Forum Moderators: martinibuster
The new changes to the terms are all in the Payment section. And some interesting additions regarding invalid clicks and your IP address.
AdSense Terms updated
Google will no longer pay out all accounts at the end of the year, regardless of balance. Last year, Google paid out all balances that were under the $100 balance as part of the December earnings payment. But this has now been removed from the terms.
Also, Google will now only pay out on balances that are over $10, if an account is closed. Formerly, they paid out all balances if it was over the $1 threshold.
Also added:
In the event the Agreement is terminated, Google shall pay Your earned balance to You within approximately ninety (90) days after the end of the calendar month in which the Agreement is terminated by You (following Google's receipt of Your written request, including by email, to terminate the Agreement) or by Google.
This was never addressed before now, and it had caused concern with those who had to close accounts due to a name change, and apply for a new one. It is good to see a set policy in place now. It is an unfortunate waiting time for those who are simply re-opening accounts under other names, but pretty standard for those leaving a program.
This also makes me wonder how this affects those whose accounts have been terminated for fraudulent clicks. Perhaps this will mean they will now receive their payments, less the earnings for clicks that AdSense has determined to be fraudulent. Or if publishers who are suspended for fraudulent clicks are not really terminated at all. This could be interpreted that those who are suspended are not entitled to their balance at all.
Here is the most interesting part of the Payment section of the terms that was changed - I have bolded the most significant part (in my eyes) of the changes.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Google shall not be liable for any payment based on (a) any amounts which result from invalid queries or invalid clicks on Ads generated by any person, bot, automated program or similar device, as reasonably determined by Google, including without limitation through any clicks or impressions (i) originating from Your IP addresses or computers under Your control or (ii) solicited by payment of money, false representation or request for end users to click on Ads; (b) Ads delivered to end users whose browsers have JavaScript disabled; (c) Ads benefiting charitable organizations and other placeholder or transparent Ads that Google may deliver; (d) Google advertisements for its own products and/or services; or (e) clicks co-mingled with a significant number of invalid clicks described in (a) above, or as a result of any breach of this Agreement by You for any applicable pay period.
They have added the IP address and computers under your control to the terms. This gives them a more concrete reason in the terms of why clicks from your own computer and/or IP address are discounted. What will be interesting to know is if they now have something in place to automatically discount all the "accidental" clicks people make.
They have definitely tried to make it clearer that any kind of solicitation for clicks are not allowed. The most interesting one is including offering money for people to click your ads - which would include all these "ad clickers" that seem to be periodically reported on in the news.
They seem to de-emphasize the former standing of fraudulent impression in the (e) clause.
Some other new things for publishers have also been added, and some which should save the AdSense team some of the endless support queries they receive such as "Where's my check" ;) And a hint to Google, please put a "last updated" date on the bottom of these pages too ;)
A new section all about AdSense payments:
[google.com...]
A new section about the URL filter
The AdSense URL filter page includes a handy guide of what is and isn't filtered depending on how you add a URL
Entering example.com will block ads to example.com and example.com/subEntering example.com will also block ads to www.example.com and forums.example.com
www.example.com will block ads to www.example.com but not to forums.example.com or example.com
example.com/sub will not block ads to example.com/products or example.com/sub/index.html
A new section on Alternate Ads:
Includes some nice step-by-steps on how to create alternate ads, as well as the collapsable ad unit information, which was previously only accessible within the AdSense FAQ (and always seemed to be hard to find).
[google.com...]
AdSense Quickstart Guide
A step-by-step guide for AdSense newbies to get started:
[google.com...]
Again, no earth shattering changes were made to the terms this time, just some interesting changes, along with the addition of some new pages for publishers to find the information they need easier, without having to weed through the entire FAQ.
AdSense is still down for me, if I note any new changes, I will add to the bottom of this post. There are a couple things I still need to check on for changes.
<added>
Google AdSense Policies updated
Under Fradulent / Prohibited Clicks, they have added "incentives to click" as something that is not permitted.
Under Site May Not Include they have made a change to the part where publishers must comply with the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Before, they had a link to [google.com...] and now they have changed it to just [google.com...]
They have also added an entirely new section Webmaster Guidelines
In addition to the standards above, AdSense participants are required to adhere to the webmaster guidelines posted at [google.com...] Some relevant items from the guidelines are included below for your reference:
- Do not load pages with irrelevant or excessive key words.
- Do not employ cloaking or sneaky redirects.
- Do not create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
- Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
- Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100).
- Do not participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your website may be affected adversely by those links.
Google AdSense FAQ
The FAQ was also updated, am still waiting for AdSense to be up enough for me to grab it, I will add the FAQ changes shortly here ;)
[edited by: Jenstar at 10:46 pm (utc) on Oct. 25, 2004]
Thanks again as usual for your terms of service critiques.
However, there is still an air of uncertainty over whether or not AdSense ads for Google products or services by Google themselves (e.g. Google toolbar, Google AdWords, Google Adsense, etc.) are earn payments or not.
The terms of service say "no", but anecdotal evidence from webmasters that get such ads is "yes". Some of that anecdotal evidence purpotedly coming from AdSense support.
Ah, what would life be like without at least a little Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt? :)
Thanks.
there is still an air of uncertainty over whether or not AdSense ads for Google products or services by Google themselves (e.g. Google toolbar, Google AdWords, Google Adsense, etc.) are earn payments or not.
I confirmed this personally with Google myself, the ads for Adwords and AdSense are paid ads, not PSAs.
Re: Casino and gambling content - it is still against the AdSense Policies (and thus, the terms) to run AdSense on those pages.
Thanks for the overview, Jenstar - much appreciated.
I wonder if the part about IP addresses and computers under your control includes all those used to access AdSense. Since I move around a lot and grab open wireless networks, I would seem to have many computers under my control.
Lets do this orderly
if you last name begins with the letters A-E you may sign the new agreement.. everyone stop trying for 30 minutes
at the bottom of the hour
F-J
At the top of the hour
K-P
at the bottom of the hour
Q-U
at the top of the Hour
V-Z
OK..
Now before we start EVERYONE stop trying to signin at adsense for 10minutes..
during that time I will login in and sign the agreement and make sure there are no other problems once I give the all clear then you nmay proceed .
;) lol
[edited by: dauction at 11:16 pm (utc) on Oct. 25, 2004]
Your analysis is always a HUGE help! :-)
I wonder if the part about IP addresses and computers under your control includes all those used to access AdSense. Since I move around a lot and grab open wireless networks, I would seem to have many computers under my control.
I do not know, but this is the reason when I travel, which I do frequently, I only check when I return to my main base and always use the same computer, and always my own dial up connection.
At the beginning it was tough, especially when I see posts like this one when I am on a trip, but Jenstar puts such a great effort into explaining the changes I don't mind waiting a week to log in.
Thanks as always Jenstar.
BTW, G is back up for me with new stats etc
could it be Google have changed their mind about paying for their own ads since you contacted them? see subsection d) in your first quote.
That clause has been in there for quite some time - long before they began running the AdSense and Adwords ads. I believe it was added with the "Related searches" fiasco/change.
If you use XP Pro you can connect to your home/office pc using remote desktop. Simply open an IE window during your session and viola - you are using the same ip as you always have to login to adsense.
(sorry 'bout the off topic)
# Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100).
Is that just for links to other sites? What if you got a file with links to over 100 other files ON YOUR SITE? I got some sites with sections with links to over 500 files in the category (video game codes for example).
What i didnt understand is i am thinking about closing my account and open a new one under my business's name. So if i open it on november when i will receive my october's cheque? After 90 days or what?
I would appreciate if anybody can clear this?
Thanks a lot
For those of you travelling and worried about G seeing your logins from multiple IP's:
If you use XP Pro you can connect to your home/office pc using remote desktop. Simply open an IE window during your session and viola - you are using the same ip as you always have to login to adsense.(sorry 'bout the off topic)
No, this isn't off topic. It's a good subject, has to do with what people are talking about and G's TOS. This what I have been doing since last August('03). But what I use is Symantec PC Anywhere with screen scaling (22" LCD office and a 17" laptop). I always thought that I would NEVER check my G stats from any computer except for the one that I always have checked them on(same IP etc). I realize that I had to BUY PCAnywhere, but thanks to Adsense, I am not a cheapie anymore.
It really works good though!
Reading the tos and the changes is not fun (at least for me) and I appreciate your efforts to make it more clear for the "rest of us".
Thanks Jenstar, but could it be Google have changed their mind about paying for their own ads since you contacted them? see subsection d) in your first quote.I take that to mean they are paying now, but if it comes down to it, they aren't liable. Just covering their backside.
Thanks Jenstar, as always.
odd, this morning i can not see the new terms. Can anybody else see them?. I didn't accept last night, as I wanted read Jenstar's review first :)
I logged in when I got home and the new terms are not there.
I am missing something?
This might have been a move to get AdSense back online yesterday, after being down for so long. Interesting that they did it though.
The situation is very interesting. Do you think that g will post them again?
Cheers
BTS111
All that said, I just have my computer at home periodically mail my earnings to my pager, saves me time checking ;)
Sean
And you'll discover when you login to your account that you are prompted to accept the new terms when you login.
Weirdly, I'm not getting prompted. And I still have the old (previous) T&C page.
