Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I received a dreaded email from AdSense stating first that I had mature content on my main site and to remove it. It was not really mature, just lingerie, not anyone being naked, etc. So, I immediately removed it and requested they put my ads back on my main site.
I then received a reply last night that my AdSense account is not closed but that I can not have ads on my main site (MOST of the money I make) because my site was in violation with the links pages I had.
One of the pages they pointed out was a link directory page, where people could request that I add their link to my site. The other page they noted was one of my links pages.
I've had these same links pages on my site since before I ever added AdSense many years ago. So, since I am devastated by this, I immediately went and removed ALL links pages and the link directory page.
My question is WHY would AdSense not want me to have links pages?
I realize things have changed, but I need to know how on earth to go about getting links. Most webmasters will only do reciprocal links.
Are reciprocal links NOT allowed? I have some links that I did not reciprocate and did not ask for, but those are hard to get.
I have an ecommerce site and I've added information pages to it, but it IS a store after all. I sell products.
I don't want to anger Google further, so I am asking how does a retail store get quality links without reciprocating.
Any help and insight would be great. AdSense was a lot of my income and now I've just lost most of it without realizing I was doing anything "wrong".
Just so you know. I did not have hundreds of links on a page. I had like less than 50 on the larger links pages and had divided them into different pages for different categories. I did not realize that was wrong.
Thanks!
You are deemed 'responsible' for your outgoing links (by all parts of Google), and so you should keep tight control.
Any links that are in breech of Adsense TOS will be held against you.
Check 'em all, and drop any in breech of Adsense TOS. While you are there, drop any that are likely to damage your Google SE rankings.
As a general rule, non-related reciprocal links are a form of SEO suicide, and best avoided.
For Adsense, adult, gambling and other sites are a no-no, among others.
Sorry to be blunt, but you really need to read the TOS if you hope to continue to earn money - especially if you hope to regain the use of your main site.
I strongly recommend a policy of asking Adsense for help - don't wait until they come to you.
There are many lingerie sites with Adsense; you are mistaken if you believe that was the issue. It was almost certainly not. If Google said 'adult content' - they meant just that.
[edited by: Quadrille at 10:11 pm (utc) on July 5, 2008]
One of the pages they pointed out was a link directory page, where people could request that I add their link to my site. The other page they noted was one of my links pages.
Wow, some public confirmation that those types of pages can cause challenges for your website. That is nice to see.
Hurry everyone, get those anchors off your site, pun intended!
Any help and insight would be great. AdSense was a lot of my income and now I've just lost most of it without realizing I was doing anything "wrong".
If this is something they've started enforcing lately, then me thinks there will be quite a few more joining this topic at some time.
Man, that whole link industry has sure gotten quite a few people in a pickle, hasn't it? :(
One of the pages they pointed out was a link directory page, where people could request that I add their link to my site.
Those have been somewhat of a concern for quite some time.
The other page they noted was one of my links pages.
Interesting, was it a particular category of links?
I had one of my old wordpress blogs hacked and a whole bunch of prescription drug links inserted with invisible text. I never would have known about it if the Adsense folks hadn't written and said, hey, we're turning off ads on this part of your site due to violations. I had to write and ask them what they were talking about (I am not the violations type typically) and they were kind enough to explain. When I removed the links and upgraded to a more secure version of wordpress, they said it was fine to start running ads on that blog again.
I've been preaching here for a while that its not reciprocal linking in general that is necessarily bad but HOW YOU GO ABOUT DOING IT and what software you use to manage it. There are decent softwares that are editor based that are approved by the big G and there are junk softwares that the big G has on their crapola list.
No I can't produce a list here because that is against WebmasterWorld's posting guidelines but I do know G will approve any links page that is editor based and categorized related to the site that is hosting the pages. Any software that forces link exchange without editorial discretion should be avoided.
