Bot posting Adsense code into forum threads

Is this legitimate? I can't find any information on it...

[Christopher C]

Hello,

I came across a forum today where there was an adsense advertisement posted right directly into a forum thread. The post was clearly created by a bot that likely scans threads and posts the site owner's adsense code directly into the threads. Looking around the site, the bot created one adsense code post for every new thread on the site.

First off, is this legitimate? Would I be violating any TOS to do something similar on my own sites?

Thanks,
Chris

[anxvariety]

No way would Google tolerate this.

The account may make it a few days.. but someone will report it, and Google won't need to pay.

That's my 2 cents.

[Jenstar]

I have a forum where the template allows me to put the AdSense code right in the thread, ie if you want it to appear right above the first post or immediately after the last post. Most forum templates allow you to do this, it is just more work to integrate it in this fashion, rather than just inserting it into the forum header or footer.

Chances are it isn't a bot doing it at all, unless you see a thread without it, then added later. Or if it is a new post added with the code inserted in html. Most forum software does not allow javascript to execute from a forum post though, due to security risks.

[Christopher C]

Thanks Jenstar,

In fact I think that's exactly what this forum is doing, taking a closer look the adsense is appearing as the second to last of every post.

I wondered if it was a plugin to the board software. So is it safe to say that this is considered a legitimate use of adsense then?

I think the forum I'm looking at is doing it illegally because they also have another adsense showing in a sidebar, right? Interestingly enough the adsense content on the side and within the thread are wholey different.

[Jenstar]

It could be a plugin, depending on what kind of forum software it is. I did mine via the code myself.

Two adsense ad units is a violation of the TOS. But it doesn't sound as though how the ads within the thread is a violation. It is no different than having an article in a liquid design wrapping around an AdSense ad unit.

[Christopher C]

I've been doing some more reading, you're right it seems most of the main programs allow something like this.

Have you had any problems with invalid clicks? I've read a couple of stories now about forum owners running into this problem when running adsense..

[Jenstar]

The only problem is threads discussing the AdSense ads - you would be drawing attention to them, which is a TOS no-no. As long as you aren't drawing attention to the ads, there shouldn't be a problem.

[Clark]

I saw this too. Someone came up with an addon to a template. Looks pretty cool.

[richmondsteve]

I've seen several forums that have a single AdSense ad block inserted X messages from the first or last message in the thread in a threaded view. This isn't a violation of the TOS. Even if there's no mod for a board you're using, if it has a database backend it should take 2-3 lines of code to implement.

Count total messages (might already be stored in a variable).
Increment message number as loop through each message.
If less than certain total include AdSense code after last message.
Otherwise if current message = N include AdSense code.

[yump]

We are doing the same thing with blocks of content that vary coming off a database. Just inserted bits of code to test current row number and then include the Adsense code. Means we can play around with the placement easily. Can also do a variety of tests to check if there's content that we don't want an Adsense ad next to. eg. content way off site topic.

[Christopher C]

Seems there are a lot of neat things happening around adsense lately. I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes. The forum I was looking at was definitely cool as the adsense code was targeting itself pretty well to the topic of the thread.

How much of a role do you think PR will play in terms of google indexing new threads to display proper content? Or does it play a role at all, I'm just starting to get into using adsense more.