Hello, AdSense publishers and partners! In this article, I’ll answer questions relating to the proper use of AdSense ad implementations and content. I’ll also provide some basic tips and links to best practices. Additionally, I’ll provide more context on the European Union privacy directive that went into effect in July 2015.
What are some practical solutions for publishers to use AdSense correctly?
Publishers play a crucial role in delivering a good ad experience. Here are some relevant best practices designed to remind publishers of ways that they can improve the ads experience on their web properties:
- Double and triple check implementations to verify that your sites don’t contain any programming errors, adhere to AdSense policies, and display correctly across different browsers and platforms.
- For mobile devices, plan your layout carefully to accommodate for limited screen size.
- Avoid placing ads close to clickable content to prevent accidental clicks. See our best practices video for more guidance on how to implement banner ads.
- Monitor Analytics often to spot traffic anomalies. Set up Google Analytics alerts to show you if an unusual amount of traffic comes from a particular ad placement or site.
- Finally, if you find suspicious activity, please report it via the Invalid Clicks Contact Form.
Why did Google insist that EU AdSense publishers put in place an EU cookie privacy notification system?
European laws require that digital publishers give visitors to their sites and apps information about their use of cookies and other forms of local storage. There’s guidance from data protection authorities across Europe and the IAB on what is required to comply with relevant laws. This is also reflected in Google’s policy. For more information on please visit cookiechoices.org.
Is there a simplified way to understand what content is acceptable for the AdSense program?
Yes! A good rule of thumb is to consider whether or not you’d allow children to see your content. If the answer is no, then most likely it will break the rules at some point. AdSense is a family safe network, and advertisers expect Google to place their ads on pages that will not put their brand in a negative light. Our advertisers expect their ads to appear on this “family safe network”. Therefore, we must enforce our policies to maintain a network that provides value for users, advertisers, and publishers. If users and advertisers are happy, this ultimately benefits our publishers.
Always keep in mind that AdSense ads cannot appear next to adult (NSFW) content, and this includes pages that link to adult content. We also don’t allow our ads to appear on pages that promote racism, violence, sexism, harassment, or bullying.
Additionally, AdSense ads aren’t allowed to show next to anything that’s illegal, such as content that violates laws in your local community, copyright, hacking, or the selling of material that encourages dishonest activity.
These are the most common issues, but keep in mind there are other policies and guidelines that must be adhered to in the program policies and webmaster guidelines.
Our content policies are created to be straightforward and easily understood by a global publisher community. We also collect feedback from our network partners to help create resources to help our publishers better understand our policies.
Here are some resources to help you remain compliant:
- AdSense program policies, which includes guidance on ad implementation, content specific issues, and Prohibited Content
- Webmaster quality guidelines
- Product-specific guidance
- Inside AdSense Blog
- AdSense Twitter
We love your feedback, and look forward to continuing this dialog. Keep the questions coming!
JB
Featured image via Paulo Bobita.
