ECHO SEO Terms of Service

Last Updated: September 2, 2026

1. Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you ("you," "Customer," or "site owner") and Experience 1st, LLC, a Pennsylvania limited liability company doing business as Digital Stride ("Digital Stride," "we," "us"), governing your use of the ECHO SEO WordPress plugin ("Software") and Digital Stride's related hosted services ("Services"), including license activation, automatic updates, the Google OAuth relay, and the Premium Page Speed relay. By installing the Software, activating a license key, or using any Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not install the Software or use the Services.

2. The Software is GPL; the Services are not

ECHO SEO is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later (GPLv2+), as declared in the plugin's own source header. Nothing in these Terms restricts the rights the GPL already grants you: you may use, copy, modify, and redistribute the Software's code, including versions you obtain from us, subject only to the GPL itself.

These Terms instead govern the parts of ECHO SEO that are not just code you received—specifically the ongoing, hosted Services Digital Stride operates, which we may gate, suspend, or terminate independent of the GPL:

• License activation and premium features: Google Business Profile management, Internal Link Suggestions, and other functionality gated behind an active license key validated against Digital Stride's license server.

• Automatic updates: Delivered from Digital Stride's update server.

• The Google OAuth relay: Digital Stride's relay server that brokers Google Business Profile / Search Console authorization so you never need your own Google Cloud Console project.

• The Page Speed relay (Premium Only): The hosted relay service that processes performance checks for licensed Premium users.

You may run a copy of the Software's code without ever using these Services. Using them requires agreeing to these Terms, and we may condition continued access to them (but never to the underlying GPL code itself) on compliance with these Terms.

3. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and have the authority to bind the business on whose behalf you install the Software. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your license key and for all activity under it. Notify us promptly of any suspected unauthorized use of your license.

4. License tiers and fees

Core SEO, schema, and tracking features are available in the free version of the Software without a paid license. Premium features—including Google Business Profile management, Internal Link Suggestions, and the Page Speed relay—require an active, paid license key tied to your site(s), up to the number of sites your license permits. Fees, billing cycles, and renewal terms are as stated at the time of purchase on echo-seo.com.

4.1 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee

We offer a fourteen (14) day money-back guarantee from your initial date of purchase. If you are not completely satisfied with the Software or Services, you may request a full refund of your initial purchase price by submitting a request through our cancellation page or by emailing our customer support team at [email protected] within fourteen (14) days of your original purchase.

4.2 Exclusions

This guarantee applies once per customer and only to your initial purchase. No refunds will be issued for recurring subscription renewal charges — if you do not wish to renew, cancel before your renewal date. Except as stated in Section 4.1 or as required by applicable law, all fees are non-refundable once the 14-day money-back window has expired. Nothing in this Section limits any non-waivable statutory refund rights you may have under the laws of your jurisdiction.

5. Google account connections

If you connect a Google account for Business Profile management or Search Console data, that connection is brokered through Digital Stride's OAuth relay and gated on having an active license (the relay independently verifies license validity on every connection and token refresh). We only request the minimum scopes needed for those features and never read your Google Analytics account through this connection. Our relay does not store your Google tokens: it hands them to your site during authorization and destroys its session, and on refresh it passes your refresh token to Google and returns a new access token without retaining either. Your tokens are held in your own WordPress database. Disconnecting from plugin settings deletes them there, which ends our ability to act on your behalf; you can also revoke access directly in your Google Account security settings at any time.

6. Tracking features you control

The Software can output tracking code you configure yourself—such as Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, or LinkedIn Insight Tag—using container or pixel IDs you provide. You are solely responsible for ensuring your own use of these tools complies with applicable law (including cookie-consent and privacy-disclosure requirements) and each third party's own terms. Digital Stride does not receive or process any data flowing through tracking codes you configure yourself under this section.

7. Your business data

Business, location, hours, schema, and SEO content you enter into the Software (business identity, addresses, service areas, page SEO titles and meta descriptions, and similar fields) is stored in your own local WordPress database. Digital Stride does not receive, access, or store it, except in the two situations below. We never sell your business data.

7.1 Support access. If you contact us for troubleshooting and explicitly provide access, we see what you choose to share with us.

7.2 The optional setup registration. The last step of the setup wizard offers to send us your details. It is off by default, no field on it is required, and it can be skipped entirely — finishing the wizard without ticking a consent box stores nothing and sends nothing. If you do tick a box, your site sends us a single email, once: the marketing box sends the name, email and company you typed plus your site's URL and title, and the second box additionally sends the business profile entered earlier in the wizard (business name and type, phone, business email, address, service areas, opening hours, and social profile URLs). You can withdraw either consent at any time — see the Privacy Policy, which governs how we handle it. Nothing in the Software depends on this: the plugin behaves identically whether you register or not.

8. Automatic updates and diagnostics (Premium Only)

For licensed users, the premium add-on periodically contacts Digital Stride's update and license servers to check for new versions and validate your license, sending your license key, site URL, plugin version and WordPress version. This is required for the update and license-validation Services to function and cannot be disabled while a license is active, though you may deactivate your license at any time.

The free version of the Software makes no requests to Digital Stride at all, and installing it creates no obligation to use any Service.

9. Intellectual property

"ECHO SEO" and associated logos are trademarks of Digital Stride. These Terms do not grant you rights to those marks beyond identifying the Software you've licensed. Except for the code rights granted by the GPL (Section 2), Digital Stride retains all right, title, and interest in the hosted Services, including the update server, license server, OAuth relay, and Page Speed relay infrastructure.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SOFTWARE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE STATED IN THE GPL WITH RESPECT TO THE SOFTWARE'S CODE. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any third-party service we integrate with (Google, Meta, LinkedIn, IndexNow, Nominatim) will remain available or unchanged.

11. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DIGITAL STRIDE'S TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID DIGITAL STRIDE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, AND DIGITAL STRIDE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold Digital Stride harmless from claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses arising from your breach of these Terms, your website's compliance with user-configured tracking scripts, or your misuse of the hosted Services.

13. Term and termination

These Terms apply for as long as you use the Software or Services. We may suspend or terminate your access to the hosted Services (license validation, updates, the OAuth relay, or Page Speed relay) for a material breach of these Terms, non-payment, or abuse, without affecting your GPL rights to the Software's code you already have. Sections 2, 9, 10, 11, and 12 survive termination.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be noted with an updated "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the Services after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

15. Governing law and disputes

15.1 Governing Law

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule.

15.2 Mandatory Arbitration via New Era ADR

Except for disputes that qualify for small claims court or claims seeking injunctive or equitable relief related to intellectual property infringement, you and Digital Stride agree that any and all disputes, controversies, or claims arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Software, or the Services shall be finally resolved exclusively by binding arbitration through the digital platform provided by New Era ADR, Inc. (the "New Era Platform") at https://app.neweraadr.com/.

15.3 Arbitration Procedures

The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with New Era ADR's rules and procedures for "Virtual Expedited Arbitrations" by a professional Neutral with relevant industry experience. The Neutral shall be chosen in accordance with the rules and procedures of the New Era Platform. All proceedings, filings, and hearings will take place virtually via the New Era Platform, and neither party shall be required to appear in person. Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

15.4 Venue for Non-Arbitrable Matters

To the extent any dispute, litigation, or court proceeding is permitted under these Terms (such as small claims court or the enforcement of a New Era ADR arbitration award), you and Digital Stride agree to submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of the state courts located in York County, Pennsylvania, and the federal courts for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

15.5 Class Action Waiver

YOU AND DIGITAL STRIDE AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The Neutral may not consolidate more than one person's claims or otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to [email protected].