Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Ive been reading through G's terms and rules but i cant really make out if its allowed to have adsense at a sexrelated site? Ive seen sex sites have google links but still.. does anyone know if there are any rules against this?
Brgds,
If you think the site in question is not obviously too adult, try emailing AdSense support.
Check out the AdSense Terms, it says somewhere in the huge block of Prohibited Uses that you cannot display AdSense on pornographci websites.
As per our program policies on [google.com...] AdSense ads should not be placed on pages with pornography, adult, or mature content.
Cheers,
ASA
Brgds,
S*x, you mean?
Pornography, adult, or mature content
So, which of the follow would constitute "mature content":
What I find problematic about the standard is its intentional vagueness and theoretical broadness.
There are ample examples of sexuality related content that would pass as educational or informational without striding headlong into titillation or pornography - yet, in every case, it would be argued that the subject matter is "mature" or "adult".
So, what's the real standard? Send the AdSense Team 100 pages to review, from sites about maternity, adolescents, dating, etc.?
See if there are AdWords ads for the central topic of the page and that aren't specifically ads for nude/semi-nude pictures or pictures of people engaged in sexual activity?
Or, could the AdSense lawyers labor just a little harder to define what is meant, either by example or more robust (reachable) language?
This language is clearly a gotcha, if applied without further clarification. Whilst I understand the benefits of broad and somewhat vague language I fail to appreciate the basis for the lack of clarification by example - which would likely go a long way towards reducing the "case by case examination" ritual which I'm certain currently exists.
I guess the AST simply lives with lots of emails asking "is this page okay"?
And I could add from my own area--what about a review of a young adult novel that involves a sexual relationship?
If you have a page that is borderline in terms of adult content (or if you're not sure whether the 'adult' content policy applies), I recommend contacting adsense-support@google.com and asking for a support representative to personally review the pages/sites which concern you. Some of the examples you listed would probably be fine, but it's always a case-by-case issue with AdSense.
As I mentioned in another thread (forgive me if you're reading this twice!), you won't be penalized for asking, and checking with the AdSense team allows you to rest assured that your pages comply with AdSense program policies.
-ASA
Protecting AdWords was the reason for the ban and the invalid clicks but it wasnt fair on him he just told google!
Kinda sad to know if you tell google you'll get banned.
Personally I think it is reasonable to have shades of grey, and ask adsense to give an opinion. It depends entirely on the context of the page.
If you have a page that is borderline in terms of adult content (or if you're not sure whether the 'adult' content policy applies), I recommend contacting adsense-support@google.com and asking for a support representative to personally review the pages/sites which concern you.
Adsense will often run ads related to one or a few pages on a site on other, unrelated pages if the "other" pages appear at all in the global navigation. In fact, it can happen even after the "off-topic" pages are removed from the navigation altogether; they can be pretty stubborn.
Aside from Adsense rules, it may not be considered user friendly if certain ads were to appear on family type pages that are out of context for the acceptable level of user maturity, so to speak.
Judge, Jury and Executioner...
And what about sites that report news? Sometimes news stories involve topics which technically aren't permitted. Would they get in trouble for having these articles? After all, it is news.
And when does profanity become excessive? By whose decency standards? If someone posts adsense on a lyrics website, which explicit songs couldn't have ads displayed on them? Some have a few curses, some have a lot, but at what point does a lot become excessive?
Sometimes it seems more relative to the who is being dealt with than the defined policies, but I suppose that's with everything in life.
As for why advertisers can contain content that publishers can't, IMO there are 2 reasons:
1. It would be fairly easy for a publisher to flood the network with extremely low-quality traffic via adult sites.
2. There's a big difference between Google allowing an advertiser to get their message out (freedom of speech) and sponsoring a website. They have adult advertisers and adult sites in their search results, but IMO they're drawing the line at paying these sites to exist.
Just because the rules can't be stated in every detail in advance doesn't mean they're not reasonable.
As for why advertisers can contain content that publishers can't, IMO there are 2 reasons:
1. It would be fairly easy for a publisher to flood the network with extremely low-quality traffic via adult sites.
2. There's a big difference between Google allowing an advertiser to get their message out (freedom of speech) and sponsoring a website. They have adult advertisers and adult sites in their search results, but IMO they're drawing the line at paying these sites to exist.
I understand what you mean by case number 1, but what about people who discuss certain topics of nature in a relatively mature manner. Not every site that would discuss adult-related topics is a porn site or low-quality site.
I'm not sure if it was on here or somewhere else, but I remember some woman saying that her adsense account had been cut off due to one of her blog entries which had to do with sex, even though that wasn't the general topic of her blog.
Put it this way: I actually have a site which (among lots of other things) does have information related to 1 or 2 subjects banned in the TOS. But in a grown-up and generally positive way.
I made two decisions with respect to AdSense. First, I made a decision not to run ads on those pages, so that it wouldn't look like I was exploiting the subjects. Second, I contacted Google and explained what I was doing and asked if they had a problem with the pages. They wrote back and said that they thought that what I was doing was fine.
The only thing I find odd about this whole practice is that some of the ads themselves direct you to sites with similar content that the publisher isn't supposed to have.
When an ad reads something like claiming they have "wholesale" pricing on the latest style widgets, if there's nothing but a search box on the homepage with the site running PPC, that ad was deceptive - they're peddling snake oil, not cute holiday widgets.
That said, I've had some "regional" type ads running on a regionally oriented site, and the site was actually "mature" in nature. Local or not, that isn't acceptable. Neither are deceptive ads written so it looks like they sell "stuff" and they're nothing more than spyware toolbars. No thanks.
Some sites - or several sites run by one publisher - are strictly family, "g" oriented in nature, and ads leading to sites that aren't suitable for a "g" audience or children aren't appropriate on those.
