Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Problem: Many bloggers insert AdSense codes between their posts, or within each post, and show five or more posts on their main page (I suppose the same problem might arise in forums). Ads appear in the first three posts, but not in the fourth or fifth. The question is, is it against TOS to insert more AdSense code in a page than is required or supported?
Since AdSense only serves three ad blocks, and the publishers know this (or quickly find this out), this is not an attempt to scam the system.
Interestingly, AdSense policy used to say "Up to three ad units may be displayed on each Web site page, but no ad unit shall contain any advertisement in common with any other ad unit. Serving two or more identical ads on a single page constitutes double-serving, which Google does not support." All but the first clause have been removed. Since publishers can't control whether identical ads appear in their ad units, this passage seemed to explain what Google would do, and not what publishers should not do.
Am I alone in thinking that the remaining language is ambiguous? Is "may be displayed" a statement of Google's intentions, or a warning to publishers?
BTW, I do much better with only two ad units per page.
Also, limiting the number of posts on one's main page can reduce the number of posts indexed by blog search engines (which usually only spider the main page), and reduce the content available through an RSS feed.
Does anyone want to parse the AdSense policy and tell me if our hypothetical blogger would be violating TOS by ignoring ve3cnu's good advice?
Don't put the Adsense in the blog entry. Put it in the template of the rest of the page for the blog. That way the ads will still appear in the archive pages - and no breaching of ToS.
Granted, there are ways to prevent or limit the repetition of AdSense code on any particular page. But the question remains, is it a breach of TOS to include code for more than three ad blocks?
However, I don't suggest you do show more than 3 ads because it would be a minus point for your account and even though it may not be considered the single reason to cancel an account, it would be added to the list of reasons.
However, I don't suggest you do show more than 3 ads because it would be a minus point for your account and even though it may not be considered the single reason to cancel an account, it would be added to the list of reasons.
Good advice. It's only the TOS-interpretation of the Google overlords that counts. Just wish the language were a little more clear.
