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AdSense In Password Protected Directories

How to get them to show?

         

cabbagehead

2:16 am on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

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I have adspace in a member's only section of my site and AdSense seems to be having trouble there; its only showing my default ad banner. Is there something I can do to tell it to show certain content, since the AdBot apparently cannot crawl here?

ogletree

2:30 am on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

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[webmasterworld.com...]

You should always type your title into Google before posting it here.

cabbagehead

2:56 am on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Thanks. I just read this. Well, making an authentication exception for a particular bot isn't really an option in my site, sadly. I seem to recall someone indicated that there is a way to tell Google to use specific works, in which I'm guessing the bot might not be required. Is this true? Any thoughts? Or do I need to get a different ad provider for these pages?

barns101

12:48 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I suppose that ads on password-protected pages would be like displaying ads on a page that had not been visited by MediaBot yet. When I add a new page the ads that are displayed immediately are broadly relevant to the theme of my site, so if you can put up with that instead of "properly" targeted ads, you could put AdSense on even though MediaBot won't be able to visit.

(I don't know if there's anything in the TOS about putting AdSense on pages that are not accessible to MediaBot.)

jomaxx

6:10 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



There IS something in the TOS about granting Google's spider access to your site. I'm not surprised because without access it would be impossible to use their targeting algorithm and their smart pricing algorithm and their stopword algorithm on your pages, not to mention being unable to check for TOS violations. Of course they can check the site manually for the latter, but this approach isn't really scalable.

Whether or not they can make an exception in your case is something you should probably take up with them.

cabbagehead

7:52 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Ok, so to reiterate the original question, there's nothing I can do to instruct AdSense on the types of ads to show in lieu of MediaBot deciding this itself? I can't embed a set of keywords in the javascript for example?

What if I embed an iFrame instead? I could have an iframe with a proper title and meta tags, embed the AdSesnse script there, and then just include the iframe in the private page. :)

... Making a crawling exception for google unfortunately isn't an option here.

eeek

8:02 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

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Making a crawling exception for google unfortunately isn't an option here.

Have you consider using some other kind of ads for those pages? You'll have to pick them yourself but it's really the only thing you can do if you aren't willing to give Google access.

Webwork

8:19 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I would think that anything that blocks and impairs an Adsense employee's ability to readily examine any webpage on a publisher's website would be against the Adsense TOS. How could they readily perform random inspections for compliance if they forever had to first register to see where the ads are running? That just doesn't make much sense. Ditto for avertisers who may wish to see where their clicks are coming from. That, too, wouldn't make sense - that you first had to "become a member" (sign up) in order to see what's going on.

Not to roll dark clouds over your issue but if this isn't against the publisher's TOS it certainly ought to be.

I'd make a careful read of the TOS before continuing with this.

cabbagehead

8:24 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



> "if this isn't against the publisher's TOS it certainly ought to be. "

So, your opinion is that there shouldn't ever be advertisements in the "MY" section of a website?

Hmm. Just out of curiosity, why would Google or another advertising network really care what's on the page, so long as they're getting their click and making money. Isn't that more my perrogative as the publisher?

PS = the reason that I don't want to give Google AdBot access is because it would take a LOT of work and would probably eat up the money made from the community section for many months to come. I'm using a Tomcat Realm and making such exceptions does not appear to be very easy. :(

[edited by: cabbagehead at 8:30 pm (utc) on June 11, 2006]

Webwork

8:29 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



opinion is that there shouldn't ever be advertisements in the "MY" section of a website?

Clearly such would be the case for editorial standards, if not an outright ban. I can see ads running on a paid subscription "member's only" online magazine or newspaper of known quality: WSJ or like magazine.

I cannot see such a rule as being rational for "run of the network" websites. In a run-of-network scenario "member only-ing" would likely be the next small step in making the detection of fraud slightly more difficult.

Maybe I'm just a bit more cautious then they are, as I haven't reviewed the TOS to see if there's any language that specifically prohibits such deployments. I'd suggest you take a read. What I am saying is that if there isn't such precautions built into the TOS that failing to do so is an invitation to one more form of gaming the system - by making it just a little harder to see what's actually going on.

Webwork

8:40 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



why would Google or another advertising network really care what's on the page, so long as they're getting their click and making money.

Maybe because the 50% of the people who are not clicking are - or would be - deeply offended by what IS on the page. Maybe if news of "what's going on behind the curtain and closed doors" leaked out (remember, no editorial controls here) the #%*! would hit the fan.

I can think of lots of reason's why, in an un-edited, otherwise unscruntiized publisher system allowing the placement of the content behind a curtain is an invitation to advertiser outrage.

But, perhaps I'm unreasonably cautious. Like I said: Read the TOS closely and let us know if there's any language in the Adsense TOS that might suggest it's not wholly acceptable.

Webwork

8:56 pm on Jun 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I just did a quick re-read of the T&C and the PP and don't see an express prohibition to running Adsene in password protected pages.

Here's some operative language that, whilst fairly broad and a reading of a "bar to use" is by implication only, I can see a basis for saying "ask, if in doubt":

AdSense for Content. . . . You acknowledge and agree that Ads and/or Links: (i) shall only be displayed in connection with the Site(s), each of which is subject to review and approval by Google in its discretion at any time;

Certainly, one can't examine a password protected area of a website "at any time", unless the reviewer is an approved member. That's a lot of extra work for the Adsense team, to keep track of all those passwords. ;)

I'm just having some fun with this conceptually and policy rational wise (or unwise :) , imagining all the ways this might not work. I'm certain IF it works it likely works well most of the time (most people aren't coniving fraudsters) and therefore this may be perfectly acceptable.)

Still, I'd like to see a definitive answer if - or when - Adsense can be run behind the curtains.

jomaxx

12:09 am on Jun 12, 2006 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



IMO this is the most relevant passage...

You grant Google the right to access, index and cache the Site(s), or any portion thereof, including by automated means including Web spiders or crawlers.

This idea is problematic for Google, but it's also totally opposite to the way AdSense works, which is to show ads relevant to what's on the page -- not based on whatever helpful keyword suggestions you want to offer.

why would Google or another advertising network really care what's on the page, so long as they're getting their click and making money. Isn't that more my perrogative as the publisher?

Wow, where to begin? Cabbage, you should really (really) investigate HOW AdSense works, why it's superior to non-contextual advertising systems, and why advertisers are willing to pay a fair premium for this traffic.