DataSift – Billing Terms
These terms explain how MediaSift Limited (referred to as "we", "us" and "our") charges for the use of its services and Data, and supplement the website terms and API terms.
1. Fees
The fees for our services and Data are as shown on our site, except in cases of obvious error. We can change these fees at any time, but changes will not affect any services or Data that you have already paid for.
2. Payment
All fees are charged and payable in full in advance unless we agree otherwise. Payment is non-refundable, and non-transferrable. There will be no refunds or credits for partial periods of use, upgrading or downgrading the plan you buy from us, or for not using your account.
You must pay us in one of the currencies stated on our site. Payment can be made by the debit or credit cards shown on our site, or through PayPal. If you setup a regular or recurring payment, you authorise us to take payment in this way on an ongoing basis using the payment details you provide until you tell us to change your method of payment – if you wish to change your method or payment, or change your payment details, please tell us as soon as you can so that we can try to implement the change before your next billing cycle.
Charges for our services are solely based on our measurement of your use of our services. Details on how your use of DPU Hours is calculated is set out in our Billing FAQs.
All amounts payable to us will be made without setoff or counterclaim, and without any deduction or withholding.
We may agree to alternative billing arrangements on a case by case basis. Where we have agreed that you can pay in arrears, payment will be due within 20 days of the date of our invoice. If you are late in paying, we may charge interest at the rate of 1.5% per month (or the highest rate permitted by law, if less) on all late payments from the due date up to the date of payment, and condition the future use of our services on payment terms shorter than those stated above.
3. Taxes
Fees are stated [inclusive] of VAT, [but exclusive] of all other applicable taxes and duties. If the rate of VAT increases, we will adjust our prices and the amount you pay accordingly. You will provide us any information we reasonably request to determine whether we are obligated to collect VAT from you, including your VAT identification number. If you are legally entitled to an exemption from any sales, use, or similar transaction tax, you are responsible for providing us with legally-sufficient tax exemption certificates for each taxing jurisdiction. We will apply the tax exemption certificates to charges under your account occurring after the date we receive the tax exemption certificates. If any deduction or withholding is required by law, you will notify us and you will pay us any additional amounts necessary to ensure that the net amount that we receive, after any deduction and withholding, equals the amount we would have received if no deduction or withholding had been required. Additionally, you will provide us with documentation showing that the withheld and deducted amounts have been paid to the relevant taxing authority.
We are registered for VAT with VAT number 925 4697 90.
4. CHANGES
We may change, discontinue, or add to, these terms at any time. Registered paying users of our services will be informed of this at least 30 days in advance - you are able to close your account before the change comes into effect if you don't agree with it.
Billing FAQ's
Billing Models
DataSift has two billing models ‘On-Demand’ and ‘Subscription’ both models include two key concepts for which the user is charged under the model. The first is the cost of the licensed data for which the user wishes to consume. The second is the cost of data processing (represented by DPU Hours).
On-Demand
With on-demand the user will purchase a number of credits that are then consumed by DPU Hours and data license fees.
Subscription
A subscription is a monthly package that includes a preset number of DPU Hours, which are credited at the beginning of each month and then consumed during the course of that month.
In the event that more DPU Hours are consumed than are included in the monthly package the user will be charged ‘overage’ at the ‘on-demand’ price for DPU Hours.
The user may define a number of limits to control potential overspend. Each limit is based upon ‘overage’ cost of the combined DPU Hour and license cost. If a limit is set, the user will be notified of reaching that limit.
Other Points
- It is possible to switch from ‘on-demand’ to ‘subscription’ by crediting any remaining on-demand credits against the subscription cost for the first month.
- To switch from ‘subscription’ to ‘on-demand’ the user must wait until the end of the current billing period.
- If the user chooses to switch subscription levels during the course of a month, the change will take effect at the beginning of the next monthly billing period.
Data Licensing
The licensing of data comes under a range of pricing models which the user may choose through the DataSift website and through which they must also agree separated licence terms under which they may use the data.
The standard pricing models for data can be summarised as follows:
- Free – which may afford a limited (or unlimited) use of data.
- Per item – a fixed fee for each item of licensed data. For example, this may be described in blocks of ‘per 1000 items’.
- Fixed monthly – for which the user receives a fixed (or unlimited, depending upon the applicable terms) use of that licensed content during that month.
DataSift also includes two distinct types of licensed content; both come under the same pricing models. It is important to distinguish how the two types of licensed content differ to understand how you can be charged.
- Licensed Feeds – The result of consuming a data stream can result in being charged for one or more different license feeds. Each feed (unless free) must be explicitly selected by the user by electronically signing a licence to that content. Content for which the user has not signed a licence will not be delivered to the user even if the user chooses a stream that states that it will deliver that content.
- Augmented Content – Delivery of augmented content is returned alongside licensed feeds and therefore the stream of content dictates the volume. Content augmentation is not guaranteed as some sources are either incompatible (for instance content may not cover a particular language, and or user base). As with licensed feeds, a user must explicitly choose which augmented content is delivered (and therefore charged), and agree to any applicable terms, before it is delivered.
Data Processing (DPU Hours)
DataSift is a cloud-processing platform offering elastic data processing allowing our users to perform simple or very complex data processing tasks. The complexity and duration of those tasks is reflected in how much processing power a user consumes and is charged for.
With both ‘on-demand’ and ‘subscription’ options, the user is charged for its usage of DPU (Data Processing Unit) Hours. In respect of each stream of data, a user will consume a specific number of DPU Hours within our infrastructure.
The hourly unit cost ("DPU Hour") is equivalent to the processing that can be carried out in one hour by a single [standardised processor] in normal operating conditions. As such, in one hour of real time, a user could use a number of DPU Hours depending upon the intensity of its use of our infrastructure during that hour.
The smallest chargeable period of DPU Hours is 5 minutes - each 5 minute measurement period starts and stops on 5 minute boundaries of each hour (e.g. 12:00, 12:05, 12:10, 12:15, and so on). The smallest chargeable cost is one 5 minute block (i.e. 1/12th of a DPU Hour) – any use that amounts to less than 5 minutes will be is rounded up to the closest 5 minutes (1/12th DPU Hour).
In the event of multiple streams being run within the same 5 minute period, or if a single stream is connected and disconnected (or reconnected multiple times), the aggregate number of minutes applied to calculate the DPU Hours used is taken by adding the run time of each period of all streams within that 5 minute period. This is illustrated in the following diagram and calculation:
Consumption Methods
The aggregate number of minutes applied to calculate the DPU Hours used is also based upon the method of consumption, as outlined below:
- Real-time - When working in aggregate real-time streams, access via either HTTP Streaming ("HTTP Streaming") or WebSockets ("WebSockets") are measured in seconds.
- API - Streams accessed via the DataSift API are measured in 5 minute periods. If that 5 minute period crosses a 5 minute boundary then the period that falls either side of the 5 minute boundary will be charged within each of the two 5 minute boundaries.
- Recording - When recording streams start and stop on 1 minute boundaries.
