The change

G2 runs one of the biggest software review marketplaces, and earlier this year it agreed to acquire Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp from Gartner. Software companies pay G2 for services such as review campaigns and buyer data, and those services run under G2’s Master Service Agreement.

G2 rewrote that agreement in a version marked “Last Updated on November 5, 2026.” The previous version was dated July 9, 2026. G2 also edited its Data Processing Addendum, the contract that covers personal data you send to G2.

What changed

• No more IP protection. G2 no longer promises to defend you if someone claims that its service or content infringes their intellectual property.

• Renewals are now a year. A Service Order that is not cancelled in time renews for one year, whatever its original length.

• A narrower way out. If G2 breaches the contract, you can end only the services affected by the breach.

• No written subprocessor notice. The DPA no longer promises written notice when G2 adds or replaces a subprocessor.

The IP promise that is gone

Section 9 of the July version was titled “G2’s Indemnification of Customer.” It applied “If a third party sues or brings a claim against Customer claiming that the Service or G2 Content directly infringes or misappropriates such third party’s U.S. patent or other intellectual property rights”.

In that case, it said “G2 will defend Customer and indemnify Customer from any fees, attorney’s fees, fines, costs, liens, judgments or expenses awarded against or incurred by Customer as a result of any such G2 Indemnity Claim.” In plain words, G2 would hire the lawyers and pay what you were ordered to pay.

The November version has no section like this. The agreement went from 13 sections to 9, and the indemnification sections were removed along with the procedures for handling those claims. Your own promise to defend G2 against IP claims over your content was removed too, so neither side now covers the other.

What G2 gives you still counts as G2 Content. The agreement defines it as “G2’s websites, reviews, reports, derivative works, and anything provided by G2 in connection with the Service, including G2 Content incorporated into generative output.” At the same time, the warranty section says “G2 DISCLAIMS ALL CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT”.

So if someone says that a G2 review, report or other G2 material you published infringes their rights, the contract no longer gives you a defense from G2. You would be left with the liability cap, which says “each party’s aggregate liability will not exceed the fees paid by Customer to G2 under the applicable Service Order during the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.”

Renewals now default to one year

The July version said “the Service Order will renew for an equal-length term upon the expiration of the prior term.” A six-month order renewed for six months.

The November version says: “Unless either party provides written notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the Term End, the Service Order will renew for an additional one-year term upon the expiration of the prior term.” It adds: “Upon renewal, fees may change with prior written notice.”

The 30-day deadline did not change. What changed is how long you are locked in if you miss it. Short trial orders and pilots are where this matters most.

A narrower way out if G2 breaches

If G2 materially breaches the agreement and does not fix it within 30 days of your written notice, the July version said “Customer may terminate the Agreement and will be entitled to a pro rata refund covering the remainder of the then-current subscription term.”

The current version says “Customer may terminate the affected Services and receive a pro rata refund of prepaid fees for those Services covering the remainder of the then-current subscription term.” If you buy several G2 services and only one is affected, the rest of your contract and its payments stay in place.

Subprocessor notices are now up to you

Section 3 of the DPA used to say “G2 will give written notice of additions or replacements.” That sentence was deleted. The section now says “G2’s Subprocessor list is available at trust.g2.com/subprocessors, where Customer may subscribe to change notices.”

The objection window is still tied to a notice. The DPA says “Customer may object to a change on reasonable data protection grounds through the Privacy Request Form within 10 business days of G2’s notice.” If you have not subscribed, you may not see that notice in time to object. Deputy made a similar move and now sends subprocessor alerts only if you opt in.

The data in question is limited but real. The DPA lists the first name and email of your customers for review campaigns and the names and emails of your employees for my.G2 invitations. You can subscribe on G2’s subprocessor page.

What did not change

The 30-day notice to stop a renewal, the 12-month liability cap and arbitration in Chicago are all still in the agreement. The new MSA no longer mentions the DPA, but the DPA itself still says “This DPA is incorporated into the Agreement between G2 and Customer.”

The DPA also still says “G2 may update this DPA, but will not materially reduce protections.” Whether dropping the written notice reduces protections is a question you can raise with G2.

When the new terms apply to you

The agreement says “Any amendment must be in writing and signed by both parties.” It also says “If this Agreement conflicts with a Service Order, the Service Order controls.” That makes your Service Order the place to look: which version of the agreement it points to, and whether it adds its own terms on indemnity or renewal.

A new order or a renewal is the moment the November terms are most likely to start applying, so that is when to check.

Why this matters

An IP indemnity is one of the standard protections customers expect in a SaaS contract. It matters more for G2 than for most vendors, because G2 customers put G2 material in public: review quotes, badges and reports on websites, ads and sales decks.

Renewal terms keep moving too. SolarWinds now wants 90 days’ notice to stop your auto-renewal, and Snyk dropped its 5 percent renewal cap. Changes like these sit in a contract you signed once and rarely reread, which is why vendor contract monitoring pays off.

Potential impact

If you pay G2 for any service, check five things:

• Which version of the Master Service Agreement does your Service Order point to?

• Do you publish G2 reviews, badges or reports on your website or in your marketing?

• When does your current term end, and is anyone tracking the 30-day notice date?

• Is your order shorter than a year, so that a missed notice would lock you in for longer?

• Has someone at your company subscribed to G2’s subprocessor change notices?

How Venpo detected it

Venpo monitors G2’s legal pages and compared the new versions line by line with the earlier ones on record. The details are on the G2 MSA change page, the follow-up MSA change page and the G2 DPA change page. Every quote in this article was checked against G2’s live pages and the July 9, 2026 version of the agreement at the time of publication.

Business outcome

Teams that catch this can ask G2 for an IP indemnity in their next Service Order, put the renewal date in a calendar and subscribe to subprocessor notices. Teams that miss it find out when a claim arrives or when a renewal they did not want has already locked them in for a year. That is the case for continuous vendor risk monitoring and for continuous monitoring of vendor legal changes.

Key takeaway

Since November 5, 2026, G2’s Master Service Agreement no longer promises to defend customers against IP claims over its service or content, renews orders that are not cancelled in time for a full year, and lets customers end only the affected services after a breach, while its DPA no longer promises written notice of new subprocessors.