Forum Moderators: martinibuster
This was a new site, using Xoops, light on content yet (but not non-existent). Not yet indexed by Google. All database driven, and regionally focussed.
There was no reason given except the "policies" and I can't see I contravened them.
The design is a bit old fashioned, as the site was always heavy on beeing usfull and effective rather then pretty. But even though, a new design is in beta testign and I would love to submit that for review, but don't know how.
Hope the review process will be revised, and any such change will be reported to us so we know when to bother again.
SN
I think they probably don't like database driven sites as well.
Bascially we understand that we dont want competing text ads, and will probably remove what we have on the test pages, until we get a definition of "text ad"
Personally, I think domain registration info is none of Google's business (or anyone else's). Is Google just playing big brother or do they actually think people might hijack sites, and run ads on them.
If the latter, you would almost certainly need access to the domain registration to hijack a site, so I think Google is just overly intrusive.
After all, if your postmaster account has been hacked, you have a lot more security worries than whether someone is gonna enroll your site in AdSense :D
I did already drop a note to Google about the postmaster suggestion via their AdSense form, and after that, I also noticed that they offer two e-mail addresses:
- adsense-support@google.com
- adsense-tech@google.com
Hopefully the former is the right address for suggestions :)
On an optimistic note, maybe the expanded reach will encourage more folks to enroll in AdWords... thus driving up the competition amongst advertisers, raising the prices of AdWords, and allowing Google to maintain high payouts to AdSense folks ;)
Google will most certainly drop the revenue share to something like 3 cents a click.
Unlikely, because sites with significant traffic or easily monetized topics would drop AdSense and stick with conventional ad networks or affiliate sales. If one were to apply the 80/20 rule, AdSense would be left with the 80% of the sites that generated 20% of the revenues.
I wouldn't be surprised if AdSense offered a sliding scale of percentages, with the bigger percentages going to higher-revenue sites. That would make a lot of sense, because:
1) It isn't uncommon to have sliding commission or royalty scales in other fields; and...
2) A sliding scale would make it easier for Google to compete with other ad networks and affiliate programs at the high end of the revenue scale without paying more than necessary to smaller or less easily monetized sites that have fewer revenue options.
It's also possible that AdWords could be sold with different content-site options, such as:
1) Adwords Run-of-Network: Your targeted AdWords appear on any site that matches your keywords, regardless of quality, traffic, or clickthrough rates.
2) AdWords Premium: Your targeted AdWords appear only on sites that have been vetted and given the thumbs-up by a human editor.
AdWords Premium would cost more than Adwords RON, with the higher rates being set either by market forces or by a surcharge. The Premium AdWords would make more for Google and for the "premium" or editor-blessed sites.
I did sent a question to Adsense support, but didn't receive a reply. It is in regard to the policy that you may not include:
"Other content-targeted and/or text-based ads on the pages displaying AdWords ads"
What does "a content-targeted ad" mean? If I make a product recommendation in my article (with or without an affiliate link), is that a content targeted ad? Just want to be doubly sure.
An on an unrelated note...if people are as absent-minded as me, adsense.com is going to see a lot more traffic. :)
Asking me to mutilate and butcher my site without ANYthing from them is a bit much. After all my site is the one established for over 4 years, and their adSense system the the new and unproven technology.
I guess it'll ahve to wait till the redesign. It's a pity as we're getting lots of potential traffic.
Regarding regional targeting, over 70% of our traffic is international. We rank high with general "widget" style keywords. So currently we're sending a lot of traffic away disatisfied BECAUSe we'Re ooffering only local content. The AdSense AdWords would be the content for our international visitors, so they find actually what they are looking for.
SN
A little over a week passed, then I got an approval letter.
Quite strange.
I'm hoping if there is ever a problem they can just disable displaying ads on that one particular domain instead of purging ads on my entire account.
Also, I had a brand new webpage that I wanted to try this on, so I up the code up. It started displaying non-profit text ads. Within 24 hours the spider hit my site and now I get webmaster promotion ads! The system works! Google never ceases to amaze me.
I think they probably don't like database driven sites as well.
That's really ironic, considering Adsense and all of Google are database driven.
Got rejected without any reason given. Kind of blew off at them for that. Still didn't get any reason. Only guess is it's a new site with only test pages up yet.
Who thinks that's really rude? They're saying my site is not good enough to run their ads? Huh?
Nope, not me. It maybe they are saying your site may not be a good "fit" to deliver ads from their clients for a variety of other alternatives, including how stable your pages are, the amount of other advertising, the type of content etc. I wouldnt assume that it is because your site is "not good enough", and even they did, this is only an opinion - others may well find your site "good enough".
If I had a boss to answer to, he would ask "Why did they reject us?" (xlat: How is this your fault? How can I use this to reduce your next raise?) What answer am I supposed to give? More importantly, why did Google put me in the hot-seat?
This is (or should be) especially important now, when many non-webmaster users are beginning to notice "strange behavior" in the search results. Customer relations can make or break the best of companies.
Just my 3.1415926 cents worth.
Sorry, I should be more specific. I understand they have "terms and policies" - just so. What I'm talking about is the Google habit of making decrees without explanation.
Well, there's hardly anything unique in that. Publishers send boilerplate rejections to authors, employers send boilerplate rejections to job applicants, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that model agencies reject applicants with "You don't meet our current needs" instead of "Sorry, but you're too ugly."
Companies use the boilerplate approach to save time and to avoid getting into extended discussions with the people they reject.
As for Google, I was pleasantly surprised by how responsive they were. When they rejected my application, I wrote back with a well-reasoned explanation of why I thought they were making a mistake. Not only did they reverse their decision, but they also apologized for what they called their "error." Try that with an editor who's just rejected your first novel...or with a model agency that thought you were too fat. :-)
I thought it was very good service and prompt too.
Also, I was running some CJ stuff on my site (adsense now replaced it) when I applied (but it was the reason for the intial rejection).
And yes, the income is pretty decent! :)
Scott
But enough carping. I will just accept the general deterioration of the global society with a smile and a wink!
Exactly my point! An editor that tells you why is a good editor. One that does not is not. Simple reason: you can't correct the "errors" if you don't know what they are.
I've been an editor, and I can tell you that it isn't that simple. Editors will use rejection slips 99% of the time because 99% of the submissions are either hopelessly bad or completely inappropriate for the publisher, and there's no point in getting into extended discussions with the authors.
Something similar may be at work here. The AdSense staff may look at a site and think there's no way it can be brought into line with Google's policies, or that the work required to make it acceptable to AdSense may not be justified by the income the Webmaster is likely to earn. Sure, they could say something like "Your Web pages are all personal pages," or "You've got text ads all over the place," but maybe they figure it's less hassle to say "Sorry" than to get into arguments about whether John Doe's account of his summer vacation to the Poconos is a "travel site" or a "personal site"...or whether the product pitches on an affiliate site are "catalog pages" or "text ads."
Instead of railing against Google's AdSense staff, why not do something constructive? Use your own editorial eye to figure out what the problem may be, or to determine what may have been misinterpreted by the AdSense staff. Then reply to the rejection e-mail with a well-reasoned argument for including your site. That approach worked for me, and it may work for you. Sometimes it pays to be persistent, especially if you can use logic and courtesy to bolster your argument.
An editor is a bad analogy. The Google issue involves a definite set of rules, but arbitrary interpretation. It's the interpretation that requires explanation. Without explanation, the information is meaningless.
And yes, I had several exchanges with support regarding the rejection. They still have not stated why the site was rejected.
What do you think their stance on such "sneakery" is? As they do know what pages their ads show on
SN
What do you think their stance on such "sneakery" is? As they do know what pages their ads show on
Nope, I don't think they'll like it very much. And, yes, I think they do know what pages their ads show on.
Beth
Any one got any ideas? StickyMail me if you want me to send you the address.
"My boss says it might just be a different editor in a different mood" mind you, my boss says a lot ;)
Ewan
