Since we launched WebMD, we have regularly sought sponsorships and advertisements from relevant commercial organizations, manufacturers, and other leaders dedicated to providing health and lifestyle information. These sponsorships, which are a form of advertising, enable us to provide you with our award-winning content at no cost to you. WebMD provides opportunities for sponsors to bring you their marketing message and information about their products and services by publishing their information or links within our site. We take several steps to ensure that you can clearly identify content that is provided by and is under the editorial control of our sponsors before you view it, so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not to view it. For more information, read our Advertising Policy.
When You See "From Our Sponsor", “Sponsored by”, “Promoted by”, or “By (Sponsor’s Name)” on WebMD
In order to clearly distinguish between WebMD content and content that is created or provided by one of our sponsors, we always label content from our sponsors as "From Our Sponsor", "Sponsored by", "Promoted by", or "By (Sponsor's Name)". While content from a sponsor is subject to WebMD's Advertising Policy, it is not subject to WebMD's Editorial Policy. The sponsor is responsible for the accuracy and objectivity of their content and the content is not reviewed by the WebMD Editorial Department for accuracy, objectivity or balance.
Here are the ways that we identify content as being from a sponsor and some related points that we would like to bring to your attention:
- All content on WebMD that is created or provided by a sponsor is identified with the label "From Our Sponsor", "Sponsored by", "Promoted by", or "By (Sponsor's Name)".
- At the top of each page of content from our sponsors, we place descriptive text to inform you that the content on the page is created or provided by the sponsor and is under their sole editorial control.
- Links to sponsor content or content from our sponsor will include the label "From Our Sponsor", "Sponsored by", "Promoted by", or "By (Sponsor's Name)"
- Within a sponsor's content, there may be links to the sponsor's web site.
- When links to a sponsor's web site are included in content, WebMD notifies you that you are visiting another web site. We describe this process in more detail in the WebMD Privacy Policy.
- Sponsored content carries the copyright of the named sponsor or the rightful copyright owner.
- Sponsored content includes a descriptive line at the end of the content noting that WebMD does not endorse any specific product, service, or treatment.
When Third Parties Fund the creation of WebMD Editorial Content
In addition to creating and providing their own content for presentation to you on our site (labeled as "From Our Sponsor", "Sponsored by", "Promoted by", or "By (Sponsor's Name)"), third parties may provide funding to WebMD for the creation by WebMD of original editorial content for the WebMD Network. In such case, the third party may work with WebMD to identify a mutually agreed upon general topic, but the content will be produced in accordance with our Original Content Process described in our Editorial Policy and the third party will have no control over the content. At their request, these third parties may receive the attribution “Brought to you by,” “Supported by,” “funded by,” or similar attribution on our editorial content during the period that they fund a program. This attribution is not intended to reflect any change in the editorial nature of the content.
When WebMD Works with Other Third Parties to Fund the Cost of Educational Content
WebMD works with government and other organizations or associations whose primary mission is to educate the public on health topics or issues. We use a specific framework of criteria to review and select these organizations and work with them to create or select content within specific topic areas. The content is reviewed and edited by the third party and then edited and approved by WebMD's editorial staff. Just like all of WebMD's award-winning content, this category of content is subject to WebMD's editorial policy and process for accuracy, balance, and objectivity.
In these instances, you will find:
- We place descriptive text at the top of the page to let you know that WebMD created or selected the content with assistance and collaboration from the organization or association we worked with to create the content.
- You will generally see the words "educational collaboration" followed by the name of the organization who we worked with to create the content a hyperlink to the definition of "educational collaboration."
- We also tell you if there was additional funding by other third parties who have no control over the content.
Last Updated: June 20, 2016
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