Forum Moderators: skibum
AdSense Program Policies states:
By specifying an image or ad server of your choice, you can make sure that your advertising space is always being used effectively, either by targeted AdSense ads, or by your own choice of content. However, you may not specify Google ads as your alternate ads.
I thought there had also been confirmation that competitor contextual ads were now appropriate for use as alternate ads. (I tried looking for the post on WW site search but had no luck).
JollyK emailed and got approval for an ad that looked similar to AdSense this month - however I am not familiar with the program used for the example to know if it is contextual or not.
I would definitely check with Google to see if they have lightened their stance for contextual advertising competitors as being okay for use as alternative ads - it has been reported numerous times that it is not okay, but it can't hurt to check and see if it is fine to do now.
I asked:
Is it possible to use AdSonar as an 'alternative ad' to AdSense
(assuming that this is technically possible, though I'm not sure if it
is), when AdSense has no relevant ads to display or must the pages where
AdSonar appears be completely distinct from those pages where AdSense
appears?
Google AdSense replied:
You are...
welcome to use AdSonar as an 'alternative ad', though I am also not sure
if it is technically possible. You are welcome to try.
Anybody else around here signed up for both AdSense and AdSonar?
You can do it by copying the <body> content of the html document that the Adsense normally resides in (obviously removing the AdSense code) into a <div> in a separate html document - let's call the document adsonar.html.
A second <div> on adsonar.html contains the adsonar code.
This second div is positioned so that it fits against the top and left of the viewport, when adsonar.html is displayed in the browser. (The first div can be positioned anywhere, as long as it doesn't overlap the second div).
Then, on the original page, the full URL of adsonar.html is added into the alternative URL field.
When the alternative ad is loaded into the space reserved for the AdSense panel, all of adsonar.html is loaded - but only the div containing the adsonar code is visible.
In this way, you can have contextually relevant adsonar ads as a alternative to contextually relevant adsense ads.
I'm going to check with Quigo now, that this is acceptable on their end. I'll report back to this thread with their comments.
Another member suggests putting some content in the iframe alongside with AdSonar. This rises biz ethical issues... from AdSonar point of view... since you could flood invisible content to bring up high CPC ads.
I think we will be able to 'switch' network when we are able to use XML... when adsense's XML returns nothing, the next XML query gets AdSonar ads... so on and so on.
since you could flood invisible content to bring up high CPC ads.
This is an unavoidable issue for Quigo as far as I can see if they allow AdSonar to be used as an AdSense alternative.
You could have a publicly accessible page with the AdSonar panel legitimately in the top left hand corner and you could still use that page as an AdSense alternative.
Anyway... I'm holding on for a reply from Quigo. We may all yet be pleasantly surprised.
I asked:
Having overcome the technical challenge without altering the javascript
of either AdSense or AdSonar (it simply required a separate html
document, identical to the original page, with a dab of CSS positioning)
I am requesting your permission to allow AdSonar to be used as an
alternative to AdSense.
Quigo replied:
You are more than welcome to use AdSonar as the alternative ad. We also
do not restrict you from putting our ads on the same page as other
contextual ads, however (as you noted below) that might be a problem
with Google's restrictions.Also, we are testing a URL-based API for our ads, so that it will be
easier to place AdSonar as the alternate ad on Google.Again - this feature is in early testing, so you may be safer using the
solution you came up with.
I think that pretty much clears the matter up: green light from both Google AdSense and Quigo AdSonar.