In short: Moderation is where every item Zeal finds gets a label, such as Counterfeit or Legitimate. That label decides what happens to the item next, from enforcement to reporting, so getting it right matters.
Understanding moderation
Moderation turns raw results into decisions. After Zeal detects posts, images, accounts and websites, moderation sorts them into what's an infringement and what isn't, so your team only spends time on what matters.
It's the first human step of the Zeal workflow. Once an item is labelled, it gets its first check mark and moves on to Review, where a Quality Analyst checks the decision.
Learn more: Understanding the Zeal Workflow
1. Two ways to moderate
The key difference is who applies the label.
| Manual moderation | Auto-Moderation |
Who decides | A moderator, item by item | A rule, set up in advance |
How it works | The moderator reviews the item and chooses a label | Any new post that matches the rule is labelled the moment it arrives |
Best for | Anything that needs a judgement call | Clear, repeatable patterns, such as your own official accounts or obvious counterfeits |
Covers | Posts, images, accounts and websites | New posts |
Most Programs use both: Auto-Moderation clears the obvious cases, so moderators can focus on the ones that need a closer look.
Note: Auto-Moderation only labels new posts. Posts already in Zeal before a rule was switched on are left for manual moderation.
Learn more: Auto-Moderation
2. Labels: what moderators decide
Every label answers one question: does this item infringe, and if so, how?
Legitimate: genuine content, such as an authorised seller or your own official account.
Infringement labels: the type of infringement, such as Counterfeit, Copycat, Impersonation or Phishing.
Suspicious: for items that look wrong but need a closer look before deciding.
Why labels matter
A label isn't just a tag: almost everything that happens to an item afterwards depends on it.
What gets enforced: only items with an infringement label can be sent for takedown, and the label sets the reason given in the takedown notice.
Who's protected: a Legitimate label keeps genuine sellers and your own accounts out of enforcement.
What rules do: Auto-Moderation and Auto-Enforcement rules can use existing labels as conditions, for example only enforcing posts already labelled Counterfeit.
What you see in reports: dashboards, filters and Ask Cortex all count items by label, so labels decide what your results show.
How rules are scored: a rule's Rule Precision Score compares its labels with the ones confirmed in Review.
Important: Use the most specific label that fits, and Suspicious when you're unsure. A wrong label can mean a genuine seller is enforced against, or a real infringement is missed.
Learn more: Labels · Label Filter
3. Where moderation happens
Moderators work from the Moderation space under Operations, which has two tabs:
Tasks: focused pieces of work, such as a daily sweep of new posts, assigned to a person with a deadline.
All items: everything that's still waiting to be moderated.
Opening a task takes you straight to its items, ready to label.
Tip: Start with images. One image is often reused across many posts, so a single decision on the image can label all of them at once.
Learn more: Moderating with Tasks · Images
4. Keeping moderation accurate
Moderation decisions are always double-checked before anything is enforced.
Review: a Quality Analyst checks each label and corrects any mistakes.
Rule accuracy: every Auto-Moderation rule has a Rule Precision Score, showing how often its labels are confirmed in Review.
Rule Suggestions: Zeal suggests new rules based on patterns in your team's labels.
Learn more: Building Auto-Moderation Rules · Rule Suggestions
Quick reference
If you want to know… | Look at… |
The difference between manual moderation and Auto-Moderation | 1. Two ways to moderate |
What each label means | 2. Labels: what moderators decide |
Why the right label matters | Why labels matter |
Where to find items to moderate | 3. Where moderation happens |
How labels are checked | 4. Keeping moderation accurate |
How to set up rules |