Thinking of adding AdSense...

will my site check out ok?

[BMach]

I am thinking of adding AdSense to my site and read that google will check the site to see if everything is kosher first. I don't use any "tricks" to increase my PageRank but there are a few things that might be questionable. I'm just not sure. If I apply for AdSense google will let me change these possibly questionable tactics first without penalizing me right? Also can AdSense ads help your search engine placement or can someone point me to a thread discussing this. I couldn't find any info when I did a search. Thanks

[europeforvisitors]

If there a few things on your site that are "questionable," then why not fix them to avoid the risk that you might lose your search rankings whether or not you apply for AdSense?

And no, according to Google, AdSense won't make any difference to your search rankings.

[dwilson]

The AdSense FAQ says that using AdSense has no effect on either your SERPs or your AdWords campaigns.

If your site meets the AdSense guidelines, they will most likely accept you. For your first site you have to have the whole domain (i.e. a Geocities site won't work) and it can't be a personal page. There are some others ... but you probably already saw them on the AdSense site.

[icedowl]

Make sure there are no broken links anywhere in your site.

I was first denied for that reason. At the time I was uploading a new design of my site and I think the google folks chose that very same moment to inspect my site. I emailed them back and had them take another look and it passed.

[BMach]

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding AdSense affecting search engine results, why would google have to mention that you can't hide the ads? If the only difference placing the ads on your site is to earn money by getting clicks, then why would anyone want to hide them?

[jonknee]

Maybe by hiding them, you can game clicks... Get people to click on something else, and it triggers the AdSense.

It only makes sense for Google to serve ads if they get clicks. Otherwise it's a money losing operation.

[wonderboy]

Or maybe by hiding them, you still get the impressions, and use some click generator to gain $$$ whilst having another ad campaign actually being shown and getting $$$ - there are many explanations why you can't hide them, but like you say, there is really no point.

good luck with your site!