Question 1

What is GeoPoly?

Accepted Answer

A market for digital advertising space, laid out as a map. The world is split into a hierarchy — World → Country → Region → City → District → Street / Area → Building / Place → Advertising location — and every node in it can be auctioned, owned, advertised on and rented out separately.

Question 2

What am I actually buying?

Accepted Answer

A digital advertising space on this platform, named after a real place. Winning 'Paris' means you control advertising on the Paris territory on GeoPoly and earn a share of qualifying activity beneath it. It is not the city, and it has nothing to do with the city.

Question 3

Do I get any rights over the real place?

Accepted Answer

No. Owning a territory confers no rights over physical land, buildings, addresses or any real-world property, no planning, licensing or access rights, and no relationship with, endorsement by, or authority over the people, businesses or authorities of that location.

Question 4

Is this crypto, an NFT, or an investment?

Accepted Answer

None of those. There is no token, no blockchain and no wallet. Payments are ordinary card payments and ownership is a record on this platform. Nothing here is a security or an investment product, and nothing on the site is a promise of resale value or returns.

Question 5

Does GeoPoly work with the places it lists?

Accepted Answer

No. Place names are used descriptively to identify a territory. There is no affiliation with, or endorsement by, any government, authority, business or rights holder.

Question 6

How much does an auction start at?

Accepted Answer

One dollar. A country opens at $1, a city opens at $1, a single advertising location opens at $1. Zoom level, population and economic importance change nothing — the market decides what a territory is worth.

Question 7

Is my bid a real charge?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Bidding pays. Your bid becomes binding only once the payment provider confirms the charge, so a failed or still-pending payment is not a bid and does not move the auction.

Question 8

What happens when someone outbids me?

Accepted Answer

Your losing bid is refunded in full to the payment method you used, through the payment provider. How fast it lands is up to that provider and your bank, not us.

Question 9

Can I cancel or lower a bid?

Accepted Answer

No. Bids are irrevocable. Walking away does not withdraw a bid that is still leading — if it is still the top bid when the clock runs out, you win and you pay.

Question 10

How does the clock work?

Accepted Answer

Every accepted bid pushes the deadline out by 24 hours. Failed payments, rejected bids and simply opening the bid box never move it. When 24 quiet hours pass with no valid bid, the last valid bidder wins.

Question 11

How much do I have to bid to take the lead?

Accepted Answer

At least the current price plus the minimum increment. Both are calculated on the server and shown on the auction page, and the server figure is the authoritative one — a stale number in your browser does not entitle you to that price.

Question 12

What if two bids land at the same moment?

Accepted Answer

The server decides the order and only one of them clears the minimum increment. The other is rejected and not charged, or refunded if the charge already went through.

Question 13

Can I bid on my own territory to pump the price?

Accepted Answer

No. Bidding against yourself, or using a second account to do it, is manipulation. We can reverse the transactions, remove the territory and close the accounts involved.

Question 14

When is a territory actually mine?

Accepted Answer

When the 24 quiet hours pass and your winning payment settles. It is settlement, not the countdown hitting zero, that transfers ownership.

Question 15

Does ownership expire?

Accepted Answer

No. A won territory is not re-auctioned by us and does not lapse. It stays yours until you sell it, auction it or transfer it.

Question 16

Can I sell or transfer a territory?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Owners can list a territory for sale or put it back up for auction, and can transfer it to another account.

Question 17

Can two people own the same place?

Accepted Answer

Not the same territory. But the hierarchy is separately ownable at every level, so a city, the district inside it and a single location inside that district can each have a different owner — and the ones above earn royalties from the ones below.

Question 18

How does a territory earn?

Accepted Answer

Three ways: rent the advertising space to advertisers by day, week, month or year while keeping ownership; run your own advertising on it; or collect royalties on qualifying settled activity in the territories beneath yours.

Question 19

How do royalties work?

Accepted Answer

A 30% pool is taken on settled sales only — never on a losing bid. It is split between royalties paid up the territory hierarchy, the platform, and an ecosystem reserve. Own something above the action and you take a share of every settled transaction below it.

Question 20

Is there a fee on a bid that loses?

Accepted Answer

No. The pool applies to settled transactions only. A refunded losing bid costs you nothing.

Question 21

Where can I see the money move?

Accepted Answer

Every movement is written to an immutable transaction ledger, and your royalties page shows what you have earned, what is still on hold and what is available.

Question 22

How do I get paid out?

Accepted Answer

Earnings accrue to a platform balance. They are held for a cooling-off period, then become available to withdraw to the payout method you choose, above a minimum amount and subject to review. The current hold period and minimum are shown on the royalties page.

Question 23

Why is my balance on hold?

Accepted Answer

Because the payments behind it can still be disputed or reversed. The hold is what stops a reversed payment from being paid out twice. We may also hold a withdrawal where we suspect fraud, self-dealing or bid manipulation.

Question 24

How do I advertise on GeoPoly?

Accepted Answer

Own a territory and publish on it yourself, or rent the space from the owner of one. Either way the advertisement appears on that territory's page and on the map.

Question 25

What is not allowed?

Accepted Answer

Anything illegal, plus malware, phishing, scams, link shorteners that hide the destination, adult content, hateful or harassing material, counterfeit or infringing goods, offers needing licences you do not hold, and anything impersonating a person or brand — or claiming official status over the real place. See the Terms for the full list.

Question 26

Is a listing an endorsement by GeoPoly?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything on the board is a paid placement. Nothing is an editorial pick, a review, a certification or an endorsement, and we do not verify the claims an advertiser makes.

Question 27

Something on the site infringes my rights. What now?

Accepted Answer

Email the address on the Terms page with the GeoPoly URL, the destination, what the problem is, and a statement that you are the rights holder or authorised to act. We can remove or restrict the content while we review it.

Question 28

How do I sign in?

Accepted Answer

By email link or by verifying a phone number over WhatsApp. There is no password to lose.

Question 29

What is public about me?

Accepted Answer

Your display name and profile, the territories you own, and your bidding and market activity — GeoPoly is a public market. Your email address, phone number, payment identifiers and payout details are not public.

Question 30

Which payments are refundable?

Accepted Answer

Losing bids, automatically. A winning bid, a purchase, a rental and the platform fee are final. Being outbid later, earning less than you hoped, or downtime does not create a refund.

Question 31

What currency is this in?

Accepted Answer

US dollars. Applicable taxes may be added at checkout, and your bank may add its own conversion fee.

Question 32

Something went wrong in a deal. Who decides?

Accepted Answer

Open a dispute from your account. We can reverse a transaction, remove an advertisement, or transfer or reclaim a territory to keep the market straight. That decision binds the parties on this platform; it is not arbitration.

Question 33

Can I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and we will delete the personal data we can. The public market record — bids, ownership history, ledger entries — has to stay for the market to remain verifiable, so it is detached from your identity rather than erased.

Frequently asked questions

The basics

Bidding

Winning and ownership

Earning

Advertising

Account and payments