# How sponsored apps work on ScripTreeApps

> Plain-language summary. The full legal policy is in `docs/legal/sponsored-placement-policy.md`.

Some app listings on ScripTreeApps have a **Sponsored** badge. That badge means the producer paid to put their app in front of you in addition to where it would have appeared organically.

A few things to know:

- **The badge is always visible.** If a listing was paid for, it carries the badge — on the homepage, in search, in category pages, everywhere. We never let a paid placement appear without the label.
- **Sponsored listings don't push other apps out of view.** Organic ranking still applies. We cap how many sponsored slots can appear on any one page so paid placement doesn't dominate the page.
- **A producer cannot pay to get fake reviews or a higher rating.** Reviews are independent of sponsored placement. We prohibit producers from soliciting reviews tied to a sponsored campaign, and we detect and remove reviews that look solicited.
- **Sponsored placement does not change tier.** A Free Apps or The Museum listing that buys a sponsored slot is still a Free Apps or The Museum listing — it just shows up in more places while the campaign is running.

If you ever see something on the storefront that you think looks like a paid placement without the badge, please let us know at `support@scriptreeapps.example` — we treat that as a serious bug.