire Agreement; Conflict with other Agreements.

These Terms contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the transactions and matters contemplated herein, supersede all previous communications, understandings and agreements (whether oral or written) other than any click-through or end user license agreement provided by us, and cannot be amended except by a writing signed by both parties or by our posting of an amended version of these Terms on our Site.

In the event that these Terms conflict with any term of any other agreement between you and us, these Terms shall govern unless such other agreement between you and us explicitly set forth the provisions of these Terms that shall not govern.

23. Minors.

Our Services are available only to, and may only be used by, individuals who are 18 years and older and who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. If you are a parent or guardian and you discover that your child has created an unauthorized account on our Services, please contact us at [email protected].

24. For Additional Information.

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at: [email protected].