Rules For BungeeBones.com Category/Link Listing Auction

BungeeBones.com is a web directory for advertising web site links and to deliver web traffic to websites. When website owners submit links for inclusion in the directory they are given the option of which category to list their link in. The terms from BungeeBones, at that time, are that they can list their site for free in any category with less than 20 links in it but at any time after that point there may be an auction conducted to determine placement and to reduce the link population. These Auction Business Rules are regarding the auction process that is activated when a category population has risen above that 20 link threshold. The following describes a two part auction process designed to transition that category from a free link category into a "paid link only" category (PLOC).

Webmasters Have Three Choices - During the transition into a PLOC each free link listed in a category will have three options: 1)they can win the bidding process with a bid within the top twenty and retain their link position in the current category or 2)they can move their link to another category (another free one) and avoid the auction bidding altogether 3)they can ignore our pleas for them to manage their link (i.e. to bid or to move it) which will result in their link being moved by BungeeBones.com to an alternate (and slightly derogatory :-) free sub-category named "Bungeed Sites" we add to paid categories when necessary.

This auction process deals only with those websites selecting the first option (i.e. to participate in the auction).

General Auction Points:

Two Auction Formats - There will be a transitional process to convert a category from a free one into a permanent PLOC which will occur through two consecutive auctions, each of which operate in a similar yet slightly different manner. The first auction is called the Transitional Public Auction (TPA) of a category. The second auction transitions the resulting winners of the TPA into a Regular Monthly Auction (RMA) which will be the continuous, ongoing usual state of the category as a "paid link only" category.

Transitional Public Auction (TPA)

Initiating An Auction - The BungeeBones management will initiate the transitional process by entering the auction start date and length. An email notification will be sent to all members in that category and to the links in all its sub-categories as well, informing them that an auction has been initiated. Once a category auction has been initiated the link owners will be directed to their User Control Panels where their auctioned links will have a button near them to access the bidding form.

TPA Winners Receive Various Time Period Commitments from BungeeBones.com - During the TPA, the 20 highest bidders among the webmasters will be awarded the twenty available slots in the category. Duplicate bids for the same amounts as current bids will not be accepted and the top twenty bids will be sortable from highest bid to the lowest. The twenty winners will be awarded differing listing time periods commitments from BungeeBones for their links ranging from twenty months to one month according to their bid ranking. The highest bidder receives a 20 month listing, the next highest bidder receives 19 month listing, the next highest receives an 18 month listing, and so on, until the lowest bid among the winners receives just a one month listing. Thus, the TPA process creates a category filled with link listings of differing expiration dates and so, from then on, each future auction will have at least one position expiring that will become available to auction off again.

New Link Submissions During and After The Auction - The transition of a link category to a Paid link Only Category (PLOC) will affect the registration process of new links wanting to join it. After a TPA has been initiated they will need to register their link into a lower "free" category first in order to bid on the available time slot(s).

The Regular Monthly Auction (RMA)

The term "RMA" applies to an auction of the open slots in a category that regularly come available after the TPA as a result of the expirations of listings.

After the first month each link's remaining term is one month less than it was and, as a result, there is/will always be a new 20 month slot available to auction (the former 20 month slot now has 19 months remaining).

Current slot holders can bid on higher slots - Current slot holders will be credited the remainder of their term toward their new time slot if they bid successfuly. For example, assuming a current contract holder is bidding on the 20 month term, if they have 5 months remaining in their current agreement(at the close of the auction) then they will only have to pay 75% of their winning bid (since their 5 month remainder pays the first 5 months of their new term). A winning bid by the current 10 month holder requires that they only pay half of their winning bid.

A win vacates another time slot - That lower level time slot vacated by the current contract holder winner is not refilled during the current auction, but will be auctioned the following month along with the usual twenty month slot opening, resulting in some months may have auctions of more than one time slot.

Bidding Process & Transaction Handling

Bidders will be able to login to their user control panel to view the status and/or update their bid. Each category auction will run for two weeks to one month, depending on various factors, but the time period will be set at the beginning of each auction.

Payments of bid amounts will be due within three days of the close of the auction. Failure to pay the bid will result in 1) the bidding link being totally removed from the directory and 2) lower bids will be moved up one position each to replace the link in default and 3) previous bids that did not place within the top 20 will be recontacted and offered the lowest position(s) vacated by the default.

BungeeBones often runs promotionals and pays incentives in the form of "BungeeCash" that can be used for bidding purposes and/or our hosting services. Bids are compared to any BungeeCash balances and the balance is reported on the bidding form. Any defieciency or negative balance will need to be paid through PayPal in regular US currency.

About Getting "Bungeed"

We have developed a playful game to nudge the non-paying links to either convert to a paying link and stay in the category or to login and move their link to another category. Whichever choice they make is fine with us. If they choose to become a paid link it is a good indicator that they are in what they consider to be their most relevant category and if they decide to move they are moving from the higher level, more general categories into lower, more specific and relevant ones. Either way our users win with higher relevance in the fewest amount of clicks.

We needed to come up with a way to deal with those that simply did nothing, though, and remained in these categories. What we came  up with is, we hope, going to become an enjoyable game for the webmasters in the category.

The Bungee Game works this way:

The websites remaining in the category after the auction will be moved (by us) into a brand new subcategory named "Bungeed Sites". All the free links will be moved and the category will be paid links only.

Remember that webmasters can, at any time, login to their user control panel and move their link into another free category. That is true even for those that have been Bungeed. Also, to get an idea how long you can remain as a free link, it is important to recognize that the number of link submissions to the various categories vary tremendously. Some popular categories may pass quickly through the transition phase but less popular categories may be in transition for a long time. That means that it is never certain how long the Bungee Game will go on for in any particular category. We will notify the webmasters of the auction results through our regular newsletter and will notify the particular webmaster with an email if their link is ever moved.

Our ultimate aim is to keep the most relevant links we have towards the "top" of the directory in order to make them as readily accessible to the user as we can. We hope this little "game" is not to much of an inconvenience for our free link webmasters. We value their link and will make every effort to display their link in the best manner we can.