Google AdSense TOS – Reloaded

It is never too much to remind ourselves about googles AdSense Program Policies. As I the scour the countless amount of websites throughout the internet, I constantly see websites that often do not abide by AdSense TOS, and as many of you will probably know, non compliance can lead to our accounts being disabled and loosing all the money that we have worked hard for. AdSense is one great program that many of us should not live without (specially beginners), and just like other money making programs, there are, not only, rules that we must abide to maintain our accounts, but most importantly, maintain our credibility and trust to our visitors. One particular point on AdSense TOS that I rarely see on websites is the lack of it’s Privacy Policy.

With that having said, listed below are the most important points to remember, in order to maintain your friendliness with Google’s AdSense Program.

1. Clicking your own ads (for any reason) is strictly prohibited. Additionally, using any artificial methods to generate clicks are prohibited. Clicks should result naturally from your visitors and although tempting, will just get you banned. Are you really willing to risk getting banned and loose what you have earned, just for a couple more cents?
2. Do not encourage clicks to users. Deceptive methods such as, support us, click the ads, visit these links, etc, are methods that are not accepted by Google. Google ads are already identified when they show up, and thus unnecessary to ad anything else to identify it. If you must, one accepted method is to label the ads as Sponsored Links.
3.  Site Content. Do not show ads on sites with unsupported language. Google ads are contextual and are generated based on keywords from your content. Illicit content, such as porn, illegal drugs, hard alcohol, gambling or casino, weapons, racism, etc. are not allowed by google. Excessive or repetitive keywords can be considered manipulative and grounds for getting your account disabled (why would you place the word money fifty times on a single post anyway?). If for some reason, you wish to place ads related to casinos, first remove AdSense from your site, run the casino ad, and when you are done with the ad, remove the casino ad and reinsert AdSense. This is allowed.
4. Copyrighted Material. Unless you have taken proper measures to display content that belongs to others, please avoid this practice as you may just create problems for yourself as well as your AdSense account being disabled. Read this post about the duplicate content taboo for more insights.
5. AdSense publishers are required to adhere to the webmaster quality guidelines posted at http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html.
6. Site and ad behavior. Do not alter your AdSense code in any way or integrate your code into a software application. The program allows you to make several changes, such as colors, formats, etc, and so it is not necessary to make additional changes. You can also monitor your ads by creating channels and see what works best for you. In addition, pop-ups or pop-under, that may interfere with the sites navigation, may not be used.
7. Adhere to the guidelines on ad placements. While it will probably not show anyway, do not attempt to display more than, three ad units, two google search boxes in a single webpage. If you want more, you may display up to three link units in addition to the ad units and search boxes.
8. Competitive Ads and Services. This is one thing I often see a lot in other websites. While Google’s policy is somewhat unclear, please ensure that you do not publish ads that is of the same nature as AdSense. Google dislikes the possibility of visitors getting confused about “mixing” ads and so discourages this practice.
9. Privacy Policy. Google’s AdSense TOS is clear on this matter and is probably the one thing that you still do not have. If you don’t, now is the right time to work on this, as not only it is important, but in my opinion sends a message to your visitors about your awareness and concerns when they visit your website. Here is a post about Privacy Policy that I have written specifically on this subject.

Play by the rules. This will ensure that your AdSense account endures and gain more credibility with advertisers if one of your objectives is to make money online.

Google AdSense TOS
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