Content Guidelines

Last updated on December 5, 2019.

While we welcome your opinions and descriptions of your photoshoot experiences, there are a few things we expect from every user on BookMyShoot. Your reviews and photos, as well as your profile and the comments you share, are all subject to Content Guidelines, our User Code of Conduct.

If your activity on BookMyShoot doesn't match up to these content guidelines, we reserve the right to take action as we deem necessary. This could include altering or deleting your reviews or comments, or deleting your BookMyShoot account altogether, with or without notice. BookMyShoot also utilizes an algorithm to aid in removing suspicious reviews. If you feel your review was deleted in error, email us at support@bookmyshoot.net.

If you see content that does not align with these guidelines or our Terms of Service, please let us know. We will consider all reports. However, due to the diversity of our community, it is possible that content disagreeable to you might not meet the criteria to be removed.

• Keep out the clutter: To make sure we collectively work towards building the highest-quality content that's useful to everyone, reviews need to be a minimum of 140 characters long. We do not have 140 characters limit for an online order review. However, if any review is filled with junk, we might have to remove the review altogether.
• Keep it relevant: Please keep your contributions relevant to BookMyShoot. Accounts placing irrelevant, inappropriate, or promotional content, that solicit customers, or that spam studios, or are based on any already disclaimed or informed policies and practices of a studio may be deleted without notice. If your review has been removed or moderated by us and if you repost another experience for the same studio, we reserve the right to remove that review too, even though such review might be in line with our content guidelines.
• Keep it clean: Whether you're writing a small snippet or a delightfully detailed account of photoshoot, keep foul/abusive/hateful language, threats, and lewdness out of it. We, just like you, hate junk and will delete it whenever we see it. This also includes (but is not limited to) derogatory comments on someone's protected characteristics (e.g. race, gender, religion) or indication of a personal vendetta against a business and its associates.
• Keep it fresh: Only one review per studio for a photoshoot experience per category can be submitted and your most recent experience with studio counts. That's what is going to help people when they're trying to decide whether or not to go ahead with that studio. You're free to edit and update your review based on subsequent bookings at any time.
• Keep it real: Write your review based on facts and your own experiences (e.g. not a friend's or any hearsay experience or based on media reports). Please don't exaggerate or falsify your experience. We do not take sides in cases of dispute, so make sure you can stand by your word. Content that indicates the reviewer hasn't even availed any services from the studio will be removed. Reviewing a bunch of studios in quick succession is considered suspicious activity, and it's likely these reviews will be moderated. Accepting or soliciting a kickback – monetary or otherwise – in exchange for reviews or photographs is also not acceptable, and could result in removal of your profile.
• Don't solicit: Identifying or promoting yourself as an official BookMyShoot partner, or using your status to solicit any kind of benefits (including but not limited to accepting money, free photoshoots) in exchange for promotion, or at the threat of negative reviews on BookMyShoot, will not be tolerated. If reports or evidence of such instances are brought to our attention, we reserve the right to delete your BookMyShoot profile or take any other action that we may deem fit, no questions asked. Acts that constitute as 'Solicitation' include:
  • Explicit/Implied agreement (written or verbal) to write reviews in exchange for money, a free photoshoot etc.
  • Being a part of social media groups (e.g. WhatsApp/Facebook or any other social media platform) which offer incentives in exchange of reviews.
• Don't steal: Plagiarism is something we take seriously. Copying others' reviews or photos from BookMyShoot or other platforms, or even re-posting your own in multiple places on BookMyShoot (in full or in part), is something that will not be tolerated and may be removed/ moderated. We trust that you'll play fair and create your own content.
• Tell the whole story: If you took a free photoshoot as a guest of the studio, or have a relevant association with a studio or its owners, give full disclosure in your review. We're sure that honesty is the best policy, and other users will respect you even more for it. We love summaries, but incomplete reviews with a manually added link will be removed.
• Be yourself: Your profile is your identity on BookMyShoot, so keep it real. You're welcome to use a screen name, but please refrain from using inappropriate names, bios, or profile images. We want to stay clean, and we might end up removing your account depending on how inappropriate your profile is.
• Don't misrepresent: Identifying or promoting yourself as an official BookMyShoot associate, or using your status to solicit benefits in exchange for promotion or at the threat of negative reviews on BookMyShoot will not be tolerated. If reports or evidence of such instances are brought to our attention, we reserve the right to delete your BookMyShoot profile, no questions asked.
• Don’t be a bully: We take allegations of blackmail or threatening behavior against studios and its associates very seriously. This activity is strictly against our guidelines and may also be illegal in many locations. Reviews submitted in an attempt to blackmail a studio and its associates will be deleted.
• Play by the rules: The content you add should be in compliance with BookMyShoot's Terms and Conditions, including terms and conditions of any of BookMyShoot products such as Online Studio Booking as well as the prevailing local laws and regulations. Local laws take precedence, and content may be moderated or deleted to adhere to these.
• Seek help from the right people: BookMyShoot is a website and mobile application with no claims to be a court of law. If you have a dispute with a studio, or if you feel a studio or its representative(s) behaviour was illegal as per local law, contact the appropriate authorities directly. BookMyShoot is not the appropriate platform for reporting illegal activities, physical confrontations, or anything under investigation by local governing bodies or law-enforcement personnel. We encourage that such accusations be reported to the concerned authorities rather than being mentioned in reviews.

BookMyShoot is a great way for studios to reach out to a vast User community. A few things you should keep in mind:

• Keep your listing updated: While our team makes every effort to keep information on BookMyShoot up-to-date, we appreciate you letting us know when an update is required.
• Don't solicit reviews: The best way to get reviews is to delight customers with your photoshoot service. Selective solicitation is a strict NO, and offering any type of compensation or kick-back for reviews is unfair, so you definitely want to keep away from that, too.
  • Don’t ever offer freebies, discounts, or payment in exchange for reviews
  • Don't offer incentives for users to remove reviews
  • Don’t ask your staff to compete with each other to collect reviews
  • Don’t work with companies or third-party vendors/PR agencies offering to 'fix your reviews/ratings'
  • While conducting User meetups is allowed, reviews which come in lieu of these official gatherings must carry a clear disclaimer which will help the others identify that the review is based on an invite. That being said, an invite certainly does not mean that the user needs to post a positive review
  • The businesses that do best on BookMyShoot are the ones that provide a great customer experience to everyone who walks in the door without any expectation or encouragement that they write a positive review
  • If we do come across any evidence (direct/indirect) of you indulging in solicitation, we will activate a disclaimer on your studio's page, informing the users that your reviews are suspicious.
• Respond to criticism positively: Take two deep breaths when you get a negative review. Three, if required. This happens to all studios who have customers. These customers are always right, even when they are wrong. Take the unflattering reviews as constructive feedback and use it as an opportunity to fix things. Whether you agree with the feedback or not, take the criticism in good stride. You can reply with a management response to show you care, but please don't use this as a platform to hit back or offer the customer an incentive to edit their review. Your response can't be edited after posting, so choose your words well.
• Be accountable: BookMyShoot will not moderate any questionable activities about your studio posted in reviews. BookMyShoot may also not moderate or delete any reviews where any third party service provider is involved. Such a review may be retained if it falls within our guidelines. This business requires thick skin – stating the perceived attitude of owners or employees and reporting of individual actions are not considered personal attacks.
• Don't entertain: Fulfilling the demands of customers who ask for benefits at the threat of bad reviews or ratings, sends a message that this behavior is tolerated. Similarly, inviting users who have reviewed and given a low rating back to the studio for a complimentary photoshoot, invites false negative reviews. These issues affect the entire community and require everyone's participation to curb their prevalence. Please report users who engage in such activities to support@bookmyshoot.net.
• Neutrality of Content: In a concerted effort to maintain the neutrality of content on BookMyShoot, studio owners, employees, and any affiliates with studio interests are no longer permitted to write reviews on BookMyShoot. We understand that being in the studio industry, you are truly passionate about photography, and would love to share your experiences. But when you're unavoidably invested in your business, it becomes hard to leave emotions (and bias) at the door. This is a step towards maintaining neutrality - and quality - of the content on BookMyShoot.
• Seek help from the right people: BookMyShoot is a website and mobile application with no claims to be a court of law. If you have a dispute with a customer, or if you feel a customer's behaviour was illegal as per local law, contact the appropriate authorities directly. BookMyShoot is not the appropriate platform for reporting illegal activities, physical confrontations, or anything under investigation by local governing bodies or law-enforcement personnel. We encourage that such accusations be reported to the concerned authorities rather than being mentioned in reviews or replies.

It's also important to note that we (BookMyShoot) have no employees or affiliates who are paid to review. If any guest identifies themselves as an official blogger, review employee, or associate of BookMyShoot, it's not true. Employees of BookMyShoot are contractually and ethically forbidden from using their status to solicit free photoshoot or receive special treatment. If you observe any such practice, report it to support@bookmyshoot.net. Appropriate action will be taken against the user or employee if evidence can be provided.

It's important to keep in mind our photo guidelines, and understand why some photos may be moved or removed once they've been added.

Make sure photos you upload don't fall into following categories:

• Photos that are exact duplicates of other photos
• Plagiarized photos
• Photos of others posted without their permission
• Photos not related to any listed categories
• Photos that are blurry or unclear
• Photos containing promotional content
• Photos containing text
• Photos containing watermarks or write-ups of any kind
• Photos containing nudity
• Photos containing subjects who do not permit to take such photo of theirs
• Photos containing someone else's copyrighted material
• Photos containing additional decorative borders or empty borders with some color, these affect our photo display and doens't look pleasent with the site design

Employees of BookMyShoot are expected to adhere to and uphold the highest standard of ethics and integrity. This includes acting in accordance with our core values and the below listed policies at all times.

BookMyShoot employees are prohibited from using their employee status to solicit discounts, freebies, or special treatment at studios. Unless visiting a studio for official business, BookMyShoot employees are to refrain from identifying themselves as employees of BookMyShoot.

All BookMyShoot employees in client facing roles including but not limited to Sales, Sales Support, Neutrality, Media Content and Client Servicing across all transaction/ business/function at BookMyShoot are prohibited from writing reviews and/or giving ratings for dine out experiences on BookMyShoot from either their personal or BookMyShoot accounts. They are also not permitted to influence others to write biased reviews or give ratings.

BookMyShoot's review and photo moderators are required to always act in favor of keeping BookMyShoot a neutral platform. They are required to use their best judgement in implementing moderation guidelines and are prohibited from giving preferential treatment to studios. Deleting any authentic review from a studio page is in violation of our policies. Similarly, keeping reviews, which are proven to be unauthentic, is in violation of our policies.

Please email legal@bookmyshoot.net if you witness any behavior not in compliance with this code as it is in direct violation of employee contracts.