Terms and Conditions

Last updated: July 8, 2026

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of BlackNod, including the BlackNod mobile app, business owner web portal, and related services (collectively, the "Service"). By creating an account, accessing the Service, or using any BlackNod feature, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Who may use BlackNod

BlackNod is intended for users in the United States. You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you use the Service on behalf of a business, you represent that you have authority to bind that business to these Terms.

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to provide accurate account and profile information and to keep it current.

2. Consumer accounts and business accounts

Consumers may use BlackNod to discover businesses, submit reviews, vote in polls, save or share content, upload photos, send messages, and communicate with BlackNod through support features.

Business owners may use BlackNod to claim or manage business listings, respond to relevant activity where available, maintain business profile information, and use paid business features offered through the web portal.

3. Business listings are not endorsements

BlackNod provides business discovery tools and community information. A listing, search result, rating, NOD or NAW signal, poll result, review, advertisement, badge, or other placement on BlackNod is not an endorsement, certification, guarantee, or recommendation by BlackNod.

Business information may be provided by business owners, users, public sources, or third-party providers. We may review, edit, remove, or reject listings, but we do not guarantee that business information is complete, accurate, current, lawful, safe, or suitable for your needs. You are responsible for evaluating businesses before visiting, purchasing from, hiring, or otherwise interacting with them.

4. Reviews, ratings, polls, and user content

You may submit content through the Service, including profile information, photos, reviews, ratings, NOD or NAW votes, poll responses, messages, reports, suggestions, and other communications ("User Content").

Reviews and ratings must reflect genuine, personal experiences or honest opinions. You may not submit fake reviews, reviews written for compensation or incentives that are not clearly disclosed, reviews about your own business as if you were an independent customer, reviews intended to manipulate ratings, or content that you know is false or misleading.

You retain ownership of your User Content. By submitting User Content, you grant BlackNod a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, reproduce, display, publish, distribute, modify, adapt, create derivative works from, and otherwise use that content as needed to operate, improve, promote, and provide the Service. This license continues for as long as your content remains on the Service and for a reasonable period afterward for backups, legal, safety, and business record purposes.

You represent that you have all rights needed to submit your User Content and to grant this license. You are solely responsible for your User Content and for any consequences of submitting it.

5. Content moderation and reports

We may, but are not required to, monitor, screen, edit, restrict, remove, or refuse any User Content, listing, account, message, review, poll, or other activity at any time if we believe it violates these Terms, creates risk, may harm users or businesses, or is otherwise inappropriate for the Service.

Users may report content, businesses, messages, reviews, polls, comments, or accounts through available reporting tools. We may investigate reports and take action at our discretion, including removing content, disabling features, suspending accounts, or preserving information where needed for safety, fraud prevention, legal compliance, or enforcement.

6. User conduct

You agree not to:

• violate any law, regulation, contract, intellectual property right, privacy right, publicity right, or other third-party right;
• submit false, misleading, fraudulent, defamatory, obscene, harassing, threatening, hateful, discriminatory, sexually explicit, exploitative, or otherwise harmful content;
• impersonate another person or business or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or business;
• harass, abuse, stalk, threaten, or intimidate any user, business owner, BlackNod employee, or other person;
• upload malware, attempt unauthorized access, interfere with the Service, test the vulnerability of our systems, or bypass security or access controls;
• scrape, crawl, harvest, or collect data from the Service except as expressly permitted by BlackNod;
• use the Service to send spam, unsolicited promotions, or deceptive messages;
• manipulate reviews, ratings, poll results, NOD or NAW signals, rankings, ads, subscriptions, payments, or other Service features;
• use the Service for unlawful discrimination, exclusion, or targeting; or
• assist anyone else in doing any of the above.

7. Photos and intellectual property

You may upload photos only if you own them or have permission to use them. You may not upload photos that violate another person's rights, reveal private information without permission, depict illegal activity, or contain harmful or inappropriate material.

BlackNod and its logos, names, designs, software, interfaces, databases, and other Service materials are owned by BlackNod or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except for rights expressly granted in these Terms, we reserve all rights in the Service.

8. Messaging and communications

BlackNod may offer messaging or communication features between users, businesses, and BlackNod. You agree to use those features responsibly and only for lawful, relevant communications. We may review, preserve, restrict, or remove messages where permitted by law and where needed to operate the Service, enforce these Terms, address reports, prevent abuse, or protect users and businesses.

We may send transactional and administrative communications, including account, security, support, billing, and service messages. You may also receive notifications if you enable them in the app or on your device.

9. Subscriptions, payments, and ads

BlackNod may offer paid features, subscriptions, ad-removal options, promoted placements, business owner tools, or other paid products.

In-app subscriptions and ad-removal purchases are processed by Apple or Google through their app store payment systems and are subject to the applicable store terms, cancellation rules, refund policies, and account settings. BlackNod does not control Apple or Google billing decisions.

Business owner payments on the web may be processed by Stripe or another payment provider. By purchasing paid business features, you agree to provide accurate billing information and authorize the applicable charges, taxes, and fees. Payment providers may collect and process payment information under their own terms and privacy policies.

Unless a specific offer states otherwise, paid features renew according to the purchase terms shown at checkout and remain active until canceled, expired, suspended, or terminated. You are responsible for canceling subscriptions through the platform where you purchased them. Fees are non-refundable except where required by law or expressly stated by the applicable payment provider or app store.

BlackNod may display ads, including ads provided by Google AdMob or other advertising partners. If BlackNod offers an ad-removal subscription, the scope of ad removal will be described in the purchase flow and may not remove all sponsored, promoted, transactional, or business-owned content.

10. Third-party services

The Service may integrate with third-party providers, including email, payment, subscription, analytics, maps, storage, hosting, advertising, authentication, and platform services. We are not responsible for third-party services, websites, policies, outages, content, or actions. Your use of third-party services may be governed by their separate terms and privacy policies.

11. Account suspension and termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your account or access to the Service at any time if we believe you violated these Terms, created risk for BlackNod or others, engaged in fraudulent or abusive activity, or used the Service in a way that may expose BlackNod, users, businesses, or third parties to harm or liability.

You may stop using the Service at any time. You may delete your account through the in-app Delete Account option in Profile. Deletion is immediate and permanent for your account access, subject to limited retention described in the Privacy Policy for legal, safety, fraud-prevention, backup, and business record purposes.

12. Changes to the Service or Terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. We may update these Terms from time to time. If changes are material, we will provide notice through the Service or another reasonable method. Your continued use of the Service after updated Terms become effective means you accept the updated Terms.

13. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the fullest extent permitted by law, BlackNod disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy, availability, security, and uninterrupted or error-free operation.

BlackNod does not guarantee any business, product, service, review, rating, poll result, message, listing, advertisement, user, event, outcome, transaction, or interaction. You use the Service and interact with users and businesses at your own risk.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, BlackNod and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, agents, affiliates, licensors, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, punitive, or lost-profit damages, or for loss of data, goodwill, revenue, business, or reputation, arising from or related to the Service or these Terms, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, BlackNod's total liability for any claim arising from or related to the Service or these Terms will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid to BlackNod for the Service in the three months before the event giving rise to the claim or one hundred U.S. dollars (US $100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, so some limitations may not apply to you.

15. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless BlackNod and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, agents, affiliates, licensors, and service providers from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from or related to your use of the Service, your User Content, your business listing or business activity, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the applicable laws of the U.S. state where BlackNod maintains its principal place of business, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be handled in the state or federal courts located in that state unless applicable law requires a different venue.

17. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact BlackNod through the in-app Contact Us form.