Drawing attention to ads

[wizarddave]

I've seen the part of the TOS which prohibits you from saying "Click on these ads!" and generally draw attention the AS ads. But the TOS also says it's allowable to say something like "Advertisements" above the ads.

Do you think it's ok to say that in a cute way?

For example, let's say you had a site for fans of books about fictional widgets, and the place everyone bought their widgets in the fictional widget stories was called "Widget Street". Do you think it would it be OK to put the text "Widget Street" above the AS ads?

I do something like this, and it is the main site that G approved my account on, so I assume they saw it. But now I'm wondering...

[spaceylacie]

I'm sure that's fine. Your fans will know that "Widget Street" is a place to make purchases so will only click if they are in a buying mood(good for advertisers) and other visitors won't know what you are talking about, so it wouldn't draw their attention.

[Tropical Island]

WizardDave:

Had a quick look at some of your sites - Good stuff!

Unless you have something I didn't see then I wouldn't worry about it.

You could probably use some help in getting better results from your AdSense. Have a look back through the threads in this forum for ideas. I only looked at a couple of things so you may be doing different things on the other pages and sites.

Good luck and don't cheat. Slow and easy around here is better than fast and gone.

[dzcap]

The TOS is very clear on how you could label the ads. Did you read it yet? The answer is there and it's not hard to find.

[novice]

Do you think it's ok to say that in a cute way?

No. Google only allows you to label the ads as "Advertisments" or Sponsored Links".

[google.com...]

This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers' sites as well as labeling the ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements."

[edited by: novice at 1:52 am (utc) on Oct. 12, 2005]

[spaceylacie]

I just checked out your site too! Wow, it's great!

You do need to optimize those ads, however. On the left side, place your most popular navigational links, the top 1-3, then the skyscraper ad, then the rest of your navigation links. Or, even better, put Adlinks in that place.

Good luck to you! Great site!

[biggerfish]

OK, I give. Where are you guys seeing links to WizardDave's sites? None are listed in his profile.

thx.

[jomaxx]

Novice is correct. Cute or not, you shouldn't label the ads. Hang out here for a week or so and you'll see why bending the rules is just not worth the risk.

[wizarddave]

Although many have expressed the opinion and they're probably right that what I was doing was safe, I'm going with the doom-and-gloom crowd and not taking the chance... The look-and-feel with the cute ad header was designed before I even knew AS existed...

biggerfish: the one site leads to the others...

[Rodney]

You could also put up a mock page and show it to the adsense team to see if they approve. Then you'd have the answer straight from the "horses" mouth.

[AdSenseAdvisor]

Hi wizarddave -

To clarify, novice is correct. AdSense program policies ([google.com ]) state:

Labeling Ads: Publishers may not label the ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements." This includes any text directly above our ads that could be confused with, or attempt to be associated with Google ads.

Thank you for checking on WW first!

-ASA

[spaceylacie]

wizarddave, sorry about the incorrect advice I gave you in regards to whether that was allowed. I see there are no exceptions for cuteness in the TOS.