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New and Old Adsense Policies to Consider
April 16th, 2008 | 43 comments
There have been several new changes to the Google Adsense Advertising program in the past few months. After looking into these and speaking with my buddy Mark Mason, I noticed a few guidelines that aren’t so new, which I honestly didn’t give alot of thought toward. If you use Adsense, hopefully you make modifications as new rules are applied, but don’t forget about the old rules that may or may not be “cracked down” on in the future!
I still have a few mods to make myself, which I’ll be making very soon, but I wanted to get this out there to those of you who may not know.
There is a rumor going around that the Adsense team will be suspending the accounts next month (April) of those publishers who have not yet implemented existing guidelines. Obviously they suspend accounts all of the time, but they may possibly be getting very strict in the near future. This may or may not be true, but it’s enough to get me off my butt and make some changes.
A Few Important Tweaks that may Save your Account
Privacy Policy - This is a big one. Each and every page that contains a Google advert, must have a privacy policy, as some advertisers collect personal information:
You must have and abide by an appropriate privacy policy that clearly discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users’ browser, or using web beacons to collect information, in the course of ads being served on your website. Your privacy policy should also include information about user options for cookie management.
This is best done by an attorney, but that may or may not be realistic for all. There have been a few different adsense privacy policy generators and WordPress plugins pop up that would probably be better than nothing, but you should always seek legit legal advice for this!
Images and Video - Most of us chalk it up as common sense that we can’t serve adsense adverts on pages with objectionable content, ie. porn, hate, racism etc. But some of us use images for nearly all of our new blog posts etc. It’s something I honestly never thought of before, but are every single one of those images in compliance? Some images/videos may be inserted out of pure fun and humor, but they may very well be objectionable to some users!
Ads Directly Underneath Titles - *edit* I was a little premature with this one. After RT and Ryan’s comments I looked into it a bit more. My new understanding is that we can place adverts directly underneath titles and headlines, but not all. It depends on the wording. For instance, if the title were “how to boil an egg” that would be fine because it doesn’t imply that the ads are a list of your own links showing how to boil an egg.
If your headline where, for instance, “Best Health Care Resources” it would be against the Adsense TOS because the ads could be mistaken for these resources!
Clarification on the new “Next” and “Previous” Buttons
One of the recent tweaks that many publishers don’t seem to like is the new “Next” and “Previous” arrows beneath our adverts. I read a blog post a few days back (forget where) where the publisher complained about not getting paid for clicks on ads theat are delivered when clicking these new “Next” and “Previous” buttons. I read the same thing in a forum today.
This was derived from a blog post at the Adsense blog that stated:
You won’t generate earnings for clicks on the ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons, but these buttons will help improve both advertiser value and your potential revenue.
However, what they’re saying is that you won’t get paid for visitors actually clicking on the “Next” and “Previous” BUTTONS. You WILL get paid for valid clicks on the adverts that are delivered as a result of clicking on those buttons. This is cleared up in the comments field of that post.
To clarify, you won’t receive revenue for clicks on the actual ‘next’ or ‘previous’ arrow buttons, but you will receive revenue for valid clicks on the ads which appear after a user clicks those arrow buttons. Sorry for any confusion!
Anyway, this is just a reminder to those of you who’s income comes (hopefully only partly) from Google Adsense. There are new terms to be aware of and old terms that may be enforced more strictly in the future!
disclaimer - The information provided in this blog post was derived from my own understanding of the Google Adsense Terms of Service. It is not official. For official advice you’ll need to contact a Google Adsense representative and/or read the Google Adsense Terms and Conditions.
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16th April, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Good info Josh. Thanks for bringing this up! I had just changed some ads around on my page to make them convert a little more. Guess I need to work on them again. Oh well, AdSense doesn’t bring in that much for us.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
- Ryan
16th April, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Ads Directly Underneath Titles
It’s not talking about between the post title and the text. It’s talking about putting a heading above it, like in a sidebar, that makes it seem like part of the content.
16th April, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Good post Josh. Thanks for the heads up!
16th April, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Can we generate an example of the titles violation? I am not sure I understand that one.
16th April, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Thanks Josh for the heads up.
What a pain in the butt. I have so many sites with google on them, I couldn’t find em all if I spend the next 3 months.
My choice seems to be to disable hosting for known domains or just plan on dumping adsense.
In fact, it be interesting to see what others are using in place of adsense …..what some different alternatives are that are actually making money.
Ya know…I’m so sick of Google. I really think focusing on something like Jack Humphrey’s Authority Site Concept is the way to go….no more of this google garbage.
Here’s a link to Jack’s Authority Site Concept ….free book, great content and worthy of consideration. http://desktop-wealth.com/blog/seo/the-authority-black-book-for-social-marketing-domination-get-it-free/
Can’t remember who’s blog I read, might even have been yours
but….if the blog is focused on internet marketing or marketing in general…..adsense doesn’t really work anymore….at least not like it used to, the writer switched over to promoting other programs thru affiliate links, banners, more precise, 125 x125 pixel banners.
Anyway, now that I’m cooled down a little. At least I did do some of my sites with php includes, all having a footer file so I can add whatever privacy terms needed.
I enjoy your blog…keep up the great work.
Thanks
Scott
16th April, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Being a newbie to all this stuff, I am glad I came across your blog. Thanks for sharing the info so freely and in plain terms so a newbie can understand.
16th April, 2008 at 4:54 pm
@ RT - You may be right, but reading their guidelines and looking at their example leads me to believe that they are talking about between the post title and the text.
@ Mark - Here’s the example they provided on the official Adsense blog http://bp0.blogger.com/_YbURk67VlGk/R-v0FgpJ-4I/AAAAAAAAAYo/jSrQKkkpkE0/s1600-h/Opti_guidelines1.PNG
@ Scott - There are several alternatives, YPN, Adbrite etc.etc. I haven’t used any of them in the past year and haven’t heard of any that perform as well as Adsense.
I’d like to get away from Adsense as well, but as long as they perform the best I’ll stick with them.
It’s true, IM related blogs normally don’t perform well with Adsense. I tested it on this blog with several different formats and positions and couldn’t get over a 5% CTR which is horrible!
16th April, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Oh, my. That’s going to get a lot of people suspended. I see that every day.
16th April, 2008 at 5:02 pm
@RT and Josh - In Google’s example it appears that it’s not so much that there’s a title above the ads, but that the title is worded in such a way as to imply that the ads are part of the content.
What makes it difficult is that AdSense ads are contextual, so the ads are going to be related to the title. So, I don’t think that Google is saying you can’t have ads below a title, but it’s going to be difficult to determine what is and what isn’t acceptable.
- Ryan
16th April, 2008 at 5:05 pm
@Josh — can you point to the article as well, please?
16th April, 2008 at 5:06 pm
@ Rt and Ryan - I hate being wrong, but it looks like I was
I see your point now and agree. I’ve edited the post and gave you two props.
@ Mark - Yep, it’s in the post linked to “Ads Directly Underneath Titles”
16th April, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Josh, side question… which WP subscription manager vendor do you use?
16th April, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Thank you for pointing all this out Josh. I have all those books that come out, including yours about where to place ads and where not to place ads. It is a frustrating thing but at the same time it’s nice to know ahead of time to make sure my revenue doesn’t dry up.
Thank you as always for keeping a watchful eye out.
Rhonda
Fan of the Guru Josh Spaulding
16th April, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Excellent post Josh and I had to hurry off and make sure I was up to date, which was a good thing as although my Article site was in order, neither my blog nor my directory were displaying a clear link to my privacy policy.
I have now corrected that little problem, and the advice is appreciated.
16th April, 2008 at 5:12 pm
This is great information! Especially for a newbie! Is it true that these rules change frequently???
16th April, 2008 at 5:15 pm
@ Pete - None. I use GetResponse.com (aff)
@ Rhonda - Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the compliment
@ Mo - You’re ahead of me then. I still have loads of sites/pages to edit
It’s a pain.
@ Walter - Not really, but lately they’ve made several changes.
16th April, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for the update Josh.
The privacy policy might catch quite a few marketers out.
Here’s a link to a standard privacy policy anyone can modify for their own sites:
http://www.jensense.com/2008/03/05/adsense-friendly-privacy-policy-sample-for-adsense-publishers-to-use/
With regard to ad placement and titles etc. - if it looks and feels to you that the ads are positioned in any way to get a sneaky click, then you’re best off not doing it.
~ Peter Tremayne
16th April, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Good post, the easiest thing to do to keep up to date on the adsense policies is to subscribe to their blog. They have very informative posts and always announce the newer terms
16th April, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I’d like to know more about the ads and the titles, as right under a post title is one of the best places to put AdSense in such a way that it doesn’t interfere too much with content but gets a good look from the visitor.
Nice reminder about the privacy policy.
16th April, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Can we click on our own “previous” and “next” buttons? Since we don’t get paid when they’re clicked I figure we probably can and I’m just dying to give mine a whirl!
16th April, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Thanks Peter for the link for a privacy policy and thank you Josh for the update. I really enjoy reading your blog. You give very good and sound advice and in this instance it sounds like you’ve helped more of us than usual including myself! Keep up the great work and looking forward to your next post.
~~David
16th April, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Peter…thanks for the policy link….its better than what I had!
Scott
16th April, 2008 at 5:47 pm
[...] sig af Adsense.Læs hele det originale Adsense-indlæg her på Googles Adsense-blog.Og tak til Josh Spauldings blog for at gøre mig opmærksom på det. Posted: apr 16 2008, 07:34 af FrankHM | med no comments [...]
16th April, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I guess Google will just have to keep that $0.03 cents that they owe me for March. Man, I was going to go on vacation with that money. Back to the drawing board.
16th April, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Thanks for this. I have a question though on offensive videos. I actually use the Google video in Adsense on some of my sites. It will have some videos that it loads with some mild violence and humor but it is what Google has placed to be shown. Will this be a breach of the TOS, even though they have placed these types of videos on my site? Thanks.
16th April, 2008 at 7:05 pm
@Mark Krusen — have you considered investing that money in mortgage securities? I hear that is really hot these days. LOL
16th April, 2008 at 7:17 pm
@ Peter Tremayne - Good advice there and thanks for the additional link.
@ Alec - It is the best converting spot in most cases. What more would you like to know about it? Did you see the edited version above?
@ Nanci - I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t, I have. But, that’s best answered by an Adsense rep!
@ David - Thanks for the support and excellent compliments!
@ Mark Krusen - Oh, the sarcasm
Adsense is a small part of my overall income, but if they want to give me $1,000+ per month I’ll take it and I’ll ensure I’m within their guidelines 
@ Adam - lol good point. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be against their guidelines, since they are the ones that did it
16th April, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I need to go and read through those tos again as I am sure my blog does not have a privacy policy yet, but it will have asap
thanks for bringing this to the forefront of people’s minds. things lke this are easily forgotten and can obviously cause lots of problems if you have a lot of sites using adsense and your account (heaven forbid) gets suspended.
16th April, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Josh, I can’t argue with that $1,000 a month is a lot of money in my book.I better pay better attention.
16th April, 2008 at 8:34 pm
That was a great post. I have one site that I need to add that privacy on. Thanks for the reminder, I am going to do that now.
Thanks
Steve
16th April, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Hey Josh,
I greatly appreciate the guys who do all the testing and research. It saves me a great deal of time and heartache.
You are one of those selfless marketers that perform this valuable service.
Thank you,
Scott
17th April, 2008 at 2:00 am
Thanks Josh! I didn’t notice about this until i read your email this morning.
Also thanks for the link, it comes handy
Gotta make some tune up with my adsense sites.
17th April, 2008 at 3:18 am
Hi Josh,
Thanks for this post. I had just heard recently about the privacy policy thing and want to make sure I am doing things right… there has to be a link to a privacy policy page displayed on *every* page that displays Adsense ads? oh no…. I had thought so long as there was a link to a privacy policy on the main page I was covered.
Thanks for the rest of the info - I didn’t know about some of the other things you’ve mentioned either. Very helpful to me - thank you.
17th April, 2008 at 10:20 am
Thanks for the heads-up Josh!
I will be doing some work on it this evening.
Cheers,
Alex
17th April, 2008 at 11:03 am
Josh,
Is it alright to put the adsense ads within the post ?
That’s what I have been doing.
Barb.
17th April, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I have added my privacy policy on my blogs but I forgot about my website: it’s one of those free ones where I don’t have control over the ads displayed; I also don’t earn any revenue out of them so I think it may be the main domain owner’s responsibility to add a privacy policy.
What’s your take on Squidoo lenses; I have a few of those and I haven’t noticed any other lensmasters adding a privacy policy on their Squidoo pages?
17th April, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Hi Josh, I’ve visited your blog a couple of times and noticed your name around in various places! However, this is the first time on commenting! (I like your blog design BTW!)
Thanks for the advice above and although I haven’t touched Google AdSense, you’ll definately help a few out there!
Thanks
Mark
19th April, 2008 at 1:08 am
The TOS changing every hour is one of the reasons I stopped using adsense.
I can find much better things to do with my time and much better alternatives, monetarily speaking.
21st April, 2008 at 6:50 pm
@ Janelle - Yep, it would probably be in your best interest to have it on each and every page that displays Google adverts. Each page is its own landing page, so if there is no link then the visitor doesn’t know your privacy policy.
@ Barb - Absolutely! Nothing wrong with that at all.
@ Internet - If it’s not your adsense account and your pub ID isn’t being shown on the page then it’s none of your concern. If your pub ID is being displayed then you definitely need to contact them and have them implement a privacy policy that is within the Adsense TOS!
@ Dennis - This was the first change in over a year I believe, so I think “every hour” is a drastic over statement
Whether adsense is the best alternative depends solely on your website and it’s model.
If you’ve found a CPC advertising program that out-performs Adsense I’d love to hear about it.
21st April, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Sarcasm perhaps lol, but they’ve made more then a few changes and additions to the TOS over the last several months.
Some small perhaps but still needed to be known.
21st April, 2008 at 8:16 pm
@ Dennis - ok
I believe all of these changes, or at least most of them, were made at the same time, but I may very well be wrong.
24th April, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I have only seen this change in recent months. Most of the other “changes” other marketers have talked about were against the TOS long ago which means it’s nothing new.
Put your ads on your page and don’t do any tricks and you will be fine. I would have thought most people with serious websites would have already included privacy policies long ago.
24th April, 2008 at 6:25 pm
@ Brian - Alot of people go against some guidelines which have been in effect for a while without even know it. ie. objectionable content (images, video) that are posted for humor etc. Most of us know we’re not hateful, perverts etc. so we don’t even consider “objectionable” content. It was just a “keep it in mind” kind of thing.
It’s not just the privacy policy, it’s what’s in the policy!