CVS Media Exchange™ Ads Policy
Scope
This policy covers ad placements via the CVS Media Exchange (“CMX” or “we/our”) on CVS properties (“onsite”) and platforms that are not owned or operated by CVS (“offsite”). Advertising placed offsite, including, without limitation, ads placed on social media platforms, via a demand-side platform, or on connected TV, are also subject to the ad policies, terms and requirements of the applicable platform. In this policy, we refer to advertisers as “you/your.”
This policy is not legal advice. Consult with your legal advisor if you have questions about the laws and regulations concerning your ads.
CMX reserves the right to reject, remove or request modifications to an ad in its sole discretion. CMX may suspend or terminate your access to CMX for policy violations. All examples in this policy are illustrative, and CMX reserves the right to reject campaigns that do not meet its policies as determined in its sole discretion.
In the immediate aftermath of natural disasters, mass casualty events, social unrest or similar national or international incidents, CMX may temporarily pause ads for certain products or services to prevent reputational harm to CVS and its affiliates and advertisers. The duration of the restriction may vary based on the severity and circumstances of the event.
We periodically update our ad policy. Please check this page often to ensure that you are always up to date on our latest ad policy requirements.
Standard Policy
All advertising content must be appropriate for a general audience and for the type of placement in which it will be displayed. You are responsible for ensuring that both you and your ads comply with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and industry standards in connection with your engagement with CMX and the sale of your products and services.
CMX respects the rights of others and prohibits ads that infringe on the intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other legal rights of any person or entity. You must obtain all necessary rights and permissions for your ads. Ads may not feature the names, likenesses, voices (including look-alikes and sound-alikes), or other identifying features of an individual without the individual’s consent.
General Standards
- All ads must link back to a CVS.com® page unless the advertiser has prior written approval from the CMX Ad Policy team. Any approved links to non-CVS properties are subject to additional requirements and restrictions.
- No ads may be used to directly collect User Volunteered Data (as defined in IAB 3.0) or for survey administration.
- Ads involving a CVS loyalty program promotion, offer, or coupon (e.g., ExtraCare®) will require specific, CMX-provided disclaimer language both on the ad and on the CVS.com landing page.
Prohibited Advertising Categories
CMX will not run ads in the following categories:
- Alcoholic beverages
- Tobacco or vaping products
- THC or CBD products
- Weapons, firearms, and ammunitions
- Virtual or online social platforms
- Gambling, lottery, fantasy sports, and real money gaming
- Contests or sweepstakes
- Adult toys
- Solicitation/promise of donations by, or on behalf of, non-profit entities
- Personal information data collection requests through external landing pages
Advertising Categories and Content Subject to Review
The following advertising categories are subject to pre-approval by the CMX Ad Policy team on a case-by-case basis:
- Pregnancy and fertility
- Menopause
- Condoms and non-emergency contraceptives
- Emergency contraceptives
- Personal intimacy
- Home diagnostic tests
- Mental and physical health conditions
- Content featuring influencers
- Products not sold or dispensed by CVS
- Co-branded ads outside of CVS co-branding
- Products containing pseudoephedrine
- Images featuring a healthcare provider (HCP)
Ad Specs
All advertisements and other digital creative must comply with the current CMX ad specs guide available here
Ad Copy and Imagery Requirements
- Ads must be truthful and accurate with proper substantiation.
- Advertising claims must not contradict claims made on CVS product detail pages or on your product packaging.
- All beauty ads must be authentic images that have not been materially digitally altered and include the “Beauty Unaltered” mark.
- The Beauty Mark should appear on authentic images that have not been materially digitally altered. For images that have been materially digitally altered, the Digitally Altered Wordmark must be used in place of the Beauty Mark.
- Ads may not depict inappropriate or adult content:
- Obscene, foul or vulgar content
- Violence or gore
- Sexually suggestive content
- Sexual content or objectification
- Nudity
- Product images must be accurate depictions of the products sold.
- Ads should only claim a product is “new” if it has been in the market for less than 6 months.
- Ads should generally be in English, but may include well-known words and phrases in other languages.
- Advertiser names and languages used on product packaging are exempt from this requirement.
- The following content and messaging is prohibited:
- Dangerous content or unsafe depictions (e.g., fireworks, toy guns)
- Content targeted or appealing to minors whether through copy or imagery
- Religious advocacy
- Political advocacy
- Exploitation of sensitive events such as natural disasters, human-caused disasters, incidents of mass trauma and/or casualties, or the death of public figures
- Discriminatory, hateful, intolerant, harassing, threatening, or abusive content
- Defamatory content or content that is invasive of another’s privacy
- Content that misrepresents, ridicules, or attacks an individual or group on the basis of age, color, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or disability
Conquesting
CMX does not permit advertisers to:
- Non-CVS brands to directly target CVS store brands
- Directly target purchasers of competitor brands based on their purchase of the competitor brand
- Target competitor branded keywords
Third-Party Tracking Tags
The following third-party tracking tags are approved for use:
| Tag | Onsite Display | Offsite Display Video | CTV | YouTube | Onsite Search | Offsite Search | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign Manager Click Tracker | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Campaign Manager Impression Tracker | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Flashtalking Click Tracker | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Flashtalking 1x1 Impression Tracker | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| IAS* | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| DoubleVerify* | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
*CMX does not accept Ad Blocking tags.
Brand Study/Measurement:
- Kantar/Milward Brown (Offsite)
Any tag that is not outlined above is subject to approval by the CMX Ad Policy team. With respect to billing utilizing measurement data from the vendors outlined above, all billing terms and conditions shall be governed by individual advertiser terms and conditions.
Advertisers shall not ingest or receive, collect, use, sell, share, or combine with any other data, any personal information (e.g., user agent string or any unique identifiers) relating to such tags and, for the avoidance of doubt, shall not use any data collected from such tags for any advertising, analytic, retargeting or cross-contextual advertising purposes. Advertiser is responsible for any liability resulting from any tag that they request or cause to be added to an ad.
In addition, to the extent that Advertiser appends a Google DCM tag to any creative or media which is targeted to CVS Media Exchange audience offsite, Advertiser represents and warrants that the Restricted Data Processing (RDP) feature will at all times be enabled.
Use of Data
Advertiser agrees not to use any data obtained from CVS for measurement or analytics purposes without prior written consent from CVS Media Exchange. This includes but is not limited to audience metrics, engagement statistics, or any other data derived from campaigns run on CVS Media Exchange platforms.