# Market rules and method statement

> Each market's review rules and their versions; the "How we collect reviews" page on your site.

Source: /en/features/market-rules/

The **Rules and compliance › Market rules** screen shows each market's review rules and the status of your method statement. The screen shows only the markets where you have a channel; if you have no channel yet, all of Sayproof's markets are shown. When a channel is selected in the panel's top bar, the screen shows only that channel's market, the rules of that market and that channel, and that channel's method statements.

## Market rules

Each market's rules cover four points. In the table below, **Regulation** refers to the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices.

| Rule | Legal basis (Türkiye) |
|---|---|
| Proof of purchase required | Regulation, Art. 28/B-1: reviews from channels where the purchase cannot be verified may not be published |
| Time to write a review | The legislation sets no specific period; the Sayproof rule allows 90 days, and your brand can set 7–365 days in its own version |
| Sort options offered | Regulation, Art. 28/B-4: reviews are published according to objective criteria such as date, rating or seller |
| Default sort order | Regulation, Art. 28/B-4 requires an objective criterion; the Sayproof rule defaults to date, and your brand can choose one of the sort options offered in its own version |

The defined markets:

| Rule | Türkiye | European Union |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of purchase required | Yes: only reviews with proof are published | No: reviews without proof can also be published; reviews with proof are marked |
| Time to write a review | 90 days from delivery | 90 days from delivery |
| Sort options offered | Date · Rating · With seller response | Date · Rating · With seller response · Most helpful |
| Default sort order | Date | Date |

The screen has four tabs. The single sentence above each tab explains what the tab is for:

- **Markets:** each market's rules version in force, the date it took effect and the **Sayproof rule** or **Your own rule** label; whether proof of purchase is required, the time to write a review and the sort options offered. If you opened a separate rule for a channel, it is shown under the market. A version that starts on a later date is shown with the **Scheduled** badge, its version number and its start date.
- **Compare:** the markets' rules side by side. The **Basis (Turkey)** column shows each rule's basis in Turkish legislation.
- **Method statement:** the status and text of the "How we collect reviews" page on each of your channels' sites; the details are in the Method statement section below.
- **Version history:** each market's rules versions and, in the **Source** column, whose they are; the version in force is marked **In force** and a version starting on a later date **Scheduled**. Old versions are never deleted.

### Updating the rules

Market rules start from the rules Sayproof prepares in line with the regulation; on the screen these carry the **Sayproof rule** label. A user with the **Can manage market rules** permission (Administrator) can open a new version for your brand with the **Change the rules** button on the **Markets** tab. That version carries the **Your own rule** label and affects only your brand.

The wizard has five steps: **Scope** (all your channels in a market or a single channel) → **Rules** (proof of purchase requirement and time to write a review) → **Sorting** (sort options offered to customers and the default sort) → **Start** (right away or from a specific day) → **Summary**. The **Fill in with the Sayproof rule** button fills the fields with that market's Sayproof rule.

Your own version stays within these limits:

- If the Sayproof rule requires proof of purchase (Türkiye, Regulation Art. 28/B-1), the requirement cannot be turned off; the option is disabled in the wizard and the request gets `400 invalid / verification_locked`. In a market where proof is not required (European Union) you can make it required.
- The time to write a review must be between 7 and 365 days.
- The sort options offered are chosen from the sort options in that market's Sayproof rule (`sort_not_offered`); the default sort must be one of the options offered.
- The start date cannot be in the past.

A version opened for a single channel applies only to that channel; the market's rule stays in force on the other channels, and the **Markets** tab shows a "Separate rule on the <channel> channel" line under the market. The version in force on a channel is the one with the latest start date among the versions whose start date has arrived (Sayproof's and yours). When the law changes, Sayproof publishes the new version with a software update; on the day it starts it replaces the version you opened earlier, and you can open your own version again if you wish. A version starting on a later day is shown with the **Scheduled** badge until then, and the current rules stay in force until that day.

Every new version is recorded in the **Activity history** with its previous and new values. When the rules change, the method statement text of those channels is updated too; if you publish the statement on your own page, you need to update your page and confirm again.

### Effect of versions on earlier reviews

Each review is assessed under the rules version in force on the date it was written, and is stored together with that version. A new version only applies to reviews written after its start date. As a result, in an audit it can always be shown under which rules a review was published.

The time to write a review, however, follows the version in force on the day the product was delivered. If a new version shortens the time, it does not shorten it for orders already delivered; if it extends the time, it does not extend it for them either.

## Method statement

The method statement is the page that explains how the reviews on your site are collected. Article 6/3 of the Turkish Advertising Board's Guideline on Consumer Reviews requires this information to be made available to consumers clearly and understandably; Sayproof produces and publishes the statement on your behalf. The review section always contains the "How we collect reviews" link, and it cannot be removed.

The statement is produced as a separate text for each channel and language; the text is built from the market rules and the publishing method that apply to that channel. The text shown in the panel, the fingerprint used when confirming and the public page on that channel's site are the same text. The statement has four sections:

| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| How purchases are verified | How reviews are associated with purchases; whether reviews without proof are published; that a customer whose order was cancelled or who returned the item can review their experience up to that point in the same way, and that such reviews are marked separately |
| Are all reviews published | That positive and negative reviews go through the same process; your publishing method; the rejection reasons; that a low rating is not a reason for rejection; that the author of a rejected review is sent the reason and a correction link |
| How the average is calculated | That the average is the arithmetic mean of published reviews for each market; that channels in the same market are counted together and different markets separately |
| How reviews are sorted | The sort options offered, the default sort order in force on the channel and that there is no paid placement |

If you take reviews from a marketplace, one more section, **Reviews imported from other sites**, is added to the statement: it says that imported reviews are published with their source and a link, that they count in the average and in the number of reviews, that they carry no Verified buyer badge, and, in one sentence for every active marketplace, on what terms its reviews are taken. The text changes when a marketplace is added or no longer there; if you host the statement on your own page you have to confirm it again. For details: [Marketplace reviews](/en/features/marketplace-reviews.md).

The statement text is not written by hand; when the market rules that apply to the channel, the publishing method that applies to the channel (coming from the general, market or channel setting) or the statement text provided by Sayproof change, the text is updated automatically. Two channels in the same market have different statements if their rules or publishing methods differ.

The table on the **Method statement** tab has a row for each active channel and each language: **Channel**, **Market**, **Language**, **Opens** (the Sayproof page or your own page's address), **Status** and **Last confirmed**. The **Manage** button on the row (**Details** for users without the permission to change settings) or the channel's name opens a side panel: the status and the page that opens, the **Publish on your own page** section (the address and the link buttons) and the **Statement text** section (**Copy the text** and the full text). The link to your own page and its confirmation are kept separately for each channel and language.

### The Sayproof page

By default, the link opens the page published by Sayproof. The page is opened with the channel's site key and shows that channel's statement; if the channel has no site key in use, the **Opens** line in the side panel says "no working site key on this channel". This page always shows the current text and requires no action from you. In this case the table's **Opens** column says **Sayproof page** and its **Status** column says "No confirmation needed".

### Your own page

To publish the method statement on your own site (this requires the "Can change settings" permission):

1. Enter the page address in the **Your page address** field and press **Save the link**. The address must start with `https` and be on one of your verified domains.
2. Use **Copy the text** to take the statement text and publish it on your page.
3. Press **I updated my page**. This confirmation is recorded in the **Activity history** as your declaration that your page shows exactly the same text as the panel.

Statuses:

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sayproof page | Your own page is not linked; the Sayproof page opens and no confirmation is needed (the table's **Status** column says "No confirmation needed") |
| Up to date | Your own page is linked and your last confirmation matches the current text |
| Needs update | Your page has never been confirmed, or the text has changed since your last confirmation |

Every change to the statement's content (the rules, the publishing method or the text) makes a confirmed statement outdated, and the status becomes **Needs update**; the statement must be confirmed again. This is also shown on the **Overview** screen and on the **Statistics › Compliance** tab. During this period, the link continues to open your page; update your page with the new text and confirm again. To switch back to the Sayproof page, use the **Go back to the Sayproof page** button.

No change is needed in your store's code; the link address is taken from the `core.method_statement.url` field of the review list response.