How escrow works here
Payment is held by LinkBourse and released when delivery is measured, not when someone clicks a button. For advertising placements that means impressions and clicks counted by our own endpoint plus a daily check that the ad is live on the page; a campaign that delivers less than contracted refunds the difference pro rata, automatically. This is the whole reason a marketplace for advertising is a different product from a marketplace for freelance work: advertising is measurable, so payment can be conditional on the measurement.
- 1
The buyer funds the order
Money leaves the buyer and sits in escrow. It is not the seller’s yet, and the buyer cannot take it back unilaterally. Both sides can see that it is there, which is the point: work starts without anyone extending credit.
- 2
The work runs
A campaign gets built, or a placement goes live for the booked dates. For placements, the publisher approves the creative first — nothing runs on someone’s audience without the owner agreeing to it.
- 3
Delivery is measured
Impressions and clicks are counted by LinkBourse’s own endpoint, and a daily check confirms the ad is on the page. A quiet day and a missing placement produce the same low number, so they are checked separately.
- 4
Escrow releases, or refunds the difference
Targets met, payment moves. Short delivery refunds the shortfall pro rata without either side opening a ticket. Every step is written to an append-only order log, which is what a dispute is decided on.
What we do not claim
- We do not screenshot the ad. The prover fetches the page and looks for the booked tracking link; that is a check, not an image. When a browser worker exists this page will say so.
- We do not guarantee a campaign works. Escrow guarantees that what was contracted was delivered, which is a narrower and more checkable promise.
- We do not resolve disputes by algorithm. The order log and the delivery data are assembled into an evidence pack; a person reads it.
Questions
When does the seller actually get paid?
For a service, when the buyer accepts the delivery, or automatically three days after it is submitted if the buyer does not respond. For an advertising placement with a committed volume, when the flight ends and delivery has been measured — not before.
What happens if a placement under-delivers?
The shortfall is refunded pro rata, automatically. A campaign that delivers 60% of the contracted impressions releases 60% of the escrowed amount and returns the rest to the buyer. Delivery within 5% of the contracted volume pays in full, because chasing the last percent of a measurement neither side controls would turn every campaign into a dispute.
Who counts the impressions?
LinkBourse does, through its own tracking endpoint. A publisher reporting their own numbers is making a claim, and escrow cannot answer to a claim. Invalid traffic — bots, link previews, prefetches and repeat views by the same reader on the same day — is recorded with a named reason and excluded from what is paid for, rather than silently dropped.
Can the buyer just refuse to accept and keep the money?
No. The review window is finite: after it passes, payment releases to the seller automatically and both sides are notified. A buyer who wants something changed has to say what, and only within the revisions the package includes.
What does it cost?
Buyers pay a 5% service fee at checkout. Sellers pay 15% on business the marketplace brought them and 5% on business they brought themselves; advertising placements are 10% and 5%. Commission is charged only on what is actually released, so a partial release is charged partially.
Related: how audience numbers are verified · fees