Forum Moderators: martinibuster
The changes are:
As always, some interesting changes. Tax issues were clarified (or confused?) further, and changes made within the AdSense account state that tax information must be submitted by November 30th or there could be a delay in payment.
The new PSA alternative is a wonderful feature. It would be nice to see reotation of these banners, or allow a different banner for each domain within an account.
They mention new publicity guidelines, yet added the section to the terms about not making public statements about this agreement. Which raises the question if any mention of the terms in the AdSense forum is considered a "public statement". Because it is a members only forum (you have to be logged in to view the newer messages) I do not believe this forum would be considered a public statement. But I am seeking clarification to this, since the terms tend to get referenced daily here.
I don't know if it's just late here and I'm tired, but I don't understand:
they removed the clause "You may not run multiple Ads linking to the same or similar Web site on the same Site Web page."
...Adsense ad and an affiliate link/banner linking to the same site
But (as we can't pick the AdSense ads) how could we make sure we comply?
I have a question: I am located outside of US, but I host my website(s) on a server in US. I am doing no other activity in US.
What category would I fall under: U.S. Business, Non U.S. Business, or Non U.S. Business with U.S. presence.
I believe its either the 2nd or the 3rd one. They both seem a little confusing.
In case I do have to pay tax, would I have to pay tax in my country as well or the double taxation treaty would get into effect in such a case?
I am located outside of US, but I host my website(s) on a server in US.
I am sure there are plenty of members here who fall under this as well. Would it mean you have to have your own server that is in the US? Or does it even mean if you have a hosting account for server space in the US that you pay on a monthly basis.
I am not sure on this, perhaps someone else can clarify this one a bit more, who is more familiar with this kind of an issue already.
If this is not the case, I'm sure someone will correct me.
As I understand it, a "US presence" means that you have an office in the US.
My understanding is similar and I am certain most here will agree with us. However, I am not too sure about what Google means and I hope someone clarifies it.
The mention about not being permitted to make public statements was removed from the terms, not added. They seem to be making it easier for publishers to talk about the program, which is a great move by Google, IMO ;)
...or having employees in the U.S. who are involved in either:setting up a web server, hosting service, or website
....
says to me if you live (for exsample) in the UK.. but your server is hosted in the US you are Ok ...
yes its in the US but you have no employees in the US - your Hosts are NOT employees..
Note that when you logged in and agreed to the new terms, you also agreed to the new AdSense policies and FAQ. Major changes were made that publishers should be sure to check into, to make sure sites running AdSense are compliant. Both are new as of October 16, 2003.
You shall receive a payment related to the number of valid clicks on Ads displayed in connection with Your Site(s) as specified in the FAQ
I wonder if this is a move to combat all the negative publicity around suspended publishers complaining about not receiving any money, including money from valid clicks, after being removed from the program.
But this also still remains in the terms:
Google reserves the right to withhold payment or charge back Your account due to any of the foregoing, any breach of this Agreement by You
When the next wave of "I got suspended" posts arrive, it will be interesting to see if Google plans on paying for all legitimate clicks while disallowing the fraudulent ones, when a publisher is suspended from the program. If so, this would alleviate much of the negative publicity surrounding this issue with Google (such as the very poorly researched Register article [webmasterworld.com] a few weeks ago)
Major changes under ad placement policies, and the fact that pop-unders are no longer permitted.
New & Changed Policies
[google.com...]
New & Changed FAQ
[google.com...]
Plenty of changes going on.
With the changes so that ad text and URL are visible, there are plenty of publishers in violation of this right now. Some have matched the description text color and/or URL text color to the background, so that all is seen by visitors is the ad headline link, and the "Ads by Google" at the bottom. Those now need to be changed for compliance.
With regards to: Ads may not be placed on pages published specifically for the purpose of showing ads, whether or not the page content is relevant. This could have huge implications for AdSense publishers. Many publishers are designing sites or adding content for the sole purpose of showing AdSense ads in hopes of earning more revenue.
It could also be looking at it from the point of view of Directories - are they considered published for ads? What about classifieds?
Could all these types of sites/pages be in violation of the terms? Or are they looking into something deeper, in attempts to combat some of the ad manipulation that has been becoming more visible recently.
And with The AdSense ad code must not be pasted into any software application- I wonder if this would affect the Opera browser. Any thoughts?
And what implications that tiny little line about no pop-unders or exit windows. That could mean a lot of code changing for people, as well as publishers deciding whether the pop-under or exit window is more beneficial than the AdSense. But with so many people using pop-up blockers, I think this means lots of code editing to remove the pop windows rather than removing the AdSense code ;) I am curious as to how many people are affected by this pop-under/exit window change in the policies.
As usual you have very efficiently highlighted the changes. The more idle amongst us (like me) really appreciate this ;)
"Interestingly, the section on double serving (showing more than one set of AdSense ads) has been removed. A sign of things to come, perhaps? "
Are you suggesting that a publisher can now add two or more sets of Adsense adverts to the one page?
>>This clause has now been removed:
Our system can automatically distinguish between clicks generated through normal use by users and clicks generated by click spammers and automated robots. We are then able to filter out fraudulent clicks. <<
This would suggest that Google has not too much faith in their fraud detection system :(
We do know that some premium publishers have more than one (whether they are permitted to or not is unclear), so it is possible that perhaps this will be allowed in the future. But no, it is not allowed as of yet ;)
3. Can I display more than one set of AdWords ads on a web page?
You can only place one set of ads (one copy of the AdSense HTML ad code) on each page. Otherwise, ads may be double-served. In an effort to maintain the quality of our program, Google does not support double-serving. Please select the one ad placement best suited for each of your pages.
This would suggest that Google has not too much faith in their fraud detection system
Or perhaps they are doing more manual checks, to be sure that the automatic fraud detectors are really picking up true fraud.
Or they could have decided they were giving too much information away about how they determine fraudulent clicks and impressions on accounts. Google has always been pretty secretive of how they detect fraud.
As you point out, this change is very significant.
It could stir up a lot of hornets nests of the type "I have been banned by Google cos they say my site is there just to get Google ads". Give it two weeks and we'll get a thread here!
It smacks a bit of the ODP "ban" on affiliate sites, and how that was interpreted by ODP editors, and the amount of bitterness caused.
Google have always tried to automate their systems, eg spam filters rather than weeding sites by hand. This change would mean weeding AdSense publishers by hand.
Does this mean they will act on emails from publishers complaining about the opposition. Or more likely they are intending going through all AdSense sites to determine "suitablity" (difficulty depends on how many publishers they have)
On balance I would go with your "or are they looking for something deeper thought" with perhaps a wholesale weeding of AdSense publihers.
For example it is alleged that a newcomer would allow their ads in pop-ups and pop-unders. Suddenly pop-ups go out of favour ;-)
Personally I think that's a good thing. I'm tired of pop-anything and I'm tired of having to block things that I didn't ask for.
There are just so many interpretations to this, that it would be difficult to be sure you are complying with this one.
If I built a site all about dogs, making it in hopes that revenue from AdSense ads for dog keywords would make it pay off, would I be in violation? Possibly.
What if I decided to create a dog directory with breeders with all free listings? What if I made a dog directory where some of those breeders paid to be listed, or what if all of those breeders paid to be listed? Would this cause me to be in violation? Possibly.
What if I decided to do a free classified dog site, where people could post their wanted and for sale dog ads, and hope that AdSense would make it pay - would this be in violation? Possibly.
And in Google's eyes, this could be one, two, all or none of these kinds of scenarios. And cornwall is right, we could see a thread about this here in a few weeks, but even with their suspension letter, it might not be clear how or why.
And it could be something put in place to attempt to weed out publishers that are not really using AdSense like how Google envisions it to be used, particularly with how it is used.
As usual you have very efficiently highlighted the changes. The more idle amongst us (like me) really appreciate this
Me too.
do you ever sleep?
Shak
That was worrying me too, think it was 3 am where Jenstar is!
