Bantu Town

Legal

Ad Policy

Last updated: 1 November 2026 · Applies to ads on Bantu Town and business.bongotown.com

Draft: this policy takes effect when Bantu Town for Business opens.

The short version: ads on Bantu Town are for real businesses offering something members would be glad to hear about. No betting, scams, adult content, weapons, drugs, tobacco or vaping, get-rich schemes, politics or alcohol. Every ad is reviewed before it runs and always says Sponsored.

1. The idea

Bantu Town is where Tanzanians abroad find each other. An ad should feel like a notice on the board at the baraza: something useful, from someone real, said plainly. If an ad would embarrass you in front of the community, it doesn't belong here.

2. Never allowed

We refuse ads for, or that promote:

  • Betting, gambling, lotteries and casinos.
  • Scams, phishing, or anything that asks people for money or details under false pretences.
  • Adult content, sexual services, dating for sex, or sexualised images.
  • Weapons, ammunition and explosives.
  • Drugs, and anything sold for taking them.
  • Tobacco, cigarettes, vaping and e-cigarettes.
  • Get-rich-quick schemes: forex or crypto trading signals and “investment” offers, pyramid and multi-level marketing schemes, guaranteed returns.
  • Politics: parties, candidates, elections, campaigns and political causes.
  • Alcohol, for now.
  • Hate or harassment of any person or group.
  • Anything illegal where the ad is shown or where the business works.

3. Honest ads

  • Say what you sell, at the price you charge. No false or misleading claims.
  • The website or WhatsApp number behind the button must be yours and match the ad.
  • Only use photos, videos, names and logos you have the right to use, and only show people who agreed to be in your ad.
  • Don't pretend to be Bantu Town, a member, a news story or a message.

4. What an ad is

An ad shows your business's name and logo and the word Sponsored, a headline, a few words, one photo or a video of up to 30 seconds, and one button that opens your website or WhatsApp. Ads appear in the feed, after every eighth post, never in messages, comments, search or profiles. A video shows its first frame and plays only when a member taps it. Members can't like or comment on an ad.

5. Who sees an ad

You choose the community, and optionally cities, the countries members live in and an age range from 18. That's all: ads are never aimed at what members post, read, like or message, at their gender, or at anything posted anonymously. An audience must be at least 100 members, and the numbers you see are never broken down below 100. You never learn who saw, tapped, hid or reported your ad.

6. Review

Every ad is reviewed before it runs, and again whenever you change it: an automated review reads the words, the button's destination and the photo or the video's frames, and passes the ad, refuses it with a reason, or hands it to our team. If an ad is refused, you'll get an email saying why; change it and it's reviewed again. We may also remove an ad that is already running if it breaks this policy, and suspend a business that keeps breaking it.

7. What members can do

Members can hide every ad from a business, report an ad, and ask why they're seeing it (the app answers which of community, city, country and age matched). An ad reported by several members stops while our team looks at it.

8. Questions

Not sure whether your ad is allowed? Email support@bongotown.com before you submit it. See also the Business Terms.