Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I found a long list of prohibited items. [adwords.google.com...]
I don't know how many of the items are on the list for legal reasons vs. politically correct reasons, but I wonder if Google might allow in more types of ads now - especially if they give publishers an improved filtering system to filter out ads they don't want to appear.
For example, newspapers from all over the U.S. have reported a huge increase in the sales of guns and ammunition since the early November elections. There are no doubt lots of sportsmen, hunters, collectors, people interested in home defense, etc. who would click on those ads. This is one area of the U.S. economy that seems to be thriving yet as publishers, we're locked out of it.
Looking down the list, I can see other categories that have good revenue potential.
I wonder if ending the ban on alcohol ads is just a one time thing or the start of a trend?
FarmBoy
I wonder if ending the ban on alcohol ads is just a one time thing or the start of a trend?
That's hard to say, but I'd expect Google to go slowly in opening up cetegories like guns and p--n because of potential legal and ethical issues. What if Google ads for firearms turned up on a site that promoted assassinations, or Google adult ads were shown on a site that promoted sex tourism in a country where woman are forced into what used to be called "white slavery"?
What if Google ads for firearms turned up on a site that promoted assassinations...
I'd expect that a site that promotes assassinations is not part of the content network in the first place.
...or Google adult ads were shown on a site that promoted sex tourism in a country where woman are forced into what used to be called "white slavery"
Same applies to this statement. I just hope that there is not a single site that promotes sex tourism, regardless where in the world.
But I agree that Google is probably grasping for every straw to beef up their revenues. They've been hit by the financial crisis as well.
[Maybe I visit too many of these sites and Big G knows it? ;-)]
But I agree that Google is probably grasping for every straw to beef up their revenues.
You must have missed the list of categories that continue to be prohibited (not to mention the restrictions that govern alcohol-related ads).
BTW, there's nothing unusual about having restrictions on ads. There was a time when PLAYBOY Magazine didn't allow deodorant ads, for example. And there's no shortage of publishers in this forum who'd like to place their own restrictions on AdSense advertising, to judge from the recent thread about weight-loss ads.
