Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Has anyone made some sort of CSS example of this?
YOU SHOULD BE AWARE, however, if you're considering doing this, that I believe it is against Adsense TOS to have an Adsense clone (even your own) on any pages of your site where Adsense is showing on other pages (not just on the same page).
My original reading of the TOS was that an Adsense clone could not appear on the same page with Adsense, but now I am pretty sure the TOS demands no site share ads with Adsense and an Adsense clone on a site-wide basis. (Don't go by my word, check the TOS yourself.)
I created an Adsense clone that I use for my own websites only, but I only use it on sites that currently do not have Adsense on them at all.
Competitive Ads and Services
In order to prevent user confusion, we do not permit Google ads or search boxes to be published on websites that also contain other ads or services formatted to use the same layout and colors as the Google ads or search boxes on that site. Although you may sell ads directly on your site, it is your responsibility to ensure these ads cannot be confused with Google ads.
Notice it says "to be published on websites that contain other ads ... on that site", not "on pages that contain other ads ... on that page".
Isn't that what I do if I don't have "Ads by Google" on my own emulated box?
Just use a distinctly different design and you're fine.
jomaxx: Obviously. But my original concern was, he wanted to "write my own exactly-like-AdSense blocks". That's what I was warning about.
[edited by: fredw at 7:01 pm (utc) on Sep. 11, 2007]
What would be the point of this? This completely invalidates the entire discussion.
So what's wrong with it, then? Since the intention is obviously to have a consistent site layout.
Am I missing something or is that basicaly what you are trying to do?
They can't control what I do on pages that don't show their ads!
But they can control whether you are allowed to show AdSense ads at all.
Look at it from their point of view.
A person is browsing your site, sees google ads are in position X, browses some more, still google ads, browses some more, and then sees an ad that is off target, offensive, etc in the spot, and looking very similar to the google ads, that person just assumes it's a google ad, they don't look for "ads by google". And you've tarnished the google brand.
Now, I'm not saying anything YOU advertise would do this, but it COULD happen, and thus, to protect their image, their terms of service forbid this kind of behavior.
You can still put ads in the same spot, but make them DIFFERENT. change the colour on them drastically so they visually don't look like anything like the google ads, but still blend into your sites theme. This shouldn't be too hard.
Hrm.
An image? Yes, you are very much misunderstanding me. I'm talking about having my static ads emulating the Google AdSense feel, but not having "Ads by Google" of course.
Actually, I think the Google ad is an image. Here are a bunch of samples for you:
[google.com...]
However I agree with the others. I think that by emulating the Google AdSense feel, you will violate the TOS.
What on Earth are you talking about?
What on Earth are you talking about?
An image, as opposed to text. Do you think the ads are text? I don't.
Do you think the ads are text? I don't.
Further, if they are image-based, as opposed to text, then CSS doesn't really apply, except for positioning. But I assume you're talking about style (i.e., font family, font weight, font size, color, etc), rather than CSS.
Frankly, I think I could emulate an AdSense ad (using either Photoshop or typing HTML code in notepad) in alot less time than you have spent discussing it. Don't worry about others' opinions. Just do it.
So, since Google doesn't think people read who hosts the ad, can I say that "I didn't read the ToS" if they ban me as a defence?
Sure you can, in much the same way you could tell a police officer you didn't see the speed limit sign after he clocks you going 75 mph in a school zone.
The results will end up being about the same.
The results will end up being about the same.
Indeed. He seems adamant in getting kicked out of the program. Let him do it. Displaying adsense is not a right, you don't debate the rules and guidelines, you take it or leave it.
They're not. I don't recommend the experiment, but if you're extremely careful you can highlight the text and see that it's not an image.
Well I'll be darned. You're correct.
