Is this Legal?

[anand84]

Recently I came across a website. It was for users to browse through random webpages.Just keep clicking on a RANDOM button on the top frame and the site takes you to a random web page at the lower frame.

The top frame had an Adsense ad from the site owner. And the bottom frame was random, so it might or might not have ads. So my doubt is what if the total number of ads on a page exceed 3? (Since the random page might be set to the maximum limit itself and combined with the ad on the top frame it could well exceed the maximum limit).

By the way, is it allowed to display ads from more than one account on the same page?

[Jafo]

Nothing illegal there. Now, it may be against the Adsense TOS, but I see nothing that will bring the cops to your door.

[Hobbs]

The short version of the answer is no, it has to do with building pages with no content as well as what you said about max number of ads per page.

Having answered the TOS question, as a webmaster I really have no respect for such leeches, they force us to insert frame breakers on our pages, and to put their own ads on top of my page makes them lower than sewage scum.

[moTi]

no, it's not legal. framing other people's pages without their consent is not allowed. it's content theft. by the way, google does the same thing (framing) with their cache/image search. it's not allowed either.
framing other people's pages and putting ads on the parent page is double evil.

being framed? put this framebuster in your code:

<script>
if (top.location!= self.location){
top.location.replace('http://www.yoursite.tld');}
</script>

[edited by: moTi at 3:44 pm (utc) on Jan. 31, 2008]

[anand84]

Thanks everyone for your replies...On second thoughts, I guess this does not violate the TOS since the page simply is showing two different URLs on the two frames..so each of the frames may in fact contain 3 ads each!

@Moti
Thanks for the code. What does this exactly achieve?

[europeforvisitors]

I guess this does not violate the TOS since the page simply is showing two different URLs on the two frames..so each of the frames may in fact contain 3 ads each!

I'd say that it very definitely violates the program policies, which clearly state:

"Website publishers may not display Google ads on web pages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content."

Showing a framed page's URL doesn't change the fact that the page being seen by the user in the browser incorporates another site's content. Also, the AdSense terms and condition state that "You shall not display any Ad Unit on a page that contains Ads associated with another Google AdSense customer (e.g., Your Web hosting company), unless authorized to do so by Google."

Still, never mind what you or I might think: Why not simply report the questionable site to AdSense Support and let Google make the judgment call?

[anand84]

Thanks EuropeforVisitors,

your points clearly point framing pages to be illegal for Adsense pages.

[moTi]

What does this exactly achieve?

it causes the framed page to break out of the frame and replace the framing page. so basically, no one can frame you anymore.

[mblyman]

Thanks for the frame breaker code.

Question,

Does it matter where you but the script?

Should it be in the header, after the header, or it really doesn't matter?

Thanks

[moTi]

it doesn't matter where you put it. you could as well swap it and call it within the page header, which i did.