As online marketplaces grow denser and more competitive, a new central feature has emerged: the agreement for naming rights. From music streaming services to cloud computing tools to collaborative writing software, more and more digital tools are opting for a “by subscription” model – and often finding themselves advertising seats to their product on operating systems, software bundles and even hardware (“Our tool works really well with your winning document editor!”)

As a user, this is a potentially confusing proposition: if I want access to a firm’s latest software suite, do I need to get Tech Company A to agree to play nice with Tech Company B? This has been one of the major banes of the software industry, but sites like WordPress have found an effective solution in the learning curve, which helps to walk users through what can otherwise be pretty complicated issues.

In short, however, even if it can be a little confusing from an end-user’s perspective, a naming rights agreement is almost always beneficial to an organization. That being said, this benefit has to be optimally realized for a saying it as “Not all naming rights agreements are created equal.” It’s up to you, the user, to take advantage of the offer by learning the ins and outs of why you should consider this one of the best kinds of agreements to take part in.

First, let’s define “naming rights agreement.” In short, it’s the legal terminology we use to describe the understanding between a user and an app or platform. In this “understanding,” the user is given access to proprietary features of the app or site that may not be immediately obvious, especially to someone who might have their hands full at the moment. There are plenty of examples of older marketplaces that required their users to jump through hoop after hoop just to take full advantage of their platform. Amazon, for example, has a really annoying habit of having to click through multiple screens before you’re able to even begin the checkout process, let alone complete it. Limiting your customers with information overload isn’t the choice marketing strategy you might think it is.

Similarly, these additional costs often come up; the cost of a naming rights agreement will often be buried within the terms of service. Sometimes they are hidden in the fine print, and sometimes you wouldn’t have even seen them had you not clicked over. When dealing with a complicated issue, from the beginning it’s important to note these potential costs to avoid future conflict, and to give your users a succinct description of the terms of the agreement.

Luckily, there’s never any shortage of parties interested in getting a new product into the marketplace. In fact, you’re probably fielding an offer right now that you could put to your advantage to make your product even more useful for your users, and maybe even prevent the future loss of revenue because of a partner leaving you high and dry.

Naming rights agreements are, at their heart, also a contract. Contract law requires that each party walks away with their designated slice of assets. You need your all-star technical expert to write the perfect pitch to lure in a once-in-a-lifetime user. They need to see an easy integration that will make their product even more useful.

Once you and your party have agreed to the deal, there’s not a lot of room to argue – so you need to put the easy integration upfront and center. Focus on making your offering as transparent to the user as possible.

Of course, sometimes you can’t avoid creating an entirely new interface, because the other party simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to apply those changes. That’s expected: software development is an iterative and incremental process that isn’t without its once-in-a-blue-moon hurdles.

But that should never be allowed to get in the way of a new feature, or else it might turn out that both you and your potential partner have agreed to a clause that simply was too ambitious for the budget.

Here are some takeaways for how you can ensure that a naming rights agreement is done properly for both parties.

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