Policies For Submitting Alexa Skills

Introduction

If guidelines are not followed then your Alexa skill submission will be suspended or rejected. Therefore, let's understand them in details,

It should not uses images or likeness of the Amazon device as part of the skill icon.
It should not Infringe intellectual property rights which includes copyright, trademark and publicity rights of a third party, if your skill uses trademark, intellectual property or brands, you must have permission to use them by providing proof while submitting your skill.
It should not help to connect with the company or brand however it is not the official skill of the company or brand.

It should not direct to children or interact with any user accounts or profile maintained under the age of 16 for UK, Australia, Spain, Japan, Mexico, France, Italy, or Germany. Or children under the age of 13 for India, Canada or the US.
It should not promote any product, content or services or helps users to use any content outside of Alexa for under the age to 16 or 13 for respective countries.
It should not sell any digital product or service without using Amazon in – Skill purchasing for under the age to 16 or 13 for respective countries.
It should not collect any personal information from end-user for under the age to 16 or 13 for respective countries
It should not sell any physical product or service for under the age to 16 or 13 for respective countries.
It should include any content which is not suitable for all ages

It should not collect any health information of any person like physical or mental health.
It should not provide any provision of health care of are any person or any payment for the same.
It should not provide any claims for life – saving guidance or false or misleading claims through the skill or in invocation name or in the description of the skill.
It should not provide information about the illegal or black market sale of prescription drugs.
If skill provides any health-related information, tips facts or news, it should provide a disclaimer in description starting skill is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Example: "This tool does not provide medical advice, and is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, treatment or diagnosis. Call your doctor to receive medical advice. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please dial your local emergency response phone number."

It should not have any content which is sexually explicit or home card should not have any image that contains the sexually explicit image.

It should not contain graphic depictions or descriptions of extreme gore, decapitations, unsettling content, and/or excessive violence.
It should not promote organized crime, terrorism, or other illegal activities meant to undermine local and/or national governments or police.

It should not offer a separate skill store.
It should recommend skills in Alexa’s voice only.
It should not recommend other skill which is not owned by the same developer.
It should not recommend notification/reminder
It should not offer any compensation for enabling any skill or providing feedback on products.
It should not ask for donations from end-users. For charity donations, you can visit Alexa donations with Amazon pay by using this link.
It should meet the following criteria,
- In Skill, purchasing must be used for purchasing digital goods through skill
- Amazon Pay can be used if skill allows the user to purchase any product or service like retail products, food delivery, or tickets for travel, events, or movies
- In case of selling any product, service or content, it must meet the Requirements for Skills that Make Any Products, Content, or Services Available for Purchase. The user below links for more details click here.

It should not allow the user to contact any emergency responders like 911 or any other emergency services.

It should not include any advertising or promotional messages in response, reminder or notification, except below points.
- Skill does not include more advertising than the same content is made available outside of Alexa
- Advertising must not use Alexa’s voice, Amazon Poly or similar voices or replicates Alexa's interaction.
It should not include audio messaging of customer’s promotional offers.
It should not include audio messaging promotions of the products for which Alexa is allowing to order to the customer.

It should not include any information or references about forced marriages or the purchase of husbands and wives.
It should not have any gender prediction activity.
It should not contain any disrespectful attitude i.e. derogatory or hate speech targeting any group or individuals.
It should not contain any misleading contents or out of context quotations.
It should not contain or reference any symbols of hate, promotes hate speech incites racial or gender hatred, or promotes groups or organizations which support such beliefs such as the Ku Klux Klan.

The Skill must not provide any answers that violate the Alexa content policy.
The Skill can not do a general web search, the search must be within an online resource.
The information must be shared by skill either via voice, skill description, or home card/email/SMS.

It should not contain any advice of joining illegal organizations
It should not provide any suggestions for being or be involved in any illegal lifestyles like prostitution.
It should not contain any references or promotions for downloading content from torrent or pirated software.
It should not promote the purchase or sale of any illegal drugs or recreational.
It should not promote detailing specific tactics or recruiting new members for terrorist groups.
It should not contain or promote any excessive profanity
It should promote any gambling which includes winning real money prizes or other tangible prizes that have an actual cash value
It should not promote any sell or purchase of tobacco products or alcohol along with underage alcohol.

It should not access or provide access to any person’s financial information.
It should not fail to meet the financial guidelines of the US or outside of US financial guidelines.
In case of stock quotes are presented, it should not fail to provide a disclaimer for the same.

In this article, we learned about the various policies for submitting Alexa Skills.

Recommended Free Ebook

Printing in C# Made Easy