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Awards Program Rules

These Awards Program Rules (“Rules”) govern awards programs owned, operated, or administered by Inbound Systems, Inc. (“Inbound Systems,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), including local and regional “Best,” “Awards,” “Honors,” and other recognition programs operated by Inbound Systems.

These Rules are intended to preserve the integrity, fairness, accuracy, and efficient administration of our awards programs. Participation in an awards program constitutes acceptance of these Rules.

Additional program-specific information, including dates, geographic boundaries, categories, voting periods, and other details, may be published on the applicable awards program website.

1. Definitions

For purposes of these Rules:

Candidate means any business, organization, individual, professional, event, radio station, radio show, or other entity considered for recognition in an awards program.

Nominee means a Candidate officially selected by Inbound Systems to participate in voting for a particular category.

Finalist means a top qualifying Nominee following voting, scoring, eligibility review, and any applicable tie-breaking procedures.

Winner means a Finalist receiving an official award designation, which may include Gold, Silver, Bronze, Regional Winner, or another designation established by the applicable awards program.

2. Participation Is Free

There is no charge for a Candidate to be nominated, selected as a Nominee, participate in voting, become a Finalist, or receive an award.

Purchases from Inbound Systems are separate from the awards-selection process.

Purchasing advertising, sponsorships, memberships, plaques, merchandise, event tickets, promotional products, services, or any other product from Inbound Systems does not purchase votes, increase a Candidate’s scoring, guarantee nomination, guarantee Finalist status, guarantee an award, or otherwise influence award results.

Sponsors may receive advertising exposure, enhanced visibility, promotional placement, or other benefits associated with their sponsorship. Such benefits do not affect nomination, scoring, Finalist selection, Winner selection, or award placement.

A sponsor may also be a Candidate without being disqualified solely because of its sponsorship.

3. Candidate Identification and Nominations

Candidates may come to our attention through:

  • nominations submitted by members of the public;
  • self-nominations;
  • nominations submitted by customers, employees, owners, or other interested persons;
  • research performed by Inbound Systems;
  • Google, business directories, review platforms, websites, public information, or other third-party sources; or
  • other methods determined appropriate by Inbound Systems.

A Candidate only needs to be nominated once to be considered. Receiving one or multiple nominations does not guarantee that a Candidate will be selected as an official Nominee.

Nomination volume is not itself determinative of Nominee selection.

4. Geographic Eligibility

Candidates generally must maintain a physical location within the geographic boundaries established for the applicable awards program.

Inbound Systems may, at its discretion, expand eligibility outside the normal geographic boundaries when a category lacks a sufficient number of qualified Candidates and the nature of the category involves businesses or professionals that reasonably serve customers within the market.

Service-area businesses may therefore be considered outside the normal boundaries when Inbound Systems determines that doing so is appropriate.

Geographic boundaries, eligibility determinations, and exceptions are determined by Inbound Systems.

5. Candidate Eligibility

Candidates must generally be active, legitimate, and appropriately associated with the category in which they are considered.

For categories in which Google review data are used, the Candidate generally must have an active, open Google Business Profile or Google Place listing that provides the review data necessary for evaluation.

Some categories do not rely on Google reviews. Examples may include radio stations, radio shows, seasonal events, and other categories for which consumer-review data are not an appropriate measure.

Inbound Systems may decline, remove, or disqualify a Candidate because of closure, relocation, category mismatch, misleading information, vote manipulation, legal concerns, ethical concerns, reputational concerns, integrity concerns, or other circumstances that Inbound Systems determines make recognition inappropriate.

There are no industries categorically excluded from participation solely because of industry type, although all eligibility decisions remain subject to Inbound Systems’ discretion.

A Candidate’s failure to purchase products or services from Inbound Systems does not affect eligibility. However, a Candidate’s participation may be restricted, suspended, or denied when the Candidate, its owner, or an affiliated entity has an unresolved financial obligation to or has caused an unresolved financial loss to Inbound Systems, as further described in our Purchase Policies.

6. Nominee Selection

Nominee selection is an editorial and discretionary stage of the awards process.

For categories using Google reviews, Nominee selection is often based primarily on a proprietary Google Rating Score that considers:

  • the number of 5-star reviews received during the applicable recent review period, generally the preceding 12 months; and
  • the Candidate’s overall Google rating.

Inbound Systems does not publish the exact calculation used in its proprietary rating or scoring systems in order to protect the integrity of the awards and reduce opportunities for manipulation.

Category Relevance

Inbound Systems determines all category assignments.

Candidates whose primary business category most closely matches an awards category are generally given priority over Candidates for whom the category is secondary, tertiary, or otherwise less central to their business.

If there are not enough qualified Candidates whose primary category matches the awards category, Inbound Systems may consider Candidates whose secondary or other categories are relevant.

As a result, a Candidate with stronger review metrics may not necessarily be selected over another Candidate whose primary business category is more directly applicable.

Local and Independent Businesses

Inbound Systems may favor local and independently owned Candidates over large national chains, corporate stores, or similar Candidates when selecting Nominees.

This is not an absolute rule. The number and quality of available Candidates, market conditions, category composition, and other factors may affect selection.

Editorial Adjustments

Automated or preliminary selection processes may not always identify the most appropriate final Nominees.

Inbound Systems may manually add, remove, substitute, or re-evaluate Candidates using factors including, but not limited to:

  • Google rating;
  • review history;
  • category relevance;
  • claimed or verified listing status;
  • local relevance;
  • independent versus chain ownership;
  • business status;
  • geographic eligibility;
  • engagement;
  • data accuracy; and
  • other qualitative or quantitative considerations.

Nominee selection is ultimately determined by Inbound Systems.

7. Number of Nominees, Finalists, and Winners

The number of Nominees selected for any category may vary based on the number of qualified Candidates, market size, program structure, available data, category quality, corrections, category changes, or other circumstances.

Inbound Systems may increase or decrease the number of Nominees, Finalists, or Winners at its discretion.

Most categories typically recognize up to three Finalists, who may ultimately receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze Winner designations.

A category may have fewer than three Finalists if fewer Candidates satisfy the applicable scoring and eligibility standards.

Some programs may also include regional recognition, including Regional Winners, in addition to broader market or statewide awards.

8. Category Administration

Inbound Systems has sole discretion over category creation, interpretation, placement, and administration.

We may:

  • add categories;
  • remove categories;
  • merge categories;
  • split categories;
  • rename categories;
  • discontinue categories;
  • move Candidates between categories;
  • limit a Candidate’s category participation; or
  • make other category adjustments that we believe improve the accuracy or integrity of the program.

A Candidate may qualify for more than one category. Inbound Systems generally attempts to select the most appropriate category for each Candidate but may permit participation in multiple categories when appropriate.

Distinct Candidates under common ownership may each be eligible independently. Inbound Systems will not ordinarily combine separate businesses solely because they share ownership, although eligibility and category placement remain within our discretion.

9. Corrections to Nominee Selection

Inbound Systems may add or correct a Nominee after an initial Nominee announcement when we determine that an error or data issue prevented a Candidate from being properly selected.

Examples include:

  • incorrect location information;
  • incomplete or outdated Google review information;
  • incorrect category information;
  • duplicate or incorrect candidate records;
  • outdated business information; or
  • another administrative or data error.

Such corrections are generally intended to place a Candidate in the position it would reasonably have occupied had the correct information originally been available.

Corrections may cause the number of Nominees in a category to exceed the customary number.

10. Voting

Unless otherwise stated for a particular program:

  • each voter may cast one effective vote per category;
  • a voter may vote in multiple categories;
  • a voter may submit another vote in the same category, but only that voter’s most recent valid vote in that category will count; and
  • voters must provide the information and verification required by the voting system.

Inbound Systems may require information including name, email address, mobile telephone number, ZIP code, and SMS verification.

Voters must satisfy locality and eligibility requirements established by Inbound Systems.

Inbound Systems uses multiple methods to evaluate voting validity and locality. Those methods are confidential and are not disclosed in order to reduce opportunities for circumvention or manipulation.

Votes determined to be duplicate, non-local, automated, fraudulent, manipulated, invalid, or otherwise inconsistent with these Rules may be rejected or excluded.

11. Candidate Campaigning

Candidates are encouraged to promote their nomination and ask customers, supporters, employees, followers, and others to vote.

Permitted activities may include:

  • social-media posts;
  • email campaigns;
  • text-message campaigns;
  • paid advertising;
  • in-store signage;
  • QR codes;
  • radio advertising;
  • direct requests to customers;
  • use of authorized nominee graphics; and
  • other lawful promotional activity.

Candidates may not incentivize votes or reviews.

Examples of prohibited incentives may include offering discounts, prizes, gifts, compensation, entries into drawings, special benefits, or anything else of value in exchange for a vote or review.

Inbound Systems evaluates suspected incentivization or manipulation on a case-by-case basis.

Depending on the circumstances, Inbound Systems may:

  • issue a warning;
  • require the Candidate to discontinue the activity;
  • invalidate some or all votes received during an affected period;
  • adjust results;
  • disqualify the Candidate; or
  • take another action reasonably determined appropriate by Inbound Systems.

Disqualification is not mandatory for every violation.

12. Scoring

After voting concludes, Nominees are evaluated using Inbound Systems’ proprietary scoring methodology.

For categories using Google review information, scoring generally combines:

  • voting results;
  • Google review data; and
  • the Candidate’s overall Google rating.

Google review data are reviewed after voting concludes and may include reviews received during the voting period.

The review component generally considers the number of 5-star reviews received during the applicable recent review period, generally the preceding 12 months, together with the Candidate’s overall rating.

The 5-star review component uses a logarithmic, diminishing-returns scale. Additional 5-star reviews continue to contribute value, but each additional review has progressively less scoring impact as the number of reviews increases.

This methodology is intended to balance reputation and public voting without allowing sheer review volume to overwhelm the scoring process.

For categories in which Google reviews are not applicable, scoring may rely on voting and the other applicable criteria established for that category.

Inbound Systems does not disclose its exact scoring formula, weighting, numerical scores, vote totals, internal rankings, fraud-detection methods, or other proprietary evaluation data.

13. Multiple Locations

When a Candidate operates multiple eligible locations within a market, Inbound Systems may consolidate those locations for purposes of the awards.

Voting scores may be adjusted based on the number of eligible locations so that multi-location Candidates do not receive an unfair advantage solely because they operate more locations.

Google review data from multiple eligible locations may also be combined, averaged, or otherwise incorporated into the scoring methodology as determined by Inbound Systems.

Whether individual locations of the same brand are treated as one Candidate or separate Candidates depends on the category and circumstances.

For example, separately operated or locally differentiated locations may be treated individually when appropriate.

14. Better Business Bureau Eligibility Review

After voting and scoring, Inbound Systems reviews BBB.org for top-scoring Candidates before confirming Finalists.

If a BBB profile can be located:

  • a rating of B- or better generally satisfies this eligibility review;
  • no assigned BBB grade is acceptable; and
  • lack of BBB accreditation does not negatively affect the Candidate.

If no BBB profile can be located, the Candidate remains eligible.

A BBB grade below B- will ordinarily make a Candidate ineligible for Finalist status; however, Inbound Systems may make exceptions at its discretion based on the circumstances.

BBB information is an eligibility screen only and is not included in the Candidate’s numerical award score.

15. Finalists and Winners

Once scoring and applicable eligibility reviews are complete, qualifying Candidates may be designated as Finalists.

Finalist and Winner selection is primarily determined algorithmically based on the applicable scoring methodology, subject to:

  • eligibility screening;
  • tie-breaking procedures;
  • data corrections;
  • fraud or integrity review;
  • category administration; and
  • other rights reserved under these Rules.

Finalists may receive Gold, Silver, Bronze, Regional Winner, or other official designations established for the applicable program.

Results are not final until officially announced by Inbound Systems.

Information appearing in a dashboard, email, screenshot, internal system, preliminary communication, or other source before an official announcement does not constitute an official result.

16. Tie-Breaking

If Candidates remain tied after application of the applicable scoring methodology, Inbound Systems may apply the following tie-breakers.

Categories Using Google Review Data

Tie-breakers may be applied in the following order:

  1. Score
  2. Votes per eligible location
  3. Google rating
  4. BBB standing
  5. Listing claimed date
  6. Most recent review date
  7. Overall rating
  8. Overall review count

Categories Not Using Google Review Data

Tie-breakers may be applied in the following order:

  1. Votes per eligible location
  2. BBB standing
  3. Listing claimed date
  4. Vote timestamp, with an earlier qualifying vote receiving preference

Inbound Systems may resolve exceptional or unanticipated ties using additional reasonable criteria at its discretion.

17. Engagement Score

Inbound Systems may use an Engagement Score, participation metric, or similar measure in connection with Nominee selection and tie-breaking.

Engagement may include activities such as:

  • claiming or verifying a listing;
  • correcting or completing business information;
  • sharing awards content;
  • promoting voting;
  • social-media participation;
  • responding to verification requests; or
  • other program engagement.

Engagement Score is not part of the primary numerical scoring formula used to determine Finalist or Winner placement. It may be used for Nominee selection and tie-breaking as described in these Rules.

Inbound Systems may activate, deactivate, revise, or replace engagement criteria at its discretion.

18. Candidate Data and Third-Party Information

Inbound Systems may obtain Candidate information from sources including:

  • Google;
  • BBB.org;
  • Candidate websites;
  • public records;
  • business directories;
  • social-media platforms;
  • Candidates themselves;
  • voters;
  • customers; and
  • other third-party sources.

Inbound Systems may correct, supplement, update, or replace Candidate information when we believe available information is incomplete, outdated, inaccurate, duplicated, or otherwise unreliable.

Inbound Systems is not responsible for errors, outages, delays, changes, omissions, or inaccuracies originating from third-party platforms or data providers.

Review counts, ratings, BBB information, business details, and other third-party information may change without notice.

19. Business Changes

If a Candidate closes, relocates, changes ownership, changes its business name, merges, is acquired, or experiences another material change, Inbound Systems may determine how that Candidate and any associated recognition will be treated.

We may update, transfer, maintain, remove, or otherwise modify the Candidate’s listing or award status at our discretion.

Winner recognition may be transferred to a successor following a business name change, acquisition, or similar succession only with Inbound Systems’ approval.

20. Candidate Removal Requests

Participation in an awards program is free; however, Candidates do not have an automatic right to remove themselves from public nomination, voting, Finalist, or Winner recognition solely because they prefer not to participate.

Our awards reflect nominations, votes, reviews, and other public-facing information.

Inbound Systems may remove a Candidate when appropriate because of closure, relocation, eligibility concerns, legal or ethical concerns, category issues, data inaccuracies, or other reasons recognized under these Rules.

A request not to receive communications from Inbound Systems affects only how we communicate with the Candidate and does not, by itself, affect nomination, voting, Finalist status, or award results.

21. Result Review Requests

Inbound Systems does not provide a formal appeals process. We may, however, review alleged factual errors or rule violations.

Nominee Selection

Requests concerning Nominee selection must generally be received no later than seven (7) calendar days after voting begins.

Finalist and Winner Selection

Requests concerning Finalist or Winner selection must generally be received no later than three (3) business days after the first relevant announcement.

Review requests should identify a specific factual error, eligibility issue, data problem, or alleged violation.

Examples may include:

  • incorrect location information;
  • incorrect review information;
  • incorrect category placement;
  • duplicate records;
  • business closure or relocation;
  • voting irregularities;
  • prohibited incentivization; or
  • another objectively identifiable error.

Disagreement with Inbound Systems’ editorial Nominee selection, methodology, proprietary formula, weighting, or discretionary decisions does not by itself establish grounds for a change.

Inbound Systems does not disclose vote counts, scores, formulas, internal rankings, or confidential evaluation information when responding to review requests.

If we determine that an error or violation occurred, we may take any action we determine appropriate, including:

  • adding, removing, or re-categorizing a Nominee;
  • invalidating votes;
  • correcting data;
  • changing Finalist placement;
  • changing Gold, Silver, or Bronze placement;
  • correcting a previously announced result;
  • revoking recognition; or
  • leaving an announced result unchanged when we determine that doing so is appropriate under the circumstances.

Inbound Systems’ determination following review is final.

22. Corrections After Announcement

Inbound Systems may correct, revise, withdraw, or revoke a Nominee, Finalist, Winner, or other designation if an error, eligibility problem, fraud, manipulation, inaccurate data, rule violation, or other material issue is discovered before or after announcement.

Inbound Systems may also decline to publish or recognize a result when we determine that doing so could create material legal, reputational, ethical, or program-integrity concerns.

23. Confidential Information and Internal Records

Inbound Systems’ internal records, voting-system records, databases, logs, and administrative data control in the event of a discrepancy with screenshots, recollections, third-party records, preliminary communications, or other information.

The following information is confidential and will not ordinarily be disclosed:

  • vote totals;
  • Candidate scores;
  • scoring formulas;
  • weighting;
  • internal rankings;
  • fraud-detection methods;
  • locality-verification methods;
  • proprietary evaluation methods; and
  • other internal program data.

Inbound Systems may disclose such information when we determine disclosure is appropriate or legally required.

24. Technical Issues and Third-Party Services

Inbound Systems may use third-party providers for services including:

  • SMS verification;
  • email;
  • payment processing;
  • hosting;
  • voting technology;
  • analytics;
  • review information;
  • BBB information;
  • communications; and
  • other program administration.

Technical failures, third-party outages, delayed data, system errors, duplicate submissions, verification failures, malicious activity, or similar problems may affect an awards program.

Inbound Systems may invalidate, restore, adjust, recalculate, or otherwise correct affected data or votes when we determine such action is reasonably necessary.

25. Program Dates and Deadlines

Published dates and deadlines are subject to change.

Inbound Systems may modify nomination periods, voting dates, announcement dates, event dates, deadlines, or other program timing because of technical issues, holidays, operational requirements, market conditions, venue availability, or other circumstances.

Updated information may be published on the applicable awards program website.

26. Recognition Does Not Constitute Endorsement

Nomination, Finalist status, and Winner recognition reflect the applicable awards methodology and do not constitute certification, accreditation, warranty, guarantee, professional endorsement, or assurance of the quality, safety, legality, licensing, or suitability of a Candidate’s products or services by Inbound Systems.

Consumers should perform their own evaluation before purchasing products or services from any Candidate.

27. Award Products and Event Participation

Nomination, Finalist status, or Winner status does not create any entitlement to complimentary:

  • plaques;
  • trophies;
  • certificates;
  • merchandise;
  • advertising;
  • promotional products;
  • event tickets;
  • memberships;
  • sponsorships;
  • digital products; or
  • other goods or services.

Such products and services may be offered separately for purchase.

Recognition itself is not conditioned upon purchasing those products or services.

Purchases are governed by the applicable Inbound Systems Purchase Policies.

28. Brand and Award-Mark Use

Use of Inbound Systems awards names, logos, badges, graphics, trademarks, and other brand assets is subject to the applicable Brand Guidelines.

Candidates may use official graphics provided by Inbound Systems for their intended purpose and subject to applicable time limitations.

Nominee and Finalist branding expires when Winners for the applicable award cycle are announced unless Inbound Systems authorizes continued use.

Winner branding may be used indefinitely for the specific year and designation actually awarded, subject to the Brand Guidelines.

Candidates may not:

  • alter an official badge without permission;
  • create misleading versions of an award badge;
  • use Inbound Systems’ standalone awards-program logos without express written permission;
  • remove or materially modify required badge elements;
  • claim an award, ranking, designation, year, or status that was not awarded; or
  • use award branding in a deceptive or misleading manner.

Inbound Systems may require correction or cessation of unauthorized use.

29. Updates and Interpretation of These Rules

Inbound Systems reserves the right, in its sole discretion and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to revise, amend, supplement, interpret, clarify, replace, or otherwise modify these Rules, program guidelines, methodologies, scoring criteria, nomination practices, tie-breaking procedures, engagement criteria, eligibility requirements, or other aspects of an awards program at any time, with or without prior notice.

The version then published by Inbound Systems will control.

Participants are responsible for reviewing the then-current Rules and applicable program information.

30. Related Policies

These Rules should be read together with other applicable Inbound Systems policies and program information, including:

For matters involving award eligibility, nomination, voting, scoring, Finalist selection, Winner selection, or award administration, these Awards Program Rules control unless expressly stated otherwise.

For purchases and billing, the Purchase Policies control.

For use of awards names, logos, badges, and brand assets, the Brand Guidelines control.

For promotional giveaways and random prize drawings, the Giveaway Rules control.

For collection and handling of personal information, the Privacy Policy controls.

31. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Inbound Systems, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, vendors, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or relating to an awards program.

This includes, without limitation, alleged:

  • lost profits;
  • lost revenue;
  • lost business opportunities;
  • reputational harm;
  • loss of goodwill;
  • loss of customers;
  • business interruption;
  • inaccurate nomination or category placement;
  • voting results;
  • scoring;
  • Finalist or Winner determinations;
  • corrections or changes to results;
  • technical problems;
  • third-party information; or
  • use or inability to use awards branding.

Nothing in these Rules excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

32. Indemnification

To the fullest extent permitted by law, each Candidate and other program participant agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Inbound Systems and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, affiliates, and service providers from claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from or relating to that participant’s:

  • campaigning or promotional activities;
  • false or misleading statements;
  • misuse of awards names, badges, graphics, or other brand assets;
  • violation of these Rules;
  • violation of applicable law;
  • infringement of third-party rights; or
  • other acts or omissions for which the participant is responsible.

33. No Waiver

Failure by Inbound Systems to enforce any provision of these Rules in a particular instance does not waive our right to enforce that provision or any other provision in the future.

A decision to provide a warning, exception, accommodation, or other discretionary resolution in one circumstance does not require Inbound Systems to provide the same treatment in another circumstance.

34. Severability

If any provision of these Rules is determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

35. Governing Law and Venue

These Rules and any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to an awards program operated by Inbound Systems will be governed by the laws of the State of Idaho, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except to the extent another jurisdiction’s law must apply as a matter of law.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, any legal action arising from or relating to these Rules or an Inbound Systems awards program must be brought in the applicable state or federal courts located in Ada County, Idaho, and participants consent to the jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

36. Final Authority

Inbound Systems retains final authority to interpret and administer its awards programs and these Rules.

Where a situation is not specifically addressed by these Rules, Inbound Systems may resolve the matter in the manner it determines best protects the fairness, accuracy, administration, reputation, and integrity of the applicable awards program.