Google AdSense and Cookies (Cookie Law) email

EU Cookies

[Badger37]

Hi all,
I've just received an email from Google regarding AdSense and Cookies.
Cookie Law came in a couple of years ago and seems mostly to be a waste or time and just another irritation to website visitors. I was hoping that it would quietly go away!

The email from Google reads as if you now have to implement a 'consent mechanism' if you have already - are other people receiving these emails and what are peoples views (especially if they are in the UK like me).

I've put the Google email text below.
Thanks.



Google Ads Policy Team
Dear Publisher,

We want to let you know about a new policy about obtaining EU end-users’ consent that reflects regulatory and best practice guidance. It clarifies your duty to obtain end-user consent when you use products like Google AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

Please review our new EU user consent policy as soon as possible. This requires that you obtain EU end users’ consent to the storing and accessing of cookies and other information, and to the data collection, sharing and usage that takes place when you use Google products. It does not affect any provisions on data ownership in your contract.

Please ensure that you comply with this policy as soon as possible, and not later than 30 September 2015.

If your site or app does not have a compliant consent mechanism, you should implement one now. To make this process easier for you, we have compiled some helpful resources at cookiechoices.org.

This policy change is being made in response to best practice and regulatory requirements issued by the European data protection authorities. These requirements are reflected in changes that have been recently made on Google’s own websites.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.
Regards,
The Google Policy Team

[screamingmidget]

I'm currently using the Shareaholic method and to EU visitors only.

But the best way to do this is... TEST. Test one method and see what the effect is. Then try a different method for a week and compare the 2. From what I've seen with the Shareaholic method, there's no obvious effect to having it on.

I've also made the cookies never expire - if the user doesn't clear their cookies they don't see it again. After all, once we've notified them, they don't need notifying again.

[Ironside]

@Screening midget

This is what I've done, I've install the plug-in on my Joomla! website and it should only show once two visitors, once they've accepted they shouldn't see it again. I saw it once and I've not seen this again. I don't think Google should expect us to do any more.

[RedBar]

So ... anyone been banned yet?

[IanCP]

So ... anyone been banned yet?

Good question.

This "Little Aussie Battler" - an "in" local joke of my elderly generation - awaits notice of compliance from Mr. Google.

Because I have read it here or elsewhere, isn't good enough. I haven't seen a flicker from Google, excepting I should allow and promote "Drugs, Politics, and Religion" on my sites.

I await at Mr. Google's pleasure on the topic of European Cookies.

[charvel]

I have a slide-in bar method on two of my sites and a very small static notice at the very top on another. Nothing yet...

Also, rather strangely, earnings are way up.

[Multiverse]

As the day is here I went over my list of the top 11 sites in my industry again. I analyzed them two weeks ago (page 10 of this thread) and found that:

10 use Adsense
10 have no mention of cookies anywhere
1 has a little "cookies" link on the bottom of the screen if you come from a EU IP. It auto-disappears after a few seconds.

I rechecked them today and here are the results:

10 use Adsense
10 have no mention of cookies anywhere
1 has a little "cookies" link on the bottom of the screen if you come from a EU IP.

As you can see, nothing changed except that the one with the cookies link removed the "make the link disappear after a few seconds" script.

Still nobody gets a "consent" from anybody.

I set a reminder for myself to do the analysis again in a month.

[charvel]

I have definitely noticed an increase in sites using a notice to the point where I thought, maybe there had been a change to the EU cookie ruling and, not just this crazy thing from Adsense.

[MrSavage]

Is there any suggested methods of adding envintus method into Wordpress? Not sure why I cannot get this to work.

[EmptyRoom]

Any new input from G about this?

[tangor]

Is there any suggested methods of adding envintus method into Wordpress? Not sure why I cannot get this to work.

Not sure what this has to do with cookies and the EU. Please explain.

[MrSavage]

Genius, go back to page 7 of this thread.

[Broadway]

Did anyone here go to PubCon.

The Bruce Clay blog had this article about the AMA Adsense keynote:
[bruceclay.com...]

In regard to the issue of the EU cookie notice, the author of the post states:
"If you don’t put up the EU notice, that doesn’t put you in violation of AdSense policy."

That statement doesn't seem absolutely correct.

Was anyone there? What exactly was said that lead to this author stating that?
(Possibly they alluded that it was a TOS issue they plan to turn a blind eye to?)

[tangor]

Genius, go back to page 7 of this thread.

Very helpful, sir. Thank you. Also assumption we all have the same pagination of posts or have read all of them (going to the end and scrolling back on monster threads) is, well, an assumption. I have only six pages (of which only two recent posts are showing).

Given the number of typos which occur on a daily basis by all and sundry (myself included), that was a valid question. See:

[invictusthemes.com...]

Meanwhile, have you solved your install problem? If code is installed and it doesn't show up, have you (a) cleared all cookies and history from your browser, or (b) made sure you don't have some js features disabled in your browser or (c) tested it on a different machine, preferably owned by someone else?

Relying on JS to deliver this cookie warning will not help for about 25% of the web (up to 30% in EU) who are using script and adblockers, and thus will not see it. In that regard a server side code such as Perl or PHP would be better.

[robzilla]

"If you don’t put up the EU notice, that doesn’t put you in violation of AdSense policy."

What the hell?

[netmeg]

Not what AdSense told me.

[Leosghost]

Someone from Google will say that someone from Google "misspoke"..or they won't..either way, it's the Google way, spread FUD..

[Webwork]

I attended PubCon. I attended the keynote. I was the person who asked blunt questions about the EU cookie policy and who also stated plainly my objections - as a U.S. citizen, living in the U.S., building sites in the U.S. that are hosted on servers based in the U.S. that are used to deploy domains registered in the U.S. - to subjecting my speech and other actions to E.U. regulation, dictates or mandates, simply based upon some random EUizen dropping by one of my websites.

I asked the "banning" question rather directly, in the simplest terms. I listened closely to the answer. Maybe the G reps, fearing a riot, gave a favorable answer whilst crossing their fingers behind their backs, but what I heard - in no uncertain terms, in response to my direct question "Will I be banned from Adsense if my sites do not comply with the EU law/directive?"" - was "No". No iffs . . ands . . or buts. Just "No".

What I also heard was that G's advice or direction or instruction to U.S. publishers is to "comply with the law" (which infuriates me a bit) but also that G was not going to act as the E.U.s police or prosecutor. My interpretation of this posture: G gets the best of all worlds (to a degree) from THEIR position in the mess of cross-border regulation. "Hey, E.U., WE told "them" to comply BUuuut . . . enforcement of E.U. law is the province of E.U. agencies".

The speakers also made reference to Adsense's written policy and the fact that is makes no specific mention of compliance with E.U. directives. That said, if memory serves me, the same policy makes reference to (roughly speaking) " ~ thou shalt not engage in unlawful acts or promote unlawful acts".

Lastly, a statement was made indicating that, for the sake of clarity, a blog post may be made. Of course I assume this will first be run past legal.

This issue is a real testing ground. I expect the U.S. Congress to step up and step in. This won't affect just us "little guys" but all U.S. publishers that target the U.S. market but don't wall in their websites.

[Leosghost]

to subjecting my speech and other actions to E.U. regulation, dictates or mandates, simply based upon some random EUizen dropping by one of my websites.

The EU have never said that non EU owned websites had to give these warnings..this is all Google manufactured FUD..

The U.S. Congress have no need to get invovled any further, if they wish, than to tell Google to stop playing games and quit manufacturing FUD..

Google and some other major Corps , that people think of as "U.S.A companies" show a cookie warning to EU citizens who land on their sites, because they have their companies based in Ireland,( and those "legal entities" are thus subject to EU law) so as to avoid paying taxes in the U.S.A ..and just about everywhere else..

[edited by: Leosghost at 5:57 pm (utc) on Oct 9, 2015]

[vegasrick]

My friend attended PubCon and spoke to the Adsense speaker one on one. He was told, from what I was told, that Adsense was leaving it up to the publishers on how they wanted to handle the EU Cookie law and they would NOT be banning accounts of users who fail to meet the EU directive.

Based on what I was told, Adsense is very worried about the new IOS9 Ad blocker, that it may affect a lot of revenue for users as time goes on.

Also, I heard Adsense plans to increase the amount of ad tags per page from 3 to 5. Some publishers are already using more than 3 without penalty.

[netmeg]

Yea, five ads a page will really help that ad blocker thing.

Sounds like they're stepping back. Well if they aren't going to ban, I'm takin' 'em off my sites.

[ember]

So glad that I spent time that I didn't have getting that cookie code on my sites. It wasn't stressful at all.

I knew there was some reason that U.S. publishers hadn't been directly contacted.

Five ads on a page is a bad idea.

[edited by: ember at 10:12 pm (utc) on Oct 9, 2015]

[vegasrick]

I should note when my buddy spoke to Adsense speaker one on one, he was asking questions from the position of a U.S. publisher. I have no idea if they are taking a different position with non-U.S. publishers or sites that are specifically targeting EU traffic.

[engine]

The confusion remains for many operating in the grey area.

I would say that if you are in the EU and you are serving an audience in the EU, you should be complying. Anyone else, I think it remains that grey area.

[EditorialGuy]

Five ads on a page is a bad idea.

I limit myself to one. Who knows--maybe self-discipline will become a competitive advantage. :-)

[Broadway]

I have a high percentage of pages that lean toward a 1500 to 2000 word count. I think pages like that are deserving of more ad space than 600 word pages.
I've supplemented my total ad-per-page count by adding in Media.net ads and don't feel badly about doing so. And on some pages I may have a total of 5 ads.
But if Adsense allows 5 ads, it's just MFA proliferation all over again. Every 400 to 600 page will now have 5 ads instead of just 3.
What, Google can spider my page and interpret words and meaning and calculate what ads are relevant but some how can't count how many words it spidered and limit the number of ads it allows to display that way?
I'll always feel that Adsense is a big part of what ruined the web vs. 10 to 15 years ago. Granting the ability of websites to monetize without regard to the type of sites it is allowing to monetize.

[Leosghost]

I'll always feel that Adsense is a big part of what ruined the web vs. 10 to 15 years ago. Granting the ability of websites to monetize without regard to the type of sites it is allowing to monetize.

In total agreement with that sentiment..

[ken_b]

... Adsense is a big part of what ruined the web ...

I disagree. It wasn't AdSense, it was PEOPLE.
The people who designed the system.
And the people who took abusive advantage of a loophole in the system.

A system is just a system, it's always the people involved that make it work as intended or abuse it and/or screw it up.

.

[tangor]

I love circular logic. Amusing. If we can only solve the chicken and egg thing just as easily.

[RedBar]

Then chuck in Blogger's effect, that was the people using AdSense for spamming and scraping with almost impunity thanks to Google.

G has a huge amount to answer for, much of this mess was their creation.

[RedBar]

So?.?.?

Four weeks later has anything happened or was this simply another G delaying tactic about "whatever"?