Trust without assumptions.

LAST UPDATED AUGUST 1, 2026 · POLICY VERSION 1.0

BLACK OWNED HERE. uses explicit public ownership evidence for Community Shout-Outs and owner-controlled attestations for claimed profiles. No person or business is classified by a name, appearance, photograph, neighborhood, or demographic assumption.

Who is eligible

A for-profit business represented as Black-owned must be at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by one or more Black people. Community Shout-Outs require explicit reliable public evidence. Claiming owners must be authorized to act for the business and sign the current ownership-and-accuracy attestation before owner-controlled publication changes.

Nonprofit and community organizations use a separate eligibility model: Black-led, Black-founded, Black-serving, or a Black community organization, supported by accurate governance or mission information. They are not called Black-owned by default. Pop-up and community vendors may be reviewed under the applicable adult-managed business standard. Youth-run project types are unavailable until adult-management, safety, privacy, moderation, and legal controls are approved.

Submission and publication

• Email confirmation is required before a submission can enter review.
• Every private draft is tied to an authenticated account.
• Owners choose the public business contact details, address visibility, locations, service areas, categories, links, hours, and media they submit.
• Submitted versions are immutable during review. Draft edits do not overwrite the current public version before approval.
• An administrator reviews the exact submitted version and public media before anything publishes.
• Submission, attestation, contact confirmation, or a website signal does not guarantee approval or public placement.

Website-assisted drafts

An authorized owner may ask BLACK OWNED HERE.to read public pages on the business's own website and prepare a private first draft. The scanner is bounded, respects a site-wide robots.txt prohibition, does not sign in or bypass restrictions, and does not copy competitor directories. Text, contact details, links, and candidate images are suggestions for owner review—not verified facts.

• The permission record, source URL, pages read, signals, and warnings stay private.
• Low-confidence or policy-blocked categories require an owner choice.
• The owner must review every field and sign the same current attestation.
• Candidate media remains private until separately selected and approved.
• Nothing is published automatically.

Evidence and verification labels

Administrators may review owner attestation, control of a confirmed account or business website, public registration or business records, documentation supplied privately, contact methods, and consistency across the submission. Evidence is collected only as needed and kept private under the Privacy Policy.

A label must match a corresponding review record and state what was actually checked. Owner attestation is not third-party or government certification. Website ownership means the reviewed signal supports control of the submitted domain; it does not prove Black ownership. No label guarantees quality, licensing, safety, legal compliance, pricing, availability, customer satisfaction, or future accuracy.

Content and media standards

Listing text must describe the actual organization and avoid deceptive claims, unsupported superlatives presented as fact, keyword stuffing, another organization's content, or private personal data. The submitter must have permission to use every logo, photograph, video, and other asset. Images must accurately represent the business and meet current technical and safety checks. Before-and-after media remains private unless correctly paired and explicitly approved for public display.

Prohibited listings and content

• False ownership, identity, certification, licensing, location, contact, or service claims.
• Fraud, scams, illegal goods or services, malware, impersonation, harassment, threats, hate, exploitation, doxxing, or content that creates a credible safety risk.
• Stolen media, confidential records, personal data without authority, fabricated reviews, undisclosed conflicts, or attempts to manipulate ranking or moderation.
• Deferred classifieds, temporary-offer, marketplace, or child-submitted content that does not have an approved operating and safety policy.

Moderation decisions

Administrators may approve, request more information, reject, suspend, unpublish, or remove a listing or contribution when eligibility is unsupported, information is inaccurate, required evidence is missing, media is unsafe or unauthorized, a policy is violated, or legal or user safety requires action. Private notes and evidence are not public. A decision may be revisited if material new information is supplied.

Customer review moderation

• Every customer review and every business response remains pending until an Administrator approves it.
• The operating target is three business days. It is not a promise or guaranteed deadline.
• Reports may identify fraud or fabrication, harassment or threats, hate speech or discrimination, conflicts of interest, employee or competitor manipulation, irrelevant content, private information, or spam.
• A rejected reviewer may submit one appeal within 30 days; an Administrator records the decision and reason.
• Business owners may respond but may not edit, remove, suppress, or retaliate against reviews.
• Reviews and responses must not expose private evidence, home addresses, identification records, private correspondence, health information, or payment credentials.
• Review scores do not determine ownership eligibility, verification level, publication eligibility, or sponsored ranking.

Corrections, removals, and appeals

1. Use “Suggest a correction” on the business profile whenever possible so the report is tied to the correct listing. Otherwise use the listing support form.
2. Identify the exact listing or content, the information at issue, the requested correction or removal, and the basis for the request. Do not send passwords or unrelated sensitive records.
3. The report enters a private administrative queue. Public information changes only after review; urgent safety or privacy concerns may be hidden while reviewed.
4. An affected owner or contributor may reply to a request for information, correct the draft, resubmit, or ask for reconsideration with relevant context or evidence.
5. Status and applicant-facing explanations are recorded where the workflow supports them. No particular outcome or response deadline is guaranteed.

Ranking and commercial boundaries

Organic search must not use payment, raw profile views, or advertising spend as a credibility signal. A business may never pay for ownership status, verification, reviews, trust labels, or a favorable moderation decision. Any future featured or sponsored placement must be visibly disclosed and kept distinct from verification and organic relevance.

Questions

Listing and moderation questions may be sent to support@blackownedhere.com. Legal or intellectual-property concerns may be sent to legal@blackownedhere.com.