AdSense ads through 3rd party network?!?!

[Thez]

I just saw something VERY strange. I was browsing my site, a page that has a CasaleMedia leaderboard code.

It showed a Google ad with the default colours. First I thought, "dang I forgot the palette". Checked page source, and Casale code is there.

Next I noticed the "Advertise on this site", clicked on that. The page I got was "Advertise on BUDS Inc."

So the scenario is, someone is paying CasaleMedia to show AdSense ads ...

?!?! I can't even begind to understand the logic behind this, or the fact that how this is considered in AdSense or AdWords TOS. Especially considering the fact that it says "Advertise on THIS site".

Should I report this somewhere?

[edited by: Thez at 2:10 pm (utc) on Dec. 14, 2005]

[bd4rr]

Most likely that webmaster is using a default banner with Casale. Whe Casale has no ad to deliver, the default banner kicks in (in stead of PSA), which invoke Adsense ad code.

[Thez]

You didn't understand, I'm the "webmaster". Advertisers can't "default" to anything, as there is no need to. And I'm not defaulting to AdSense. :)

[Frequent]

That is very interesting and I would think against TOS since they are displaying their code on someone elses page without permission.

It's certainly deceptive with regards to the advertise on this site.

Any chance it was just a "rip" on the G Adwords design and was in fact just a regular banner?

Definately ping the G and let us know what you find out.

Freq---

[Thez]

No all the links pointed in the right place (Ie, the "Ads by google" and "advertise on this site") so it was definately a google ad.

I'm going to report this to AS

[AmericanBulldog]

I think you probably saw the google domain park product. It is used for networks with 0ver 750,000 page views/month.

[Frequent]

AmericanBulldog,

Why (and how) would that appear on "his" site?

Freq---

[bd4rr]

Thez,

Sorry for the mistake. I also think report to Google is the way to go.

[jomaxx]

BUDS Inc. seems to be a real advertising network in its own right, so it's not like Joe from Tampa is buying run-of-network banner space and running his AdSense code on it. Maybe Casale is using them to fill unsold space or something. Anyway Google has been running AdSense on traditional ad networks for years.

[jimbeetle]

There are a couple of banner brokers that include Adsense in the mix (I believe FastClick also?); it's been this way since almost the beginning of the program.

Depending on the number of Adsense blocks you're running on a page, you must be sure to go into your Casale account and disable serving of Adsense ads so you don't inadvertently trip over a ToS violation.

[HughMungus]

This would be a violation of the TOS unless Google has given them a special pass to do it (Google lets some publishers ignore the TOS if they're big/profitable enough, e.g., domain parks). I wouldn't report it. I'd *ask* Google if it's OK just to keep yourself out of trouble.