Amazon Omakase + Adsense

[maxgoldie]

Is it ok to use them on the same page? (I mean, they are both contextual, but look very dissimilar...)

[iwannano1]

You can use (at least I am using on my forum), it is good idea to email AS about it.

[WolfLover]

Hello there! Hey, the original OP question was whether it is ok to use Amazon Omakase + AdSense on the same page. When doing a site search on WW I see many webmasters saying you cannot use it on the same page. I see on the AdSense Help forums that they are saying you can.

I would like to try it out at least, but am unsure as to whether it is against TOS. Can anyone point it out for sure whether it IS or IS NOT allowed?

[youfoundjake]

When in doubt, always send an email to Adsense for clarification. Keep a copy of the email.

[swa66]

I've emailed Google adsense way back when omakase was in beta and the answer I got back was somewhat inconclusive, but tended to be negative. Discusssions here were leading in the "no" direction mainly due to Omakase being (partly) sensitive to the content of the page and partly due to the possibility to make Omakase look somewhat like you could make Adsense look.

Today I've seen Amazon publicly stating it is compatible with Google's Adsense:
[affiliate-blog.amazon.com...]

It's now really time for Google to publicly say yes or no. ASA?

[SteveWh]

I had them on my site and they were targeted okay, but then i happened to visit amazon.com to check out windows vista, and, lo-and-behold, the next time i viewed the ads on my site, they were carrying ads for vista.

Yes, this is correct. They have a test program going on now where their keyword targeted ads are mixed with ads relevant to the particular user, such as that user might see when they go to Amazon and see the "other products you might be interested in based on your browsing and purchase history at Amazon". They used to have a message about this test program on the entry page where you set up keywords for your ads. It might still be there.

The Vista ads were just for you. Other people will get different ads based on their own Amazon history.

Today I've seen Amazon publicly stating it is compatible with Google's Adsense

If I'm recalling correctly Omakase ads are the ones that are truly contextual, based on the text of the web page. These have never been compatible with AdSense, and you should not use them on the same page.

Relating to the Amazon ads for which YOU set up the keywords, which is different from Omakase and is more of a gray area, I've seen more variety of opinion, but in one of the Google Groups a couple of months ago or more, I saw a user-posted letter FROM Google AdSense stating that those ads are ALSO not compatible with AdSense and cannot be used on the same page.

As far as I'm concerned, since there is doubt and confusion, don't mix them on the same page. The final arbiter is Google AdSense, and they aren't being clear, and you won't get to argue with them until they've already banned you, and then you might not get to argue with them at all. Is it worth the risk?

Amazon has a financial interest in taking on AdSense head-on "in battle". If enough people mix the two ads types, Google might have to cave and allow it, which gives Amazon a foothold they no doubt desire in the contextual ad market. They can state that they're compatible as part of this campaign, but unless they provide a written agreement that they have with Google or provide a legal opinion, such a statement has to be regarded with some skepticism.

At least that's my take on the situation.

[edited by: SteveWh at 12:44 pm (utc) on Feb. 10, 2007]

[rbacal]

If I'm recalling correctly Omakase ads are the ones that are truly contextual, based on the text of the web page. These have never been compatible with AdSense, and you should not use them on the same page.

Ya just gotta keep up in this business <grin>. Not so.

PS. As the complexity of adwords and adsense increases, the amount of inaccurate information and flat out wrong advice on these kinds of boards increases, so particularly for newbies, beware of what you read.

[swa66]

Depends on the area, but yes, I can sell quite a bit of stuff through Amazon. I have a wish list for them and regularly complain to them about their continued changes for the worse. [I've been an affiliate for ages]

If GOOG makes a problem of my using regular amazon banners, they'll have to tell me, and I'll remove the below the fold Adlinks ASAP on all pages so I can continue to rotate my above the fold ads between Adsense, direct sold ads and amazon banners. [i.e. Google will loose]

But an official and public statement from Google on Omakase after the public statement from Amazon would be *REALLY* useful.

[Brett_Tabke]

note: you guys with side topics about affiliate and/or other adveritising forms - please take it into the ad/aff forum. This one is specifically about Google AdSense.