Privacy Policy

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us.

At Search Engine Journal (“SEJ”), the privacy of our visitors is extremely important to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information that is received and collected by SEJ and how it is used. For purposes of this Privacy Notice, “Personal Information” means any information from or about a person or, where applicable, a household, that either reasonably identifies that person or, where applicable, a household, directly or that makes that person or, where applicable, a household, reasonably identifiable when it is combined with other information from or about that person or, where applicable, a household from any source.  We take measures to protect Personal Information against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, unauthorized disclosure, manipulation, or destruction.

What Information Does SEJ Gather about You?

   1. Data Collected Automatically

Most of the data we collect in and through the Website and the Services is technical in nature and is collected and processed automatically through cookies and similar software-based technologies used on the Website. Alone or in combination with other data, such automatically collected data may constitute Personal Information. The data we may collect by such automated means may include:

  • The Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) of the site you visited before coming to our Website, the URL of the site you visit after leaving our Website, the type of device,  browser, and operating system you are using and your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address;
  • Information about the articles, content, or services that you have searched and/or viewed on the Website;
  • Usage history relating to the Website;
  • Browsing history; and
  • Information we collect on the use of the Website via cookies. For more information, please see the sections below regarding cookies and web beacons.

Google Analytics is an element of the Website. By using cookies, Google Analytics collects and stores data such as time of visit, pages visited, time spent on each page of the Website, the Internet Protocol address, and the type of device, operating system and browser used to access the Website. By using a browser plugin available at http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/ provided by Google, you can opt out of Google Analytics.

We and our advertising partners may also use web beacons (single pixel GIF images). These web beacons are placed in the code of the Website.

   2. Data You Provide to Us.

We may collect Personal Information from you, including your name, email address, physical address, and phone number, when you engage in any of the following activities:

  • Order SEJ advertising products through our website.
  • Sign up to receive promotional materials and newsletters via mail or email.
  • Participate in a contest, promotion, or survey.

Some of the Personal Information we collect from you, including your name, address, phone number, email address, and payment card information, is required in order to process your online purchases, respond to your requests, and contact you about your online purchases, if necessary.

We may also collect information regarding your:

  • Personal or professional interests.
  • Past experience with SEJ products and services.
  • Detailed contact preferences or other Personal Information.

We may also collect publicly available information about you from other sources, such as information from newspapers, blogs, and commercial websites or third-party data aggregators. We may use such information to supplement your Personal Information maintained by us. We may also collect Personal Information that you voluntarily disclose on the website, absent any request from us.

How Does SEJ Use Your Information?

We may use information you provide to us for a variety of purposes, including the following:

  • To process purchases, refunds, exchanges, and other transactions.
  • To contact you about questions or communications regarding your order.
  • To respond to your customer service inquiries.
  • To contact you about new products, services, special events and promotions (unless you have elected otherwise in accordance with the “How Can You Access or Change Your Information?” section of this privacy policy).
  • To help us learn about your preferences.
  • To help us improve our website, products, services and other offerings.
  • To measure the overall effectiveness of our online advertising, content, and programming;
  • Analytics, market research, and/or Analyzing trends
  • Advertising
  • To otherwise enhance your experience on our website.

We provide our users a choice as to whether they would like to receive marketing or promotional communications. Users may also from time to time receive up-to-date information on products and services via our e-mail newsletter. Users may opt-out at any time from receiving these communications.

Who Do We Share Personal Information With?

When you visit our website, we share information that we collect from you, such as your email (in hashed form), IP address or information about your device, browser or operating system, with our identity partners/service providers, including LiveRamp Inc, Audigent and ID5.  LiveRamp Inc, Audigent, and ID5 return an online identification code that we may store in our first-party cookie for our use in online, in-app, and cross-channel advertising and it may be shared with advertising companies to enable interest-based and targeted advertising. You must utilize each of the following tools to ensure that you are opted out:

In addition, we may disclose Personal Information you provide to us or that we collect automatically on the Website and through our services with the following categories of third parties:

  • Advertisers;
  • Service providers, such as data storage service providers, marketing service providers, and communications service providers. Such service providers are only allowed to use Personal Information disclosed to them for the purpose of providing us the services and for no other purposes;
  • Public authorities, such as law enforcement, if we are legally required to do so or if we need to protect our rights or the rights of third parties; and
  • Our subsidiaries and affiliates, if any; or a subsequent owner, co-owner or operator of the Website and/or the Services and their advisors in connection with a corporate merger, consolidation, restructuring, the sale of substantially all of our stock and/or assets, or in connection with bankruptcy proceedings, or other corporate reorganization, in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

Log Files

Like many other websites, SEJ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

SEJ also uses Google Analytics to compile usage statistics. This service is provided by Google, Inc. Their privacy policy can be found here.

Cookies and Web Beacons

When you visit SEJ, cookies can be stored on your computer. Cookies are little pieces of information that can help identify your browser and that can store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize webpage content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser. The following sets out how we may use different categories of cookies and your options for managing cookie settings: 

  • Required cookies. Required cookies enable you to navigate the Website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the Website and using our services. If you have chosen to identify yourself to us, we use cookies containing encrypted information to allow us to uniquely identify you. These cookies allow us to uniquely identify you when you are logged into the Website and to process your online transactions and requests.  Because required cookies are essential to operate the Website, there is no option to opt out of these cookies.
  • Performance cookies.  These cookies collect information about how you use the Website, including which pages you go to most often and if they receive error messages from certain pages. Information collected using performance cookies is only used to improve how the Website functions and performs. From time-to-time, we may engage third parties to track and analyze usage and volume statistical information relating to individuals who visit the Website. We may also utilize Flash cookies for these purposes.

To learn how to opt out of performance cookies using your browser settings, please review the instructions in your applicable browser. To learn how to manage privacy and storage settings for Flash cookies, click here.

  • Functionality cookies. Functionality cookies allow the Website to remember information you have entered or choices you make (such as your username, language, or your region) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies also enable you to optimize your use of the Website after logging in. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customize. We may use local shared objects, also known as Flash cookies, to store your preferences or display content based upon what you view on the Website to personalize your visit.
  • Targeting or Advertising cookies. From time-to-time, we may engage third parties to track and analyze usage and volume statistical information from individuals who visit the Website. We sometimes use cookies delivered by third parties to track the performance of our advertisements. For example, these cookies remember which browsers have visited the Website. By way of example, as you browse the Website, advertising cookies may be placed on your computer so that we can understand what you are interested in. Our advertising partners then enable us to present you with retargeted advertising on other sites based on your previous interaction with the Website. Third parties, with whom we partner to provide certain features on the Website or to display advertising based upon your web browsing activity, use Flash cookies to collect and store information. Flash cookies are different from browser cookies because of the amount of, type of, and how data is stored.

For example, Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies (i.e. DoubleClick DART Cookie) to serve ads on this Website. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to SEJ and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy. Some of our advertising partners may use other cookies and web beacons on our site as described below.

Advertising

Advertising is one of SEJ’s revenue streams. Therefore, we display advertisements on some of our services (e.g., on certain webpages or in emails).

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use certain technology in the advertisements and links that appear on our Website, which are sent directly to your browser. This targeting automatically occurs when they automatically receive your IP address. None of the information used for targeting is analyzed manually or made available to advertising customers. Other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or web beacons) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, please go to https://optout.networkadvertising.org/.

SEJ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers. In some cases, SEJ displays advertisements from Google’s AdSense or AdExchange network. You can review Google’s Ads Privacy Policy here. Furthermore, you can use Google’s Ads Preferences Manager to configure the right ads settings for you.

You can consult the respective privacy policies of any third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. SEJ’s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or websites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers’ respective websites.

Communication Between SEJ and You

If you send SEJ a message via email or web form, this message can be stored to process it, to compile statistical information, to improve our services and support, or to get in touch with you.

How Can You Access or Change Your Information?

You may access, review and edit the Personal Information that you provide to us online. You can also ask us to update your Personal Information or communication preferences by contacting us via our Contact Us page. Please note that any request to update your information may take up to 30 days to process and that you may continue to receive communications from SEJ using the previously provided information until your request becomes effective.

Additionally, you may opt-out from use of your Personal Information collected online for the purpose of sending such marketing or promotional communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instruction contained within each of the newsletters or promotional communications you receive.

Data Retention

We retain Personal Information about you only for as long as needed for the purposes for which it was collected.  Personal Information is only kept for as long as needed for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice and for our legitimate business purposes, after which it is scrubbed, de-identified, anonymized or obfuscated as soon as possible unless otherwise required by applicable legislation.

If you are a customer of SEJ, SEJ will retain Personal Information about you for the duration of the contractual relationship you or your company has with us and after the end of that relationship for as long as necessary to perform the purposes set out above or to comply with other legal obligations. Personal Information that we collect as a result of you subscribing to our newsletter will be stored until you decide to withdraw your subscription.

Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our websites, we do not have any control over third party websites. We cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this Privacy Notice. You should exercise caution and review the privacy notice applicable to the website in question.

Children

The Website and the services are not intended for children under the age of 16. Accordingly, we do not intend to collect Personal Information from anyone we know to be under 16 years of age. We do not intentionally collect, sell, or process the Personal Information of individuals under 16 years of age.

Do-Not-Track-Signals

Our Website does not respond to do-not-track signals. You may, however, disable certain tracking as discussed above (e.g., by disabling cookies).

FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits Website users who are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make a request, please contact us at: privacy@searchenginejournal.com.

Furthermore, California residents have the following rights with respect to Personal Information we may have collected about them:

(a) Requests to Know

You have the right to request that we disclose:

  • The categories of Personal Information we have collected about you;
  • The categories of Personal Information about you we have sold or disclosed for a business purpose;
  • The categories of sources from which we have collected Personal Information about you;
  • The business or commercial purposes for selling or collecting Personal Information about you;
  • The categories of Personal Information sold or shared about you, as well as the categories of third parties to whom the Personal Information was sold, by category of Personal Information for each party to whom Personal Information was sold; and
  • The specific pieces of Personal Information collected.

You may submit a request via email at privacy@searchenginejournal.com. The delivery of our response may take place electronically or by mail. We are not required to respond to requests to know more than twice in a 12-month period.

(b) Requests to Delete

You have the right to request that we delete any Personal Information about you that we have collected. Upon receiving a verified request to delete Personal Information, we will do so unless otherwise authorized by law. You may submit a request to delete Personal Information via email at privacy@searchenginejournal.com.

(c) Authorized Agents

You may designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf. You must provide an authorized agent written permission to submit a request on your behalf, and we may require that you verify your identity directly with us. Alternatively, an authorized agent that has been provided power of attorney pursuant to Probate Code sections 4000-4465 may submit a request on your behalf.

(d) Methods for Submitting Consumer Requests and Our Response to Requests

You may submit a request for access and requests to delete Personal Information about you via email at privacy@searchenginejournal.com.

Upon receipt of a request, we may ask you for additional information to verify your identity. Any additional information you provide will be used only to verify your identity and not for any other purpose.

We will acknowledge the receipt of your request within ten (10) days of receipt. Subject to our ability to verify your identity, we will respond to your request within 45 days of receipt. In order to protect your privacy and the security of Personal Information about you, we verify your request by verifying your ownership of the email address used for the account. A verification link will be emailed to your email address for you to select and confirm your ownership of that email address, and then the data collection or deletion process can be initiated.

 (e) The Right to Non-Discrimination

You have the right not to be discriminated against for the exercise of your California privacy rights described above.

 (f) Sale of Personal Information

California residents may opt out of the “sale” of their personal information. We sell certain of your information to third parties to provide you with offers and promotions and opportunities that may be of interest to you.

Under the CCPA, a sale is broadly defined such that it may include allowing third parties to receive certain information, including cookies, IP address, and/or browsing behavior, to deliver targeted advertising on our services or other services offered by third parties. Advertising, including targeted advertising, enables us to provide you with certain content for free and allows us to provide you offers relevant to you.

Depending on what services you use, we may provide the following categories of personal information to third parties for these purposes:

  • For online targeted advertising purposes: demographic and statistical information, user-generated content, device information and identifiers, browser and usage data, geolocation, and social media information.
  • For sharing with third parties to send you relevant offers, products, promotions and opportunities: contact and registration information, demographic and statistical information, employment and education data, user-generated content, device information and identifiers, and geolocation.

If you would like to opt out of our use of your information for such purposes that are considered a “sale” under California law, you may do so as outlined on the following page: Do Not Sell My Info.

 

 

  • Transferring your information outside of Europe.

When we provide our services to you, the personal data which you give to us may be transferred to us, our advertisers, and service providers (e.g. data storage service providers, marketing service providers, and communications service providers, such as LiveRamp Inc, Audigent and ID5)  in the United States.  We will take steps to make sure the right security measures are taken so that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this policy. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing.

  • What we do to secure your personal information.

We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we get from you.

  • Marketing.

We would like to send you information about our services, products, offers, updates etc. which may be of interest to you. If you have consented to receive such information, you may opt out at any point to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes, by sending e-mail to the address: privacy@searchenginejournal.com.

 

  • Your Choices and Rights

You have a number of legal rights in relation to the personal information that we hold about you. You have the right to request a copy of your information, to object to our use of your information (including for marketing purposes), to request the deletion or restriction of your information, or to request your information in a structured, electronic format.  You can exercise some of the choices by sending a request to the e-mail address privacy@searchenginejournal.com.   Below is a summary of those rights and choices that you may have:

  • You have the right to obtain information regarding the processing of your personal information and access to the personal information which we hold about you, in accordance with GDPR requirements and limitations. In addition, you have the right to request that we correct your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

 

  • Certain limitations on your requests and choices. If fulfilling your request would reveal information about another person, or if you ask to delete information which we or your administrator are permitted by law or have compelling legitimate interests to keep. Where you have asked us to share data with third parties, for example, by installing third-party apps, you will need to contact those third-party service providers directly to have  your information deleted or   otherwise restricted. If you have unresolved concerns, you may have the right to complain to a   data protection authority in the country where you live, where you work or where you feel your rights were infringed.
  • If you no longer wish to use our Services or want to delete your personal information, you or your administrator may be able to deactivate your Services account by sending a request to the e-mail address privacy@searchenginejournal.com. Please note, however, that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes, to complete transactions or to comply with our legal obligations.
  • Request that we stop using your information. In some cases, you may ask us to stop accessing, storing, using and otherwise processing your information where you believe we don’t have the appropriate rights to do so. Where you gave us consent to use your information for a limited purpose, you can contact us to withdraw that consent, but this will not affect any   processing that has already taken place at the time. You can also opt-out of our use of your information for marketing purposes by sending a request to us at privacy@searchenginejournal.com. When you make such requests, we may need time to investigate and facilitate your request. If there is delay or dispute as to whether we have the right to continue using your information, we will restrict any further use of your information until the request is honored or the dispute is resolved, provided your administrator does not object (where applicable). If you object to information about you being shared with a third-party app, please disable the app or contact your administrator to do so.
  • Opt out of communications. You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from us by using the unsubscribe link within each email or by contacting us via email at privacy@searchenginejournal.com. Even after you opt out from receiving promotional messages from us, you will continue to receive transactional messages from us regarding our Services.
  • Opt out of Advertisements from Third Party Advertisers. You may be able to opt out of receiving personalized advertisements from other companies, including third party advertisers, by opting out as outlined on the following page: Do Not Sell My Info.
  • Data portability. Data portability is the ability to obtain some of your information in a format you can move from one service provider to another (for instance, when you transfer your mobile phone number to another carrier). Depending on the context, this applies to some of your information, but not to all of your information. Should you request it, we will provide you with an electronic file of your basic account information and the information you created under your sole control.
  • You have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority, if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us.

 

FOR RESIDENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU)

(a) Transferring your information outside of Europe.

When we provide our services to you, the personal data which you give to us may be transferred to us, our advertisers, and service providers (e.g. data storage service providers, marketing service providers, and communications service providers, such as LiveRamp Inc, Audigent and ID5)  in the United States.  We will take steps to make sure the right security measures are taken so that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this policy. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing.

(b) What we do to secure your personal information.

We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we get from you.

(c) Marketing.

We would like to send you information about our services, products, offers, updates etc. which may be of interest to you. If you have consented to receive such information, you may opt out at any point to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes, by sending e-mail to the address: privacy@searchenginejournal.com.

 (d) Your Choices and Rights

You have a number of legal rights in relation to the personal information that we hold about you. You have the right to request a copy of your information, to object to our use of your information (including for marketing purposes), to request the deletion or restriction of your information, or to request your information in a structured, electronic format.  You can exercise some of the choices by sending a request to the e-mail address privacy@searchenginejournal.com.   Below is a summary of those rights and choices that you may have:

  1. You have the right to obtain information regarding the processing of your personal information and access to the personal information which we hold about you, in accordance with GDPR requirements and limitations. In addition, you have the right to request that we correct your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
  2. Certain limitations on your requests and choices. If fulfilling your request would reveal information about another person, or if you ask to delete information which we or your administrator are permitted by law or have compelling legitimate interests to keep. Where you have asked us to share data with third parties, for example, by installing third-party apps, you will need to contact those third-party service providers directly to have  your information deleted or   otherwise restricted. If you have unresolved concerns, you may have the right to complain to a   data protection authority in the country where you live, where you work or where you feel your rights were infringed.
  3. If you no longer wish to use our Services or want to delete your personal information, you or your administrator may be able to deactivate your Services account by sending a request to the e-mail address privacy@searchenginejournal.com. Please note, however, that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes, to complete transactions or to comply with our legal obligations.
  4. Request that we stop using your information. In some cases, you may ask us to stop accessing, storing, using and otherwise processing your information where you believe we don’t have the appropriate rights to do so. Where you gave us consent to use your information for a limited purpose, you can contact us to withdraw that consent, but this will not affect any   processing that has already taken place at the time. You can also opt-out of our use of your information for marketing purposes by sending a request to us at privacy@searchenginejournal.com. When you make such requests, we may need time to investigate and facilitate your request. If there is delay or dispute as to whether we have the right to continue using your information, we will restrict any further use of your information until the request is honored or the dispute is resolved, provided your administrator does not object (where applicable). If you object to information about you being shared with a third-party app, please disable the app or contact your administrator to do so.
  5. Opt out of communications. You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from us by using the unsubscribe link within each email or by contacting us via email at privacy@searchenginejournal.com. Even after you opt out from receiving promotional messages from us, you will continue to receive transactional messages from us regarding our Services.
  6. Opt out of Advertisements from Third Party Advertisers. You may be able to opt out of receiving personalized advertisements from other companies, including third party advertisers, by opting out as outlined on the following page: Do Not Sell My Info.
  7. Data portability. Data portability is the ability to obtain some of your information in a format you can move from one service provider to another (for instance, when you transfer your mobile phone number to another carrier). Depending on the context, this applies to some of your information, but not to all of your information. Should you request it, we will provide you with an electronic file of your basic account information and the information you created under your sole control.
  8. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority, if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

SEJ reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time.

Updated on September 19, 2023