Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Another quiet update was done to the FAQ and the Policies. And don't forget that because you have agreed to the TOS, you have also agreed to the policy changes, even when done quietly. And it includes an interesting addition of "site may not include excessive keywords".
AdSense Policies
Ad Placement section
The multiple ad units section has Serving two or more identical ads on a single page constitutes double-serving, which Google does not support added to it.
The section about ads not being permitted on certain kinds of pages (ie. in popups, on registration pages) it now includes "welcome pages". I suspect publishers were trying to loophole around the domain parking pages, by calling them "welcome pages". This has been also split into two points in the policies - one to cover non-content types of pages, and another to cover specific types of pages.
Code Modification
AdSense participants are not allowed to alter the ad code for any reason, include changing the ad layout, behavior, or delivery of ads. has been added. This clarifies that using css will not be permitted, as some publishers have been doing.
Copyrighted Material
It used to say AdSense could be placed on pages with links to possible copyright infringement areas such as MP3, Video, News Groups, and Image Results, but that line has now been removed.
Incentives
This section has been clarified. Here is as it now reads:
This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers' sites as well as drawing any undue attention to the ads. This activity is strictly prohibited in order to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs. For example, your site cannot contain phrases such as "click here," "support us," "visit these links," or other similar language that could apply to any ad, regardless of content.
This definitely makes it much clearer for publishers.
Labeling Ads
An addition to the policies is the labelling section 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.
Site May Not Include
It now has a new point:
Excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of web pages
This must be as a result of those "excessive keywords" warnings that AdSense has been sending out. Of course, where will the line be drawn is the big question. Just what is considered excessive? Some consider 4 to be excessive, while to others, it is only once you get up to a couple dozen that it is excessive. And what about similar keywords? This will be something to watch.
AdSense FAQ:
Am I a Business or Individual account?
This is a completely new section, to cover that account question all publishers needed to answer before receiving checks.https://www.google.com/adsense/faq#start7
Tax Information:What is an EIN and do I need one?
This is a new section, and is a quickie guide to EIN and how to get one if needed.
[google.com...]
Eligibility: Can I sign up for more than one account?
While the FAQ still allowed publishers to contact AdSense for multiple accounts, that has now been changed. This section now says Publishers are not permitted to maintain multiple AdSense accounts.
Payments: When Do I Get Paid?
Added the clause Balances include the combined earnings of AdSense and WebSearch pages. It has come up a few times here, so I imagine AdSense support has been getting a bunch of them as well.
WebSearch: What are the fees mentioned in the Terms and Conditions?
Another new section, probably in response to all the queries over this. Basically says the same thing that has already been reported here by other other members and AdSenseAdvisor. The main part is: Google incurs a cost for each search that is performed through WebSearch, and generally we cover this cost through our portion of the earnings from advertiser clicks.
The full section is here:
[google.com...]
This would also be in reference to those new payment columns [webmasterworld.com], with "credits" and "charges".
That is all the changes. Really not anything earth shattering or big. The two major points are the excessive keywords clause as well as the incentives section clarifying how a publisher can/cannot draw attention to the ads.
Site May Not Include excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of web pages
Does it say site or page? I have one page I am putting up for which a certain keyword will definitely be repetitive (used about 60 times). It may not necessarily be excessive, however, since it's density on the page will only be about 15%--i.e. the page, in addition to being a seo-vehicle, is also a genuine article.
I know. I should read the tos myself. But I have an awful hangover so please excuse me.
This clarifies that using css will not be permitted, as some publishers have been doing.
Could you clarify the css statement please?
>>multiple ad units
This was something which google was going to launch where you could have two or more identical ads on a single page, must be some reason why they have had a change of mind on this one.
ncw164x
Nothing major here, just a few tweaks which should not affect any that are playing by the rules.
Jenstar re:
Site May Not Include excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of web pagesDoes it say site or page?
It is under the "Site may not include" section, but the specific clause says "in the content or code of web pages".
Could you clarify the css statement please?
It doesn't mention css specifically, but that is the most commonly used way to manipulate the ad appearances, without actually changing the javascript. So this new clause would include the use of css, since css can be used to change the ad layout and behavior.
This was something which google was going to launch where you could have two or more identical ads on a single page, must be some reason why they have had a change of mind on this one.
Definitely. And AdSense has also disabled the ability to display multiple ad units per page [webmasterworld.com]. However there are regular publishers beta testing multiple ads per page, but I am not sure if they were affected by this, and can only show one ad unit per page now or not.
I've got a few pages that are basically a listing of a somewhat difficult-to-find product. These products are from a particular manufacturer and line. People buy these products because there are from this specific line. (I'm trying to not get too specific here.) So, they are, let's say, from the "Product X: Green" line of products. There's also a "Product X: Red" line of products. So, I have a page showing each individual product from the "Green" line, giving more information about the specific product, the name of it, a picture of it, and repeating that it is from the "Product X: Green" line. I do this for each product on the page, which means that there is a repetition of the keywords "Product X: Green." I do this to distinguish it from the "Red" line of products, and also to make it perfectly clear that each individual listed product is definitely from "Green" line.
Is this keyword spamming? I did not intend it to be so. I've removed the Adsense ads from the "Product X" pages anyway (wasn't getting many clicks on those pages so who cares), but the rest of the site still has some ads.
I should also add that this was the site that Google reviewed not too long ago, (and I was obviously accepted) so presumably they saw the pages in question. I'm being paranoid (I hope) about this, aren't I?
Specifically, many of us change the border color in the Adsense code to be more pleasing, and also to make the border disappear (same as background), since it is so crammed up against the text.
Is this now dis-allowed?
Or should I say, MORE disallowed than before?
Thank you very much.
ncw164
Google incurs a cost for each search that is performed through WebSearch, and generally we cover this cost through our portion of the earnings from advertiser clicks.mean?
where does it say that you cannot have the border the same colour as the background colour?
I don't think it does.
Oops. Let me be more specific. I just checked the FAQ and it mentions nothing about border colors.
Love these kind of overviews you do once a policy or TOS in AdSense is updated, saves us a hell lot of time. :)
Sid
The Adsense code supplied contains the border color parameter.
If you manually change this, is it not changing the Adsense code, as supplied?
If you can change the border color, what else can you change?
When is a rule not a rule? Is this the only exception?
I HAVE asked, and am waiting for an answer.
And, thank you Jenstar, for the great summary.
If you can change the border color, what else can you change?
When is a rule not a rule? Is this the only exception?
I HAVE asked, and am waiting for an answer.
I don't understand why there's confusion on this. If your page is white and you want a white border, choose a white border when you make your setup selections on the Adsense site.
What you can do here, and what you can't do there, got all mixed up in my head. I was doing in HTML what I should have been doing in Adsense.
Sorry. Miss Scatterbrain will now STFU.
What you can do here, and what you can't do there, got all mixed up in my head. I was doing in HTML what I should have been doing in Adsense.
Hey no problem. Didn't mean to be too blunt but the direct answer is usually the easiest way. :D
(And yes, there has been some confusion on this and I get confused all the time, myself.)
