Major changes made to AdSense Policies

May not run AdSense on prescription drug, tobacco or alcohol sites

[Jenstar]

Not much makes me go "wow" when I read changed policies, but today's policies update certainly did. This one is pretty significant, and will require publishers to remove AdSense across entire sites. And remember, when you agree to the terms, you agree to the policies as well, so everyone must ensure they are in compliance.

I will start with the "site may not include" section, since this is the one that will have the biggest impact.

Site may not include...

Incentives (monetary or point-based) to users to click on links or ads while visiting a site containing Ads

This is a new one, and is highlighted by a recently suspended publisher who just did this, by posting on a third party message board, asking people to visit his site as well as the sponsors.

Sales or promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles

No surprise here, Adwords has strict rules regarding this.

Sales or promotion of beer or hard alcohol

I have heard of publishers being asked to remove AdSense from beer-related sites. It would appear that wine is excluded from this list, though.

Sales or promotion of tobacco or tobacco-related products

Interesting, since I know one publisher who asked about running AdSense specifically on a tobacco site, and was given the go-ahead by the AdSense team.

Sales or promotion of prescription drugs

Ouch. This will probably affect the most publishers with these new changes, since many affiliates monetize additionally through AdSense.

Violence, racial intolerance, or advocate against any individual, group, or organization

This used to include "Hate", but it has been removed.

Ad Placement

Clicks on Google ads must not result in a new browser window being launched.

This has come up recently, as webmasters were having AdSense open in a new browser window (without altering the AdSense script). This has officially been added to the policies as a do not do this.

I must say that these new policy changes will affect the greatest number of publishers than any of the policy updates previously.

[2oddSox]

hdpt00, thanks for posting that reply. I fall into a similar situation with one of my sites, so that clarifies things a bit.

And, as usual, thanks Jenstar for the wrap-up on the latest updates.

[Jon12345]

What happens if you have a site that is mainly about a health issue but there is mention of certain types of drugs on one of its pages? Does that mean the site does not comply?

i.e. would you have to remove any reference to drugs on any site you own?

[Kolb]

Sales or promotion of beer or hard alcohol

I can't seem to understand this new rule. What is wrong with beer, what is the big difference with eg. wine?

[Broadway]

Wine makers must be too large of an Adwords market for Adsense to turn their backs on.