Advertising Policy

Where advertising appears
Recognising an advertisement
Our position on advertising
Advertisements which are not accepted

Where advertising appears

Generally, advertising on the site appears only in banner spots on the perimeter of the site. On occasion, an advertised logo or link may appear within the main contents page; in this case it will be clearly recognisable as ad content.

Recognising an advertisement

Any content which is part of an advertisement including advertising banners, logos and hyperlinks are clearly marked by "advertisement" or "ad" appearing above (or where impractical, below) them.

Our position on advertising

Both patient and the secure professional levels of Virtual Medical Centre (VMC) are free to access. However, there are a number of costs associated with the services we provide, including site maintenance and continued development, hosting, production of health e-newsletters etc.

Prior to including advertising on the site, we surveyed our members and Editorial Board with respect to their thoughts on advertising so we could continue to grow and provide our services free of charge. The consensus was that the necessity of advertising was understood and acceptable as long as the strict policy guidelines which appear in this page are adhered to.

To this end, VMC use an ad network agency who provide banner ads for the website. VMC does not endorse the content of these ads and there are limitations to the types of ads which may be included on the website.

Advertising sponsors have no influence over the editorial content on the website. The final decision of editorial content in a medical centre is made by the Medical Director responsible for that area. The Medical Director's information is published on the About Us page. If a particular medical centre does not have a Medical Director, then Dr Andrew Dean, Group Medical Director makes the final editorial decisions.

Each Medical Director has recruited a board of medical specialists in their particular disease area who they consult with regularly regarding medical editorial content on the websites. This keeps medical information credible and eliminates any conflict of interest issues that may arise due to sponsorship funding.

Advertisements which are not accepted

Advertisements which will not be accepted for use on the site include those that promote:

unhealthy messages (e.g. fast food, gambling, alcohol);
unconventional medicine;
do not comply with relevant legislation including Medicines Australia guidelines;
adult material;
discriminatory messages; or
otherwise contradict VMC's ethos.