Terms and Conditions

These terms apply to every proposal, agreement and service of Auke Marketing, and to the use of aukemarketing.com and its free tools. They are written in plain English on purpose. If a proposal or signed agreement says something different, the proposal or agreement wins.

1. About Auke Marketing

• Auke Marketing is a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak) owned by Auke Jongbloed
• Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number: 51006197
• VAT number: NL002162452B85
• Address: Emmastraat 16, 3134 CL Vlaardingen, the Netherlands
• Email: auke [at] aukemarketing [dot] com

Auke Marketing operates from the Netherlands and works with clients worldwide. In these terms, "I" and "me" mean Auke Marketing. "You" means the business that requests or buys a service.

2. Who these terms are for

The services are meant for businesses: online retailers and the companies that work for them. By accepting a proposal you confirm that you act for a business. If you are a consumer, these terms apply only as far as mandatory consumer law allows.

Your own general terms do not apply, unless I accept them in writing.

3. Proposals and agreements

• A proposal is valid for 14 days, unless it says otherwise.
• An agreement starts when you sign the proposal or agreement, confirm it in writing (email is enough), or pay the invoice. Payment of the invoice counts as acceptance.
• The scope of the work is what the proposal describes. Work outside that scope needs a separate proposal or written agreement.

4. Prices, VAT and payment

• Prices are in euros and exclude VAT, unless stated otherwise.
• VAT: for business clients in another EU country with a valid VAT number, VAT is reverse charged (0%) and both VAT numbers are on the invoice. For clients in the Netherlands, and for clients in the EU without a valid VAT number, Dutch VAT (currently 21%) is charged. For clients outside the EU, no Dutch VAT is charged. Local taxes in your own country are your responsibility.
• Fixed-price projects are invoiced in full when the agreement starts. Monthly services are invoiced in advance per month.
• Invoices are due within 7 days. A project starts once the invoice is paid and the access I need works.
• If an invoice is not paid on time, I may pause the work until it is paid. Statutory commercial interest and reasonable collection costs can then be charged.

5. How I work

• I do the work to the best of my knowledge and ability, as a specialist would. This is an obligation of effort, not a guaranteed result, unless a guarantee is explicitly written in the proposal. Any such guarantee applies only under the conditions stated there.
• Google decides on product approvals, account suspensions, reviews and ad performance. I can fix the causes in your feed and Merchant Center and prepare an appeal, but I cannot control or promise Google's decisions.
• Deadlines and timelines are targets, not strict deadlines, unless the proposal says otherwise. If I expect a delay, I let you know as soon as possible.
• I may use software, scripts and AI tools in the work. I review the output and remain responsible for what I deliver.

6. What I need from you

• Timely access to the accounts and systems in the agreed scope (for example Google Merchant Center, Google Ads, your store platform or feed tool).
• Correct and complete information, and answers to questions within a reasonable time.
• Approval of changes where the proposal says so.

If missing access or information delays the work, the timeline moves accordingly. If the delay is longer than 30 days, I may close the project and invoice the work done.

7. Your accounts and data stay yours

You keep full ownership of your Google accounts, Merchant Center, feeds, store and data. I work with user access that you grant and can remove at any time. When the work ends, you remove my access, or I remove it myself.

8. Intellectual property

• After full payment, you may use everything I deliver for your business (feed rules, product data changes, reports, documentation).
• I keep the rights to my own methods, templates, checklists, scripts, tools and know-how, including the free tools and the WooCommerce feed plugin. Where they are part of a delivery, you get a non-exclusive right to use them for your own business.
• I may describe the work in general terms as a reference. I only name your business or share results publicly with your permission, or as agreed in a case study arrangement.

9. Confidentiality

We both keep confidential information of the other party confidential, during and after the agreement. This includes account data, sales figures and business plans. This does not apply to information that is already public or that we must share by law.

10. Cancellation and refunds

• Once an agreement has started, there is no standard refund. If you are not satisfied with what I delivered, tell me. We will talk and look for a solution together.
• Monthly services can be ended by either party with one month's notice, unless the proposal says otherwise.
• I may end an agreement immediately if you do not pay after a reminder, ask me to do something that breaks the law or Google's policies, or if continuing is otherwise unreasonable. Work done until then is invoiced.

11. Liability

• My total liability per agreement is limited to the amount you paid for that agreement, and for monthly services to the fees of the last three months.
• I am not liable for indirect damage, such as lost revenue, lost profit, missed sales, higher ad costs or reputational damage.
• I am not liable for decisions, outages, policy changes or errors of Google or other third parties, or for damage caused by incorrect or incomplete information from you.
• These limits do not apply in case of intent or gross negligence on my part.
• A claim must be reported in writing within 12 months after you discovered, or could reasonably have discovered, the damage.

12. Free feed reviews

A free feed review is a no-obligation analysis. It is based on what I can see at that moment and is not a complete audit. You decide whether and how to act on it. I offer a limited number per month and may decline a request, for example when a store does not run Google Shopping.

13. Free tools and website content

The free tools on aukemarketing.com (such as the Product Feed Checker, Misrepresentation Checker, Product Title Optimizer, Merchant Center Error Decoder and checklists) and the articles and guides are provided "as is", for information only.

• The results are automated, partly AI-generated, and can be incomplete or wrong. They are not legal advice and they do not guarantee approval by Google.
• Use the tools only for stores and feeds you own or are allowed to check. Do not use them to overload, scrape or attack this site or any other site. I may limit or block use that looks like abuse.
• To the extent the law allows, I am not liable for damage resulting from the use of the free tools or website content.

14. Privacy

How I handle personal data is described in the Privacy Policy. Where I process personal data on your behalf as part of the work, I act as your processor and we can sign a data processing agreement on request.

15. Force majeure

I am not liable for failure or delay caused by circumstances outside my control, such as illness, outages of internet or platform services, or measures by governments. If force majeure lasts longer than 60 days, either party may end the agreement in writing, and work done until then is invoiced.

16. Applicable law and disputes

• Dutch law applies to these terms and to all agreements with Auke Marketing, also when you are located outside the Netherlands. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) does not apply.
• We first try to solve any disagreement together. If that does not work, the competent court in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, decides, unless mandatory law says otherwise.

17. Changes

I may update these terms. The version that applied when the agreement started stays in force for that agreement, unless we agree otherwise. The date at the top shows the latest version.