Received a warning from Google. Please advise

[Acei]

I have received the following two warnings from Google:

"Our program policies do not permit any alteration to AdSense code which artificially inflates ad performance or harms advertiser conversions. Your publisher account offers a number of options when generating the ad code, which we hope will allow you to create an ad layout that fits in with your site. It is also not allowed to place ads on mobile optimized sites so that they cover any part of the site content or implementing parts of a webpage to cover any portion of the ads. Please be aware that if you have a responsive website design that ads may shift into non compliant positions as the format of the screen changes."

"Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that makes them more prominent than the content of the page itself. On mobile devices this includes placing two or more Google ads on the viewscreen at the same time. Please be aware that if you have responsive website design that ads may shift into non compliant positions as the format of the screen changes."

The e-mail also gives advises on how to resolve them:

"If you received a notification in regard to page content, we request that you immediately remove Google ads from the violating pages. If you are unable to, or unsure of how to remove the ads from these pages, or would like to continue monetizing the page with Google ads, please modify or remove the violating content to meet our AdSense policies."

"If you received a notification in regards to the way ads are implemented on your site, please make the necessary changes to your implementation."

I'd appreciate if anyone could comment on what these warnings are possibly pointing to. Here are some of my own observations:

- All AdSense codes are within the content section of the article. Other ads are not from Google.
- I do not modify any Adsense codes.
- I can't see how either the content could overlap the ads or vice versa even when the window size is changed.

I have a feeling that both warnings are generated from the mobile views, especially for the second warning which talks about not having two ads shown at the same time within the same viewscreen. Or perhaps two 300x250 ads side by side within the content is considered too prominent.

Here's the URL in question, but I'm sure this is happening in other pages as well.

[URL Removed - Site Reviews are not allowed.]

Your feedback is much appreciated!

[edited by: martinibuster at 12:32 pm (utc) on Jun 15, 2016]
[edit reason] Removed URL. [/edit]

[HarlanK]

There is a crackdown on mobile right now.
Chances on two adds are showing at a time on mobile.
Make sure you are on a responsive WP there.
You can not use 300x250 on mobile.
Make sure you are using responsive ads on mobile.
How are you placing the ads on your site?

[netmeg]

You can use 300 x 250 on mobile, but it can't be above the fold. And I would never put two ads close together nowadays, because on a smartphone that's bound to break TOS.

This is probably what you need to focus on:

Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that makes them more prominent than the content of the page itself.

You need to make sure that on mobile, your site looks like a content site with a few ads, rather than an ad site with a little bit of content.

[Acei]

Thank you. All the articles I have are at least 500 words up to 1500 so the content is relatively long or at least the pages don't look like more ads than content. But it appears that I do need to focus on the mobile pages more than I did in the past.

Is it ok to display 300x250 side by side on desktop browser pages?

[Acei]

Also to the mod - my apology, didn't realize the site review was not allowed. I should have paid more attention to the forum rules. Thanks.

[netmeg]

Is it ok to display 300x250 side by side on desktop browser pages?

Assuming no other TOS issues, then yes, it's "allowed" by AdSense. But it's a usually considered a poor user experience, and might bite you in other ways.

[Acei]

In that case, I'll probably spread the ads across the content. Better be safe than sorry. I'm currently looking for a way to display different ads on mobile vs desktop pages though. My Wordpress theme doesn't let me do this easily... :(

[HarlanK]

If you aren't using a responsive theme switch. I recommend Flex Mag from Theme Forest or Devoe.

[netmeg]

Responsive is pretty good for usability, but not always great for ads. Never pick a theme without double checking where the ads are gonna fall in mobile first. I was all happy with my first responsive theme till I realized that my sidebar ads were being placed at the bottom of some very very long pages. Had to make some changes to inject the ads higher up on mobile (and that wasn't trivial)

[ken_b]

This is an important point.

Please be aware that if you have responsive website design that ads may shift into non compliant positions as the format of the screen changes."

[Acei]

Come to think of it, I had another problem with the mobile ads on this site. For some reason, the Adsense ads were cropping at the bottom. Its not an overlap with the content, as the blank space is still there, just that bottom 1/4 or so worth of ads are not showing up. I figured this doesn't violate their terms so I left it as is and eventually change over to another theme...

Could this have caused this warning?

[tangor]

100% yes, that is a problem! You can't alter the ads in any way. Even by accident. Has this been corrected yet?

[Acei]

I just took out the ads on the mobile side until I can figure out what I can do there... Hopefully that's the end of this warning...

[Acei]

Looks like the best thing to do is to get a new theme... My blog is a technology blog. Could anyone recommend a good theme for that? Obviously, it needs to have a good mobile view as well... I don't mind paying for it as long as it is good. Thanks much!

[nomis5]

Everyone has their own standards. mine do include 300x250 ads on mobiles. They look OK to me. I never put any ad near anything else clickable. Different strokes for different folks.

I say this though, and it is absolutely only for sites of my type, mobiles don't earn much (maybe 20% of the total) and I put this down to being in the UK and similar areas. China, Russia and many other areas are mobile-centric, in the UK, for me, tablets (and phablets) are the upcoming way to view the web according to my stats.

You want a Pizza on the way back from the pub, you use your mobile. You'll never use your laptop for that and the majority don't use their tablets. You want some informational data about growing palm trees in Bognor Regis and, in the UK, you're likely to use a tablet or a laptop.

As a very simple generalisation, in areas of the world where they can't afford tablets they will use mobiles. In areas of the world where they can afford tablets or laptops, they will use the - pizza buying et al excluded.

[onimaru]

i think you should change the resolution of ads on mobile