Terms

What you are buying

A non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to display a name, a short description, an image and one outbound link in the slot associated with a word on this site, and to have the short URL for that word resolve to your link. It runs from the moment your payment settles and does not end. Nothing more.

Each word is auctioned once. Winning that auction is the only way the slot is ever assigned, and once assigned it is not reassigned: there is no expiry, no renewal, and no mechanism by which another person can take it from you.

What it is not, stated plainly: it is not a trademark and creates none, it creates no copyright, it grants no rights over the word anywhere outside this site, and it does not prevent anybody else from using that word for anything at all. It is not an investment, and nothing here is sold on the expectation of any future value. There is no guaranteed traffic: paid impressions depend on campaigns actually running and on the balance of the Attention Pool.

No rights in the word

Words in the catalogue are ordinary dictionary terms. Holding a slot creates no trademark, copyright, domain or other intellectual property right, and no exclusivity of any kind outside this website. You may say you hold the slot. Claiming ownership of the word itself, anywhere else, is on you.

Payments are final

Placing a bid authorises the amount on your card. It is not taken then. If somebody outbids you, or the reserve is never met, the authorisation is released and nothing is charged at all. If you win, the amount is taken when the auction closes, and that payment is final. The only automatic refund is a duplicate: if two payments for the same word settle at once and yours arrives second, that charge is returned in full, automatically. Disputing a charge for a word you won is disputing the thing you bought.

Your content

You are responsible for what you put in your slot and where your link goes. You confirm you have the right to use the name and image you upload. We may remove any listing, with or without notice, for anything illegal, deceptive, malicious, adult, or impersonating a real person or company. Removal ends the lease. Refunds in that case are at our discretion.

Trademark complaints

If a listing infringes your mark — for example a link or logo that passes itself off as your company — write to hello@ownaword.lol and we will take it down. The catalogue deliberately excludes brand names, but listings are user-supplied and we act on reports.

What “forever” is worth

A permanent slot is only as durable as the site under it, and it would be dishonest to sell the word “forever” without saying what happens if we stop. So: we commit to operating for at least 12 months from the date of each purchase.

If we shut the site down inside that window, you get a pro-rata refund of what you paid, measured against the remainder of your 12 months. If we shut down after it, there is no refund. A word you have won cannot be lost to another bidder, so the commitment runs for as long as the slot does.

Otherwise the site is provided as-is. We may change prices, the minimum increment, or the catalogue. We do not guarantee uptime, traffic, clicks, or that anybody will see your listing.

Eligibility

You must be 18 or older and able to enter a contract. This is not a game of chance, an investment, or a security: you receive a defined advertising placement for a fixed price, and money paid does not come back with a return.