Staff badge

The Staff (Affiliation) badge indicates a contributor is employed by (or affiliated with) your company. You can choose from five distinct setup methods.

Watch this video for a staff badge overview.

  

Five staff badging methods: Pros and Cons 

Select a Staff (Affiliation) badging method based on your technical and syndication needs.

The table below compares the five setup options to help you balance ease of implementation with long-term scalability.

Setup method	Advantages (Pros)	Disadvantages (Cons)	Syndication support
1. Contributor  assignment  in Portal	Badge syndicates. Best option for compliance. Once applied, all future staff reviews are automatically badged. Use the Portal filter [STAFF] Requires Staff Badging to quickly find un-badged staff reviews. Portal allows you to bulk assign or un-assign up to 25 contributors.	Badge can only be applied after the staff member submits their first review. If using the Display API, you're responsible for building and styling the badge. No filter to specifically search for reviews that are Staff badged. Workaround: Search for reviews pending staff status using the filter [STAFF] Requires Staff Badging	Yes *Recommended
2. Response-based badge (submission form)	Automated and proactive badging; no manual work is required. Use for native reviews. Often called a CDV (Context Data Value) badge.	Does not syndicate. See Compliance risk warning below. Relies on employee compliance (requires staff to answer the staff badge question). Adds an extra question to the review submission form.	No
3. Automated using data injection (ssURL)	Highly reliable; badge is automatically assigned using data passed from the review submission form.	Does not syndicate. See Compliance risk warning below. Requires technical development for integration and front-end display.	No
4. Add disclaimer to review text	Fastest method (zero technical work required). Syndicates since the disclaimer is part of the review text.	Not recommended: It’s the least conspicuous staff disclosure label. No visual badge or distinct image is displayed. High reliance on staff compliance. Difficult to audit as no filter currently exists to locate these reviews.	Yes *Manual fallback
5. UAS token-based Badging (Advanced)	Badges syndicate: The badge is tied to your company's identity, ensuring it displays across the entire network. Fully automated: Once integrated, the badge is applied automatically without any manual work from Content Administrators. Enterprise scalability: The most efficient method for managing thousands of employees across multiple regions.	Technical setup: Requires developer resources to update the UAS token logic on the client (your) site. Authentication dependent: Only available to clients using Client Master Authentication. Troubleshooting: Issues require coordination between internal IT and Bazaarvoice technical support.	Yes *Very technical

Setup options

Bazaarvoice provides five different setup methods for deploying staff badges.

Method one: Contributor ID assignment in Portal

Content Administrator Account Administrator

We strongly recommend this method for all reviews intended for syndication. Under this method, the Staff (Affiliation) badge is tied to a specific contributor ID rather than an individual user account. Shared identity: A single contributor ID (e.g., SupportTeam-001) can be used by multiple staff members. This ensures all reviews from that team are consistently labeled. Broad coverage: Once assigned, the badge automatically appears on all content submitted under that contributor ID.

To manually assign the staff badge, you must first find the relevant  reviewer contributor ID. 

• Submit the initial review: The staff member must first submit a product review. This action causes the system to generate a unique Review Contributor ID.
• Locate the review: This initial submission will likely be filtered by the Authenticity Team and assigned the moderation code [STAFF] Requires Staff Badging.
• Assign the badge: Once you locate the review, find the associated contributor ID. You can then use this ID to permanently assign the Staff badge to the contributor profile.
  

Step 1: Find review contributor ID 

1. Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal. 
2. From the navigation bar, select Ratings & Reviews > Reviews.
3. From the list view, search or filter to find the review that your employee submitted. 
4. Select View details.
5. In the Review contributor panel, make a note of the ID for the next step.

   
   

Step 2: Add Staff badge to contributor details

Content Administrator Account Administrator

To add a staff badge to a contributor:

1. Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Portal.
2. From the navigation bar, select Ratings & Reviews > Reviews.
3. From the list view, navigate to the action menu (...) in the upper-right corner.
4. Select Manage contributors. The Contributors page appears.
5. Search for the Review Contributor ID you noted in the preceding step.
6. Select Contributor ID hyperlink. 
7. On the Contributor details page, go to the Badges section.
8. Select Staff from the dropdown.
9. Select Submit. 

Method two: Add a response-based badge (Submission form)

Staff badging is triggered when an employee answers a specific question on the review submission form (such as 'Are you an employee?'). This creates a response-based badge, often called a CDV badge, which uses that specific answer to display a 'Staff' label on native reviews on your site.

Step 1:  Add a staff question to your review submission form

1. Sign in to Bazaarvoice Portal.
2. Select your instance.
3. From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon . 
4. Select Ratings & Reviews.
5. Go to the Implementations section. 
6. Select Edit next to the Implementation you want to configure. 

   
   

   Note: If you manage multiple site implementations, you must first determine which configuration file to edit. To confirm your specific site, examine your product display page (PDP) URL reference on your live site. Learn how to find your site ID.
   
   
7. From the left-side menu, select the Submission Form Editor.
8. Select + New Question beside the People question category. A list of predefined questions for that category appears.
9. To add a predefined question, select Add a Custom Question. The Add a New People Question modal appears. 
   Complete all the required fields:
   

   Field name	Selection/Example	Purpose
   Question Type	• Single Select (default option) • Free Text	Allows the reviewer to pick only one answer (example, Yes or No). Can be configured as a single choice field or dropdown.
   Question Name	Example: Employee	Internal use only. Used for sorting questions during setup.
   Question ID	Not required	Needed for data injection, syndication, or reporting.
   Display Label	Example: Staff Employee	Label displayed on your published site.
   Submission Form label	Example: Are you a company employee?	Question displayed on the review submission form.
   Possible Answer Values & IDs	Values: Yes, No IDs: ID_yes, ID_No	The ID_Yes value is required to trigger staff badging on the review.
   Global Questions Settings	Select from the following options: • Required • Filterable • Hide on display • Hide on submission form • Subject ID required for a product	• (Optional) Select Required if you want to make the staff question mandatory. • (Optional) Select Hide on Display to hide the staff question on the display page. • Don’t select the Hide on submission checkbox.

   
   
10. Select Save and Add to form.
11. Deploy the changes to your implementation.
 

Step 2:  Add question to a response-based badge 

You can add your company branded badge to replace the standard (default) Staff badge.

1. Sign in to Bazaarvoice Portal. 
2. Select your instance.
3. From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon . 
4. Select Ratings & Reviews.
5. Select Edit next to the implementation you want to configure.
6. From the left-side menu, select the Badge Editor.
7. Select Add a response-based question. The Add a New Badge modal appears.
   Complete all required fields.
   

   Field name	Selection/Example	Purpose
   Question	Example: Are you a company employee?	Select the question you pre-defined in the previous step.
   Answer	Example: Yes	Allows the reviewer to pick only one answer, for example, Yes or No. Can be configured as a single choice field or dropdown.
   Label	Example: Employee Review	This label appears when no custom badge image is uploaded.
   Description	Example: This badge indicates that the reviewer is employed by the product company.	This text displays as a tooltip when a consumer hovers over the badge.
   Custom badge image (optional)		Upload a branded badge to replace the standard default badge image. Learn more about styling badges.

   
   
8. Select Save Changes.
9. Deploy the changes to your implementation. 

   
   

Method three: Create a simple submission link (ssURL)

Embed a simple submission URL directly into your review request emails or text messages.

• This ssURL link will bring a reviewer directly to the correct product review submission form.
• Once the employee submits their review, the system automatically recognizes them as a staff member because the ssURL was pre-populated (data injection) with the necessary employee data.

Step 1:  Add a staff question to the review submission form 

1. Sgn in to Bazaarvoice Portal.  
2. Select your instance.
3. From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon .
4. Select Ratings & Reviews.
5. Go to the Implementations section.
6. Select Edit next to the Implementation you want to configure.
   
   

   Note: If you manage multiple site implementations, you must first determine which configuration file to edit. To confirm your specific site, examine your product display page (PDP) URL reference on your live site. Learn how to find your site ID. 
7. From the left-side menu, select the Submission Form Editor.
8. Select + New Question beside the People question category. 
9. Select Add a Custom Question. The Add a New People Question modal appears.
   Complete all required fields:
   

   Field name	Selection/Example	Purpose
   Question Type	• Single Select (default option) • Free Text	Allows the reviewer to pick only one answer, for example, Yes or No. Can be configured as a single choice field or dropdown.
   Question Name	Example: Employee question	Internal use only. Unique, descriptive name used for sorting questions during setup.
   Question ID	Example: Employee_question	Required for data injection in step 3. It’s also used in reporting and syndication. Should not contain any special characters or spaces.
   Display Label	Example: Staff Review	Label displayed on your published site.
   Submission Form label	Example: Are you a company employee?	Question displayed on the review submission form.
   Possible Answer Values & IDs	Example value: Yes, No Example Answer ID: ID_yes, ID_No	The Answer ID  ID_Yes value is required for data injection by the ssURL generator tool. This ID triggers staff badging.
   Global Question Settings	Select from the following options: • Required  • Filterable • Hide on display page • Hide on submission form • Subject ID required for a product	Select the Hide on submission checkbox. Hiding the question prevents reviewers from manually changing  the answer injected by the system.

   
   
10. Select Save and Add to form.
11. Deploy the changes to your implementation.
    

Step 2:  Add staff question to token badge

1. Sign in to Bazaarvoice Portal .  
2. Select your instance.
3. From the upper-right corner, select the settings icon .
4. Select Ratings & Reviews.
5. Select Edit next to the production implementation you want to configure.
6. From the left-side menu, select the Badge Editor.
7. Under Token-based badges, select + Add a new badge. The Add a New Badge modal appears.
   
   Complete all required fields
   

   Field name	Selection/Example	Purpose
   Question	Example: Are you a company employee?	Select the question you pre-defined in the previous step. This question will be displayed on the review submission form.
   Answer	Example: Yes	Select the answer you pre-defined in the previous step. Staff reviewers will be automatically badged if their answer is “Yes”.
   Label	Example: Employee Review	This label appears when no custom badge image is uploaded.
   Description	Example: This badge indicates that the reviewer is employed by the product company.	This text displays as a tooltip when a consumer hovers over the badge.
   Custom badge image (optional)		Upload a branded badge to replace the standard default badge image. Learn how to style badges.

   
   
8. Select Save Changes.
9. Deploy the changes to your implementation.
   
   

Step 3:  Create a simple Submission form link (ssURL) 

Submission Link Generator tool Sign in to the Bazaarvoice Support Community to read a comprehensive article on how to create an ssURL Alernatively Watch this video to learn how to create an ssURL link You must be signed in to both the Bazaarvoice Portal and the Support Community, to access the Submission Link Generator tool The link generator tool supports single product submissions only. It doesn’t support multi-product submission (MPS) ssURLs yet. Note:  Determine if your site uses hosted or site authentication. The type of authentication your website uses will impact how the ssURL works and can influence your parameter choices.

To generate a simple submission URL:

1. Sign in to Bazaarvoice Portal.
2. From the Help & Support section, select Access the Support Community . 
3. From the Support Community navigation menu, select ssURL tool. The Submission Link Generator tool appears.
4. To generate your submission form URL link, configure the following settings:
   

   Field	Example	Purpose
   Display Integration	Select which hosted display platform you’re using. • v1 • v2 (default)	The latest hosted display version is v2. If unsure, contact your Bazaarvoice representative
   Environment	Select your environment. • Staging (default) • Production	Select Production environment to create a public (live) ssURL link.
   Client instance	Example: EnduranceCycles	Enter the instance name exactly as it appears in Portal.
   Deployment zone ID	Example: main_site	This is typically your main implementation Site ID. Learn how to find you site ID.
   Locale	Example: en_US	If you’re not using US English (en_US), enter the correct locale code. Contact Bazaarvoice Support if you’re not sure what locale code to enter.
   bvaction	Select from the following options: • normal submission (default)  • generic review submission - product picker ◦ Prevent Close ◦ Filter by:  ▪ all products (default) ▪ category ▪ product family	• Normal submission refers to review submission form. Enter the single product ID from your product catalog. • Product picker refers to multiple product reviews.  •The Prevent close setting prevents the submission form window from closing automatically, so that the reviewer reviews all listed products.
   Campaign ID	Example: ss_URL_staffreviews	Required for reporting purposes.
   Data Injection	Enable data injection (default): The following fields need to be populated with the correct information: Add QuestionID: ID_Employee Add AnswerID: ID_Yes	Pre-populates the submission form URL link to indicate the reviewer is an employee.

5. From the Results section, copy and paste the generated simple submission URL into your review request email or text message

Examples of single-product ssURLs

• ssURL in a review request email message
• ssURL in a generic review submission email message

Method four: Add staff disclaimer to review text

We do not recommend this option, but it is the lowest-effort, non-technical approach.

When an employee writes a review, they manually enter a fixed disclaimer in the body text of the review such as "I am an employee at Endurance Cycles". 

• While the text itself is syndicated, this method relies entirely on the employee's compliance to add this disclosure statement.
• This method does not use any of the platform's automated badge tracking features.

Method five: UAS token-based badging (Advanced)

For clients using Client Mastered (Site) Authentication, you can pass contributor attributes, such as a "Staff" designation, directly within the secure authentication token.

• How it works: When an employee signs into your site and goes to write a review, your system generates an encrypted UAS token. This token tells Bazaarvoice exactly who the user is and that they should be granted a Staff badge.

• The Result: The badge is applied automatically the moment they submit their review. Because this is tied to their authenticated identity, the badge is verified and will syndicate across the Bazaarvoice Network.

Technical resources

This method requires developer support for encryption and token generation, please refer to the following technical documentation:

• Contributor-ID badges (Staff affiliation badge):  Conversations API Documentation
• Authentication overview:  Client Mastered Authentication Guide
• Token security:  UAS Token Generation Details

Simple submission URL (ssURL) vs. UAS token-based badging

While both methods use data injection, they function differently:

• Simple submission URL (ssURL): Injects data into a link. This is not verified for the Bazaarvoice Network and does not syndicate.
• UAS token-based badging: Injects data into the user's secure login session. This ensures the badge is verified and will syndicate across the Bazaarvoice Network.
  
  

FTC compliance and syndication limits

To comply with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation rules, all staff-written reviews must include a clear and conspicuous disclosure. Failure to disclose staff affiliation can result in significant legal penalties, effective from October 21, 2024.

For the Bazaarvoice platform, a violation is triggered every time a consumer views a review that lacks this staff disclosure. Bottom line: One undisclosed review viewed by 1,000 people equals 1,000 violations.

Recommended staff badging method

There are five different staff badging setup methods.

To ensure compliance across the Bazaarvoice Network, we strongly recommend the Contributor ID staff badging method. 

• Guaranteed syndication: Staff labels assigned to a contributor ID profile carry over to syndicated reviews; ensuring the disclosure follows the content to every retail destination.
• Automatic protection: Marking a contributor profile as Staff instantly updates all past and future reviews from that individual.
• Legal audit trail: This method maintains a permanent record in the Portal, simplifying compliance management and reporting.

Response-based (CDV) staff badges display on your native site; but do not syndicate to the retailer network. This can lead to compliance gaps.

Find your site ID

Follow these instructions to identify your site ID  (implementation ID) .

1. Go to any Product Display Page (PDP) on your live site.
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select Inspect from the context menu. This will open the browser's developer tools.
3. Ensure the Elements tab is active to view the page source code.
4. Search for the Deployment URL: Press Command + F (Mac) or Control + F (Windows) to open the search bar within the source code panel.
5. Enter the following partial URL into the search bar: 
   

   Copy Code HTML

   https://apps.bazaarvoice.com/deployments/

   
   
6.  Press Enter.
   
7. Scan the search results to find the complete <script> tag. It will look similar to this:


   

   Copy Code JavaScript

   <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apps.bazaarvoice.com/deployments/companyname/main_site/production/en_GB/bv.js"></script>