Massive delay updating AdSense stats today

May 6, 2008

Before you start panicking when you login to your trusty AdSense account only to discover you have about 2% of the earnings you would expect for this time of day, Google seems to be experiencing a massive delay in updating their stats.  So when you see $2.87 when you would should be seeing something like $130, this is why.  Google AdSense stats have not been updated for about 8 hours or so, since about 1am PST (AKA Google AdSense stats time).

It is affecting all the stats - impressions, clicks and earnings.  While sometimes we have seen delays with either impressions or clicks, this is definitely affecting everything, as if the AdSense account has been frozen at 1am.

There hasn’t been any word from Google yet on why the stats are so delayed, but this seems to be across the board in all counties.  Ads to appear to be serving normally, but it is always disconcerting when there is such a massive delay in stats… especially since stats haven’t had any delay issues for years.

 That said, there could be something new and shiny to play with when they do start updating. 

I will post updates as I hear more, so be sure to subscribe to the feed if you haven’t already and my Twitter feed, if you want the latest :)  I am trying to find out why there is such a delay.   And if you are a little bit nervous about the lack of updates, you can read up on Supplementing AdSense with Affiliate Ads while you wait.

 Update: Stats are also affected on the AdWords site of things, with advertisers not seeing any updates for the same period of time.  Google AdWords has confirmed that the ads are continuing to be served properly, that they are aware there is an issue, and it is being worked on by engineers right now. 

Yes - some advertisers are seeing a delay in their stats today. The engineering teams are aware of this and, as you might imagine, are working to resolve it as a priority.

Please know that ads have continued to run as normal. This issue revolves around the reporting of statistics only, and does not impact ad delivery.

I’ll post again when I have anything of substance to add - and, in the meantime, my apology for the inconvenience this is causing you.

AWA

Still no official word from the AdSense site of things though.

Update 2 @ 11:35 am PST:

Google AdSense has finally responded over on Google Groups:

Hi everyone,

I’ve escalated your reports to our engineers, and they’re currently
investigating the issue. I’ll be sure to update this thread as soon as
I have any more info — thanks for your patience in the meantime.

Stephanie

So no real new information, but they are working on it :)  I will continue to update on this post and tweet as more information is available.

Update 3 @ 11:50 am PST

Clicks are very slowly starting to come in, but still at only a small percentage of totals of what it should be at this time of day.  Either they are updating stats since the time they discovered the problem earlier this morning, or the stats from 1am PST are starting to roll in.

Update 4 @ 1:45pm PST

Stats are still very much behind but slowly updating.  And another update from Google:

Hi again everyone,

I’ve just received an update from our engineers: they’re still working
on resolving the issue, but they have confirmed that no statistics or
data have been lost from your accounts. I’ll let you know when I have
more info about when you might expect to see updated stats. Again, we
appreciate your patience.

Stephanie

So no update on when it will be resolved, but the confirmation that stats and earnings are not lost permanently, which should cause some to breathe a sigh of relief!

Update 5 @ 4:20pm PST

No further word from Google, but stats are still creeping up - about 1/2 to 2/3 of where they should be at this time.  If you have raw logs, you can do a guestimate of how much your have updated at this time.

Update 6 @ 5:17pm PST

They have now updated the AdSense blog with:

A number of you have informed us that your reports are substantially lower than usual today, or aren’t being updated. Our engineers are currently investigating the issue and working to resolve it as quickly as possible. Please be assured that your account data has still been tracked, so this issue will not affect your earnings or payments. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for being patient.

 They also point to a new Known Issues page.  I wish they would timestamp the updates though, so we know when it is current to.  Knowing this issue was updated just on “May 6, 2008″ doesn’t really do much good for those of us wondering if it was updated this morning when it was first noticed or just 15 minutes ago as a current status update.

Screenshot (click for full-sized)

Update 7 @ 5:22pm PST

After I posted the above and double checked the known issues link, the report about the AdSense stats not being updated has now been removed.  This might mean it is resolved, although no confirmation as of yet.  I wonder why they don’t change it to a status of resolved for 24 hours for those of us checking the page for details, rather than deleting it from the page entirely.  I added the screen shot from the known issue page in the update above.  (And a few minutes after I added this, it was back again on the known issues page, maybe someone was trigger-happy and thinking it was resolved; Or maybe not, it is gone once again).

Posted in Google AdSense 23 Comments »

So how are your AdSense link units performing?

April 16, 2008

If you wanted to see how your link units were performing on a site or a page, you used to have to tag them with a seperate channel, but the results were skewed because there were impressions on the site and impressions once the actual page of link units was displayed.

Google has just updated their control panel and you can now run reports just on link units.  And, it will show the page impressions, clicks, then the number of link clicks, and the Page eCPM.  This makes it much easier to identify how link units are performing versus regular ad units or referral ads on the page. 

 Want to try out some link units and haven’t yet?  Read Using AdSense Link Units in the footer & navigation to give you a good placement to start with.

Read more on the AdSense blog, along with a screenshot that ironically shows no link unit data, just where you change to show the link unit data.  Do note that data is only available back to May 2007.  But if you run a report trying to pull data including dates previous to that, it will end up showing no data at all due to a bug that the AdSense team is working on.

Posted in Google AdSense 1 Comment »

How to set up an alternate ad for AdSense

March 31, 2008

AdSense Optimization Boot Camp Tip #11

I have had a few people comment and email about how to set up an alternate ad for AdSense when I talked about Supplementing your AdSense income with affiliate ads, the instructions Google provides aren’t completely clear.  So here is how to set up your own alternate ad for AdSense, so that you can show an advertisement that will earn you money, rather than a Google PSA (Public Service Ad) which will not earn you any revenue… except maybe earn you a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart thinking that one of your visitors might donate to the current cause or charity that Google is promoting in return.

Here is how to set up your own alternate ad… you can use an affiliate ad, an advertisement for something on your own site you want to promote (such as your own ad sales, a newsletter or your blog), or even an ad creative for a charity you wish to donate your unused ad space to.  Then select an image ad that is the same size as the AdSense ad unit it could be replacing.  So if your ad unit is 468×60, then you want to select an ad that is also 468×60.  If you use something larger, it will only display the top left 468×60 of the image, it will not auto-resize the ad space to accomodate the new one.

Then you want to create a new webpage.  It will be a blank webpage, there is no need for adding a title or header.  Just paste the ad code from the affiliate program, or create an image ad linked to a webpage, if you are creating your own.  Then save it with a file name that you will remember - in the example I am using youraltadpage.html but you should be a bit more descriptive, such as 46860altad.html if you need to create multiple ad units for various sizes, or something like categorynamealtad.html if you need to create different ads for different sections within your website.  Then upload it to your site, noting the full path of the page, such as http://www.example.com/youraltadpage.html  You can robots.txt the page so that search engines do not index it if you wish, or simply add a noindex meta tag to the page.

In your AdSense javascript, add this line:

google_alternate_ad_url = “http://www.example.com/youraltadpage.html”;

Or if you are using the new style of hosted AdSense units, you can go into your Manage Ads tab in the AdSense set up and edit your code to include your alternate ad URL.  Select the “Show non-Google ads from another URL” radio button under the “Alternate ads or colors” section.  Then paste your URL into the text box that pops up.

 Then you are done :)  As an added bonus, you can check your logs to see how often the webpage is shown to a visitor, which can help identify any potential PSA issues your site may be having.  You can learn more about this in Do you have a problem with your site showing PSAs, which highlights the whole PSA issue and what can be done about it.

You can also switch around your alternate ad as you do testing, so you can show whichever ad has the highest ROI for you.  This is especially important if your site is showing a higher percentage of PSAs than usual.  But setting up an alternate ad is a smart way to increase your revenue when AdSense is unable to show advertisements for any reason.

Posted in Affiliate Programs, Google AdSense, Optimization Boot Camp, Tips & Techniques 4 Comments »

Using Clickbooth as an AdSense alternative

March 31, 2008

This is the second affiliate program I am having a look at as part of the Supplementing AdSense with Affiliate Ads article I wrote.  Up on deck today is Clickbooth, which has been getting a lot of buzz recently in the blogosphere.  I first heard about them a while back, and a couple people recommended them as a good compliment for AdSense, when I did my shoutout for affiliate programs.

My first look at Clickbooth was a little overwhelming when compared to how CJ is set up and what they offer.  Clickbooth offers a lot of alternative affiliate advertising other than simply on-page ads which AdSense publishers know and love.  They do contextual/popunder (note: this is not the same kind of contextual that AdSense publishers are familiar with, which might confuse some publishers), network, on-site placement, opt-in email marketing, path and search/contextual keywords.  So for AdSense publishers looking for a good alternative ad or to supplement on-page advertising, you will want to filter your results to only show “on-site placement” advertisements

They do offer some tools for affiliates, such as the ability to use their ad server to rotate various banners for you, if you do not have your own ad server.  The code Clickbooth provides seems to be workable for using as an Adsense alternative ad.

For types of ads, there are a lot of the usual ones that people expect to see in an affiliate program, such as financial services, plenty of business opportunity companies, dating sites, and various weight loss programs.  And there is the ever-present Vistaprint… is there an affiliate network they aren’t in? 

Most of the ads are compliant with the AdSense terms/policies, although there are some ones to download things like cursors, which could be iffy depending if anything else is downloaded along with them :)  There are a lot of programs in Clickbooth with geographic restrictions, so be sure you are using ones that are available to the country(ies) where the majority of your traffic is from.  Otherwise, you can use your own geotargeting so that your chosen ads only show to people located in the country it is available to, so you can show those outside those countries a different ad.

There are some restrictions in the terms before signing up, such as a minimum of 1000 unique page views per month, a top level domain, and have content.. none of which should be a problem for AdSense publishers.  They have a list of “site may not include” restrictions are pretty similar to AdSense, so again, it shouldn’t be an issue if you are in AdSense and compliant.  The one issue that some publishers could find is that the site must be in English only, understandable since the ads I all saw are in English. 

For payments, you have your choice of payment by check or PayPal.  There is a current payment threshold of $50.  Payments are made 15 days after the month’s end… meaning if you earned $100 in March, payment would be made about Apri 15th.

I do find it a bit disconcerting to see my account manager - or affiliate strategist as they are called at Clickbooth - staring at me with the photo avatar on the top of my screen… and I can’t help but wonder if perhaps guys get a hot chick looking at them to encourage them to contact their account managers!  I know many guys have said they can’t help but click when its a hot chick in the avatar.

You can find Clickbooth here (that is not an affiliate link).   They also have a Twitter @clickbooth but it doesn’t appear to be active aside from the first tweet (hint, hint, Clickbooth, you will get a lot more followers if you start tweeting :) )

Not sure how to use an affiliate program with AdSense?  Read Supplementing AdSense with affiliate ads.  I have also had a couple questions about how to use alternate ads properly, so that is on deck for later today! 

Posted in Affiliate Programs 7 Comments »

Using Pepperjam Network with Google Adsense

March 29, 2008

Looking at affiliate programs that you can easily use to supplement your AdSense income, Pepperjam Network  is one of the newer affiliate networks on the block, although Pepperjam has been around the search industry for quite some time.   And if you frequent the many search engine conferences, you have probably seen Kris Jones speak before, along with many of the Pepperjam team members who are oftn in the expo hall or the networking parties.

Pepperjam Network offers the usual affiliate ads and product feeds that you would expect from any affiliate network, with a diverse number of programs.  I did a quick runthrough of their entire affiliate program list, all the programs they offer fall well within the AdSense terms, so you should be able to select any of their ads without running afoul with Google content policies, with the possible exception of a couple of lingerie programs including the Playboy store… but in those cases, it would be dependent on the creative chosen.

I think the part of their affiliate program that AdSense publishers will be most interested in is their lookalike AdSense ad units.  They are called pepperjamADS, which are styled very closely to Google AdSense in format, but allows you to use multiple affiliate ads in a single ad unit, the same way multiple advertisers appear in an AdSense ad unit.  Once you are approved for some affiliate programs, you can then go and generate pepperjamADS for your site (they won’t show up in the pepperjamADS tab until they are approved, unless you have added one of the many programs with automatic approval).  Do note that Google doesn’t allow you to run ads on the same site that mimic AdSense ad units, so the easiest way around this is to use a border if you have blended ad units.  If your AdSense already has a border, use pepperjamADS as blended with the border and background of the ad unit matching the background on the page.  Otherwise, change the color scheme dramatically. 

Here is an example of the ad unit.

You can easily use this as an alternate ad as they have formats available in all the standard IAB ad unit sizes or use it as a secondary placement.

For those with blogs in the internet industry, I found programs for both Search Engine Strategies (although many of the banners still say SES NYC) and WebmasterRadio.fm, as well as seomoz, Text Link Ads and Pepperjam Network.  They seem to have a fair representation across a variety of industries, and there is a list of “Featured Advertisers” on the site.

For the real important stuff - payments - you can chose between check, direct deposit or PayPal.  Payments are sent out twice per month (around the 1st and 15th).

You can find the pepperjamNETWORK here.  They do have an affiliate program, although that is not an affiliate link :)  I just discovered their affiliate program and it is pending approval (Update: That is an affiliate link now, you can visit with non-aff link here).  They also have a PJN blog where they announce new affiliate programs, so it could be useful to subscribe if you want to keep an eye on their new programs without having to login frequently… yes, I know many of you love the “add it and forget about it” nature of AdSense and affiliate ads!  They also have a main company blog.  And if you want to follow them on Twitter, join their Facebook pages, or any of their other social sites, you can find them all here.  They are definitely more on top of the whole social thing than all the other affiliate networks I looked at combined!

Not sure how to use an affiliate program with AdSense?  Read Supplementing AdSense with affiliate ads.  I have also had a couple questions about how to use alternate ads properly, so that will be the next blog post

Posted in Affiliate Programs, Tips & Techniques 1 Comment »

Supplementing AdSense with affiliate ads

March 26, 2008

AdSense Optimization Boot Camp Tip #10 

It doesn’t cease to amaze me how many publishers are so concerned about their AdSense revenue - especially when it is the most significant portion, if not all, of their income - that they don’t dare use anything else on the page in case “Google gets mad”.  Well, fortunately for publishers, as long as you are within the AdSense terms, you are welcome to supplement your AdSense advertisements with other advertising.

The most popular option that publishers seem to take is to either rotate affiliate ads with AdSense or use on the same page as AdSense are various affiliate ads.  Done correctly, affiliate ads running in conjunction with AdSense ads can increase a publishers per-page revenue.  You can also use an affiliate ad as an alternate ad, in case AdSense would show a public service ad (PSA) otherwise. 

If you are new to affiliate marketing, and AdSense is your first foray into placing advertising on your site, there are some things to do to supplement your AdSense revenue with affiliate ads.

How can you get the most affiliate revenue?  First and foremost, chose programs targeted to your audience.  Too often people look for whatever pays out the most and pops it on the page.  But if it is not targeted, you aren’t going to convert.  It is better to look for the best targeted ads for your audience and select from those… or better yet, rotate those best targeted affiliate ads and then select the one with the best ROI to run exclusively after that. 

 Don’t forget, a program that only pays out $3 a conversion can actually earn you a lot more money than a program worth $30 a conversion if that $3 conversion program converts a lot more.  True, you need 10 $3 sales to equal a single $30 sale, but you might find that if you give each program an equal number of ad views that you could end up with 100 conversions on the $3 one but only 4 on the $30 one… and it is a no brainer to see that the $3 is actually more profitable for you.

If you find a highly converting affiliate program for a site or even just for select pages within a site, you can actually make more money with that affiliate program than with AdSense.  If you don’t want the page to seem ad heavy, do a 50/50 rotation test running both AdSense and the affiliate program, and see what earns you the most at the end of a week.

Don’t forget that your non-AdSense advertisements also need to follow the AdSense terms/policies.  So showcasing a casino site or pushing phentermine would make your site non-compliant with the AdSense terms and policies.  As would pushing a program that installs adware/spyware.  So chose the affiliate programs  you promote carefully so it doesn’t cause any issues with your AdSense account.

You should also consider affiliate networks beyond the usual Commission Junction that is the well-known standby, and which was also one of the few available to publishers and affiliates for quite some time.  There are plenty of new and niche networks out there that have some smaller or more specific programs that might be better targeted to your site and audience than the ones CJ offers. 

What affiliate programs are you finding work best for supplementing with AdSense?  Thank you all the Twitterers who responded to this question earlier!  Feel free to comment on your personal favorites (whether networks or specific programs) or if you Twitter, send it as an @jenstar message :)  I am amassing a list of affiliate network options that are AdSense-friendly and/or work well in conjunction with AdSense, and will blog about some individual ones that are a good alternative to AdSense.  And yep, some are contextual, which means you will have less work to do when placing them on your site

Updated: Here are the affiliate programs I have looked at so far:

• Pepperjam Network

I will continue to update this list as I look at each one.

Posted in Affiliate Programs, Google AdSense, Optimization Boot Camp, Tips & Techniques 6 Comments »

Are your AdSense ads too blended?

March 25, 2008

AdSense Optimization Boot Camp Tip #9 

A few years ago it was the latest thing to start blending AdSense ads by matching the ad units border and background color with the background of the site.  People started trying it to increase CTR and slowly, seeing garishly styled ads slowly disappeared except on sites that needed to use obscene color schemes in the extreme (yes, there are sites than need those hideous color combinations, but in my experience, they are fortunately few and far between!)

But I have slowly noticed a trend over the last year or so where publishers are so focused on blending their ads so much that they have made them too blendy.  They match the sites so closely that readers just skim right over the ads because there is absolutely nothing appealing or noticeable about them to draw the eye.

The most noticeable reason is the fact that people match the borders and backgrounds of the ad unit with the page background, make the title blue and the text and URL black.  There is a reason why AdSense uses a default URL color of green and not just black to match the description J 

One recent site I saw had only blue and black as the sites colors, with a white background.  So when the ad units were blue and black, there was nothing to really make them noticeable or differentiate them from plain content on the site.  An introduction of a third on-page color, such as in the logo or on outgoing links would have helped tremendously, and it could have then been used as a title or URL color, or even a border color.  So even though placement can be stellar, ad units that are too blended just won’t perform as well.

How to quickly test if your ad units are too blended?  Set up two channels – one for the one you think might be too blended, and a second for one that is a more obvious color scheme, such as red titles or URLs or whatever color it is that you use as an accent on your site.  This is not the time to try one of those garish color combinations I mentioned before!  Rotate both 50/50 and see which version has the highest CTR rate after a few days.  If you find the new one has a higher CTR, you have just increased your daily revenue.

You could find your blended one actually works just fine, or it might not be as blended as yo are worried it might be.  But regardless, you have just completed an easy A/B test to increase your earnings.  Now you can go and apply it to other things you want to test.

Posted in Google AdSense, Optimization Boot Camp, Tips & Techniques 8 Comments »

Why isn’t Google Ad Manager affiliate and AdSense publisher friendly?

March 25, 2008

When Google Ad Manager was announced, one of the places it was showcased was on the Google AdSense official blog, touted as a great ad management solution for publishers.  It is supposed to be a great way to mix AdSense with non-AdSense and to be used as a testing tool for publishers… the key is supposed to be.

I have just had a chance to play around with Ad Manager, and it was unfortunately a disappointing experience, especially after having previously used OpenAds (formerly known as phpAdsNew, and which I see has sometime recently changed their name to OpenX). 

But first things first, one huge issue that publishers had is the fact that you are giving your information to Google, including specifics about the dollar values of direct advertiser campaigns… which some people were concerned about since it competes with Google AdSense.  Now, since I use AdSense extensively, along with Google Analytics, I figure there isn’t much that Google doesn’t know about me anyway :)  But I can certainly appreciate and understand the concerns that people have with giving even more data to Google, especially direct financial information.

One huge appeal to publishers, however, is the fact it is a hosted solution… which means you don’t have to install a database and upload & install a program like OpenX.  Not as big of a deal for me or other tech-savvy webmasters, but definitely an implementation stumbling block for others who wouldn’t be able to figure out how to do it, even with extensive hand-holding and instructions.  Ad Manager being a hosted solution, which means it opens the door to those who run the other way anytime the word “install” is used in conjunction with “server”.  That said, OpenX does now offer a hosted version of their program, although it is in private beta at the moment and has barely a mention on their site.

It has a lot of bells and whistles that AdSense publishers find attractive.  You could identify the browser the user is surfing with and serve up Firefox referral ads to just those surfing with IE or Mac software related ads to those on a Mac.  You could also do your own geotargeting to rotate YPN ads with AdSense only for US publishers while leave it strictly with AdSense for all international ad serving.  And it goes on and on.  And while other ad management solutions have these options as well, they don’t have the option of being able to announce it easily to all AdSense publishers.

So I had a quick look at my shiny new Google Ad Manager account before I jetted off to SES New York last week, but it wasn’t until this weekend I got the change to sit down and set up an ad management campaign to cover by right sidebar on JenSense.  Now, there was a definitely learning curve to get set up but I actually followed some tutorials and got everything set up without too much pain until I hit the part about uploading creatives.  The first thing I happened to be uploading was for a Google AdSense referral ad… very fitting for JenSense :)  Now, its an image ad, but no joy there, both image ad options for creative type only give you the option to provide and image and a destination URL separately in two different form fields… nothing for providing AdSense javascript.

In fact, the only option available in Ad Manager to provide an AdSense javascript is the “Rich Media Redirect” which also has a whole lot of various Macro options to add… and I am willing to bet that most publishers don’t have any clue what that means, either.  And what does this mean for affiliate marketers who might have to use a javascript, tracking pixel in conjunction with the image ad itself or other type of implementation that is limited by the image & URL only?  Again, this ”rich media redirect” is the only option as a workaround for doing this.

Which begs the question… why isn’t there a choice for “AdSense javascript” in the drop down menu, even if it is nothing more than an insert code snippet box but without all the Macro button options?  Or an “insert ad snippet html code”?  True, this is meant for direct sales advertising, but why would they limit it in such a way, especially when they do offer AdSense as remnant inventory.  Not only that, some people do buy direct buy advertising and route it through to an affiliate program, so they could be running a CJ or Doubleclick ad code within a direct buy situation too.

For AdSense publishers and affiliate marketers, Ad Manager could be great for:

• Rotating multiple similar affiliate programs on an equal basis to determine which is the better converting or has the best overall ROI.
• Rotate an affiliate program with a channel-tagged AdSense ad to determine which is more profitable for a particular placement.
• Geotarget specific ad types (such as YPN vs. AdSense) based upon the visitor’s geolocation

It is pretty shortsighted not to anticipate and implement some of the other uses for a program that could - with the Google name behind it - be quite indispensable for publishers. 

It seems that the main motivation for Google launching this free hosted ad serving program is to give AdSense all the remnant advertising… this is turned on by default when creating a new ad order. 

That said, it is easy to set up AdSense as a remnant option, but only as a single ad unit style, so even if you are using it for multiple pages or sites, you can only have one AdSense style in your account for all remnant ad inventory space.  So it isn’t an option for setting up new AdSense code within Ad Manager to rotate between ad styles.  So again, one must use the “Rich Media Redirect”.

Overall, I think it is a decent solution for those who have a large inventory of direct advertisements because of the many options I detailed earlier.  But it was definitely a curious decision to not make it easier for AdSense publishers to use it as an optimizing tool to optimize AdSense campaigns to increase revenue and to also not make it easy for affiliates to use it with affiliate style ad codes and javascripts.

It is still in beta, so we might (hopefully) see some changes made to it so it is easier and much more obvious for those who want to use it running AdSense as the main ad inventory and not just as an ad remnant, and of course without having to use the “Rich Media Redirect” (how many people would think to look there?) - something I suspect most publishers won’t realize is a workaround for what they want to do.

Posted in For Advertisers, Google AdSense 4 Comments »

Is your site content compliant with Google AdSense?

March 24, 2008

AdSense Optimization Boot Camp Tip #8 

I have just returned from Search Engine Strategies New York where I spoke on two panels, one of them being an AdSense & Contextual Advertising site clinic.  In this, we go and look at websites volunteered by audience members to be reviewed.  And most of the time, Bryan Vu from Google AdSense is one of the panelists.  And every time we do this clinic, it seems that there is at least one person who volunteers his or her site that is clearly violating the AdSense policies… and often in a not-so-subtle way.  And quite often, it is a content violation, meaning the publisher is running AdSense on types of content that is definitely not allowed.

So I thought I would give a refresher course on what kind of content you are not allowed to run AdSense on, so that you won’t suddenly finding yourself on the receiving end of a Google AdSense compliance warning or suspension.  Some of them may be obvious, but then again, some are a little more unusual and tend to trip people up.

And it is worth noting that the stipulation is “sites displaying Google ads may not include:” so just removing AdSense from those specific pages isn’t enough to cut it.  And it could technically apply to any text-links sold (that viagra or phentermine link in your side bar could be an issue), or even blog spam that isn’t removed regularly, although I am not aware of Google sending compliancy warnings for these reasons.

Prescription Drugs
This is one of those ones that tends to trip people up because there are specific parts that trip people up.  If your site is about these types of drugs, but strictly from an information providing point of view (think a site like WebMD) can run AdSense without any problems.  But if the site is promoting the sale of these drugs (where to buy, links to sites selling online, coupons, or selling directly) then it is against the terms.  And even if you just remove the AdSense from the pages promoting the sales, that is still not enough since it applies to the entire site.  And if you want to be technical about it, this would also apply to that “Buy Viagra online” link you sell in your sidebar for $5 a month…. not to mention those bloggers who have all kinds of blog spam that they don’t remove.

Counterfeit goods
Have a site detailing where to buy imitation Coach purses or just showcasing different imitations of designer goods?  This is against the terms, which surprises many people.  An article about counterfeit goods would be fine, the rule is for those pages for “sales and promotion”.  This i one that surprisingly a lot of sites run afoul on.

Essays & term papers
Think a free term paper site would be a great way to make money with AdSense?  Think again!  Sales and distributions are a no go with AdSense.  It probably stems from this.

Gambling & casino content
Sorry, no AdSense on your texas holdem spam site.  I am surprised at the number of gambling sites I do come across running AdSense though… and I suspect many of those know they shouldn’t be doing it.  The only legitimate use of AdSense on casino related content that I could see people being granted an exception on would be for travel sites who have pages on specific locations where gambling and casinos are prevalent - Las Vegas for example.

Weapons & ammunition
No surprise here.  But paintball sites have run into this one on a case-by-case basis, so that is a grey area.

Beer or alcohol
This falls under sales and promotion, so information sites are fine.  Wine does not fall under this though.

Tobacco & related
Again, no real surprise here.  And yes, cigar affectionado sites fall under this too.

Hacking/Cracking
Self explanatory.

Adult content
Self explanatory.  Forums have run into issues with this when members post NSFW content in a thread and it gets reported to Google by a fellow member/competitor.

Excessive profanity
Again, no real surprise, but no real clear guidelines as to when enough profanity is considered “Excessive”.

Illicit drugs & related paraphernalia
Self explanatory.

Racial intolerance, violent content etc
The official policy states “Violent content, racial intolerance, or advocacy against any individual, group, or organization”.  Usually these groups aren’t running AdSense, however, unless it is a case of a free host who is running AdSense in a sidebar or header in exchange for the free hosting.

Paid to surf/click/search/etc
I see a lot of this.  The full policy reads “Content regarding programs which compensate users for clicking on ads or offers, performing searches, surfing websites, or reading emails”.  It seems again to be a case-by-case basis, or when Google comes across it.  If your content is about clicking AdSense ads, you would bet Google acts on that much quicker than on an article about getting paid to read emails.

Anything illegal-ish?
Then we have the broad “Any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity, or infringes on the legal rights of others” which I suspect is there so there is a policy violation for specific cases that don’t fall under the above.

 Webmaster Guidelines
Now, we get into a whole new can of worms when you consider all the webmaster guidelines that have found their way into the “site shall not include” section.  So that little spamming technique you are using to rank higher for specific keywords?  Not only is it against Google’s webmaster guidelines, Google AdSense also has an issue with sites using it too… so much so that you could get suspended from the program for it.

Repetitive, excessive or irrelevant keywords
Those hidden keywords you stuffed in the footer?  Not allowed. Excessive mesothelioma keywords on your dog training site?  Not allowed.  Even if they aren’t for search results but are for attempting to target your AdSense ads, it is still not allowed.  

PageRank manipulation
Okay, the full wordy policy reads “Deceptive or manipulative content or construction to improve your site’s search engine ranking, e.g., your site’s PageRank ” which pretty much means if you are doing anything on your site to boost your PageRank or search rankings, it isn’t allowed to have AdSense on it.  However, unless it is completely blatant, I can’t see Google going after this.

Now, obviously, AdSense policies cover a lot more things that are also on-page, such as inciting clicks or mislabelling AdSense ads as anything but their approved terminology.  However, this is meant just to look at specific types of content and on-page factors that I tend to see webmasters running AdSense on, often without even realizing they are against the policies by doing so.

Don’t forget that it is on a site-wide basis, which means that one page you have on where to buy fake Coach purses means that your entire site is not permitted to show AdSense, it isn’t just restricted to the offending pages.  Sometimes it can just be a case of slanting the content to one that is non-commercial in nature, such as changing your prescription drug site into one that is only for information and removing anything that promotes or sells the drugs.

Worried that your sites may not be in compliance?  I offer full site reviews looking for compliancy issues - not just ”site may not include issues”, but reviewing for anything and everything that could cause issues with AdSense if you end up getting a spot check by the Google AdSense compliancy team.  Please contact me with your URL and let me know it is for a compliancy review and I can send a quote :) I usually have a fairly quick turnaround once payment is received or can do a rush if you are in the midst of a compliancy review and trying to make sure everything is perfect for Google’s eyes!

Posted in Google AdSense, Optimization Boot Camp, Tips & Techniques 4 Comments »

Google launches Google Ad Manager for publishers

March 15, 2008

If you have been wanting to run an ad server for testing AdSense or simply to just better manage your ad inventory and available placements, you are in luck.  Google has launched their new Ad Manager platform, a “hosted ad management solution”.  It is free for publishers (at least it is as of now), although you need to apply, and it is hosted, which means you do not need to install your own ad server to do it for you.

From an implementation standpoint, it is quite easy for publishers, even those whose experience doesn’t go much further than copying and pasting AdSense javascript.  With Ad Manager, you simply go and add a special tag to your site, and Google does the rest from the back end.

The tags used are javascript tags, although there is an option to use iframe tags but only upon request.  Here is what the javascript tags looks like for a leaderboard:

<script language=”JavaScript”>
   GA_googleAddSlot(”ca-pub123″, “YourSite_Product_Latest_ATF_TopBanner_728×90″);
  </script>

The setting up within the control panel looks confusing at first glance, but there are very prominent tutorials set up that walk publishers through the six steps to setting up an ad order: Ad Slot, Upload, Placement, Targeting, Code & Ad Product. 

There is also a great demo available here, so if you aren’t sure how to use it, or not sure if it is something that could be beneficial to your site, it is worth watching as a general overview of the program.  It is just under three minutes long.  There is a non-video tour here, if you prefer not to watch a video.

Some other interesting things I noticed while playing around with my Ad Manager account: 

• Offers geotargeting  (Country, region or state, metro or DMA, and city )
• Can target campaigns based on type of browser (so advertise Firefox referrals to those using only IE) and browser language (target those who use various languages)
• Can target based on operating system
• You can use your own site’s demographic information to target ads based on gender/age.  This is not shared amongst publishers.  More information here.
• There is also support for using Ad Manager to run pop-up and floating ads on your sites. 
• Can use AdSense for remnant ad inventory
• All ad images (whether regular images, Flash, rich media) are all hosted by Google, meaning you do not have to use your own bandwidth to serve the ads. 
• If running Flash ads, there is an option to specify an image ad to run in place of a Flash ad if the end user does not have Flash installed/enabled.
• Automatic resizing of images (a larger creative will be reduced in size, while a smaller ad in a larger space would not be enlarged)
• Options for using a workaround to run interstitial ads.
• Frequency capping
• Assign people to various roles within the Ad Manager account (such as sales managers)
• Information in your Ad Manager account is NOT shared with AdWords or AdSense reps, unless you specifically chose to grant them access (such as assign them a role)

Now, for now using Ad Manager is free.  However there are hints in the terms & conditions that there could be a fee associated with it at some point. 

 Program Fee. Google reserves the right to charge fees for Program-related training and, upon sixty (60) days advance notice (the “Fees Notice Period”), to charge fees for the Program. In the event that Google charges fees for the Program, You will have the right to terminate the Program during the Fees Notice Period.

That being said, it could be a situation similar to the AdSense for Search fees where it would only be used for site intensive users or media intensive users (ie. those that upload and display a lot of rich media / flash advertisements).  Not only that, 60 days is a long amount of time to figure an alternative out if it does go to a fee-based system at some point.

It is currently only open to a small group of publishers, but you can apply for an invite or update.  There are also testimonials from those already using it.  I will post more about it after I have had a chance to use it.

Posted in Google AdSense 5 Comments »