Google AdSense Program Policies

Publishers that agree to the online AdSense Terms and Conditions are required to adhere to the following policies, so please read them carefully. If you fail to comply with these policies without permission from Google, we reserve the right to disable ad serving to your site and/or disable your AdSense account at any time. If your account is disabled, you will not be eligible for further participation in the AdSense program.
Because we may change our policies at any time, please check here often for updates. Pursuant to our online Terms and Conditions, it's your responsibility to keep up to date with, and adhere to, the policies posted here. Exceptions to these policies are permitted only with authorization from Google.

Invalid Clicks and Impressions

Publishers may not click their own ads or use any means to inflate impressions and/or clicks artificially, including manual methods.
Learn more

Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest. Any method that artificially generates clicks or impressions on your Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools and the use of robots or deceptive software. Please note that clicking your own ads for any reason is prohibited.

Encouraging Clicks

Publishers may not ask others to click their ads or use deceptive implementation methods to obtain clicks. This includes, but is not limited to, offering compensation to users for viewing ads or performing searches, promising to raise money for third parties for such behavior or placing images next to individual ads.
Learn more

In order to ensure a good experience for users and advertisers, publishers participating in the AdSense program may not:

• Compensate users for viewing ads or performing searches, or promise compensation to a third party for such behavior.
• Encourage users to click the Google ads using phrases such as "click the ads", "support us", "visit these links" or other similar language.
• Direct user attention to the ads using arrows or other graphical gimmicks.
• Place misleading images alongside individual ads.
• Place ads in a floating box script.
• Format ads so that they become indistinguishable from other content on that page.
• Format site content so that it is difficult to distinguish it from ads.
• Place misleading labels above Google ad units. For instance, ads may be labelled "Sponsored Links" or "Advertisements", but not "Favourite Sites" or "Today's Top Offers".

Content Guidelines

Publishers may not place AdSense code on pages with content that violates any of our content guidelines. Some examples include content that is adult, violent or advocating racial intolerance.
View full content policies.

Sites with Google ads may not include or link to:

Pornography, adult or mature content
• Violent content
• Content related to racial intolerance or advocacy against any individual, group or organisation
• Excessive profanity
• Hacking/cracking content
• Gambling or casino-related content
• Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia content
• Sales of beer or hard alcohol
• Sales of tobacco or tobacco-related products
• Sales of prescription drugs
• Sales of weapons or ammunition (e.g. firearms, firearm components, fighting knives, stun guns)
• Sales of products that are replicas or imitations of designer or other goods
• Sales or distribution of coursework or student essays
• Content regarding programs which compensate users for clicking ads or offers, performing searches, surfing websites or reading emails
• Any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others

Publishers are also not permitted to place AdSense code on pages with content primarily in an unsupported language.

Copyrighted Material

AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on webpages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. Please see our DMCA policy for more information.

Webmaster Guidelines

AdSense publishers are required to adhere to the webmaster quality guidelines.
View excerpts

• Do not place excessive, repetitive or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of webpages.
• Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
• Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
• Do not include deceptive or manipulative content or construction to improve your site's search engine ranking (e.g. your site's PageRank).
• Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

Traffic Sources

Google ads may not be placed on pages receiving traffic from certain sources. For example, publishers may not participate in paid-to-click programs, send unwanted emails or display ads as the result of the action of any software application. Also, publishers using online advertising must ensure that their pages comply with Google's Landing Page Quality Guidelines.
Learn more

To ensure a positive experience for Internet users and Google advertisers, sites displaying Google ads may not:

• Use third-party services that generate clicks or impressions such as paid-to-click, paid-to-surf, autosurf and click-exchange programs.
• Be promoted through unsolicited mass emails or unwanted advertisements on third-party websites.
• Display Google ads, search boxes or search results as a result of the actions of software applications such as toolbars.
• Be loaded by any software that can trigger pop-ups, redirect users to unwanted websites, modify browser settings or otherwise interfere with site navigation. It is your responsibility to ensure that no ad network or affiliate uses such methods to direct traffic to pages that contain your AdSense code.
• Receive traffic from online advertising unless the site complies with the spirit of Google's Landing Page Quality Guidelines. For instance, users should easily be able to find what your ad promises.

Ad Behavior

AdSense code may not be altered, nor may the standard behavior, targeting or delivery of ads be manipulated in any way that is not explicitly permitted by Google. This includes but is not limited to the following: clicking Google ads may not result in a new browser window being launched, nor may Google ads be placed in an IFRAME.

Ad Placement

Publishers are encouraged to experiment with a variety of placements and ad formats. However, AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software. Publishers must also adhere to the policies for each product used.
View full ad placement policies.

Google ads, search boxes or search results may not be:

• Integrated into a software application of any kind, including toolbars.
• Displayed in pop-ups or pop-unders.
• Placed in emails, email programs, or chat programs.
• Obscured by elements on a page.
• Placed on any non-content-based page. (Does not apply to AdSense for search or mobile AdSense for search.)
• Placed on pages published specifically for the purpose of showing ads.
• Placed on pages whose content or URL could confuse users into thinking it is associated with Google due to the misuse of logos, trademarks or other brand features.
• Placed on, within or alongside other Google products or services in a manner that violates the policies of that product or service.

Site Behavior

Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation.

Competitive Ads and Services

In order to prevent user confusion, publishers may not display Google ads or search boxes on websites that also contain other ads or services formatted to use the same layout and colours as the Google ads or search boxes on that site. Although you may sell ads directly on your site, it is your responsibility to ensure that these ads cannot be confused with Google ads.

Google Advertising Cookies

AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users' browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.
Learn more

Google uses the DoubleClick DART cookie on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. Subject to any applicable laws, rules and regulations, you will have the sole and exclusive right to use all data derived from your use of the DoubleClick DART cookie for any purpose related to your business, provided that Google may use and disclose this data subject to the terms of Google's advertising privacy policies and any applicable laws, rules and regulations.
If your current advertising services contract with Google or DoubleClick already has a specific provision defining data ownership, that provision instead of this policy will govern with regard to the data collected under that contract.
Learn more about preparing your privacy policy.

Product-Specific Policies

AdSense for content: Up to three ad units and three link units may be placed on each page.

AdSense for search: A maximum of two Google AdSense for search boxes may be placed per page. Also, a single link unit or a search box, but no other Google ads, may be placed on pages with AdSense for search results. Queries must originate from users inputting data directly into the search box and cannot be modified. This includes pre-populating the search box with terms or hard-coding direct links to search results pages. AdSense for search code may not be integrated into any software application such as a toolbar.

Adsense Optimization: Getting more clicks on your Adsense ads

contributed by: Keywordcountry.com

More CTR (Click Thru Ratio) means more clicks on your Google Ads. But, is CTR all about position and colors of your ads? No! It's a lot more than that. CTR also depends upon the quality of traffic, relevancy of ads, and even the subject of your website. Let's get in detail:

Do you own a High CTR website?

Yes! CTR varies from Industry to industry too. It depends upon the keywords you are using to make your web page. It has been observed that more technical the topic is (but not necessarily) less CTR it will give you (for example Search Engine Optimization, Affiliate Network - exceptions are always there), but still works if the Ad content is well written.

However, this is only one condition; there are many undiscovered conditions that affect the CTR of keywords. At times, a particular season also has an effect on the performance of keywords. For example family of 'Turkey recipe' keyword is more active around November and December only and a quite sluggish rest of the year. It becomes really necessary to study the behavior of keywords before starting a massive website of Adsense around a topic.

Your Ad Position and Color: Old, but very effective

Google heat map helps improve the CTR (Clicks Thru Ratio) of your website by suggesting you the most converting areas for your Adsense Ads. You can have a glance at the Google's Survey that illustrates the ideal placements of ads on your web page.
https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page=tips.html#17954


Darker the area, better will be the performance of your ads. Your visitor tends to click on these darker areas more often than the other areas of the web page. Ads placed near rich content usually do well because users are focused on those areas of your web page. For example, on pages where users are typically focused on reading an article, ads placed directly below the concluding part of high quality content tend to perform well, as the visitors are left with no other choice except clicking the Ad block.

Get Targeted Traffic - The Most Essential Part

Traffic that is interested in your content (also called targeted traffic) is interested in your ads too. Thus, there is every likelihood that your ads will be clicked more frequently. Targeted traffic means more CTR, more earnings, and enhanced ad convertibility. On the other hand, the untargeted visitors are not interested either in your content or your ads, so keep your website's traffic targeted.

You can gather highly targeted traffic for your website by web promotion strategy and effective optimization of your web page structure. Effective web promotion strategy requires an appropriate Anchor text and more back links from relevant websites. And, to develop an effective web page structure, you have to optimize your Title Text, internal linking of your website, and most importantly your web content, in the best possible manner.

Choose the Right Anchor Text for Back Link Campaigns

Choosing the right anchor text for back links promotes your website to the traffic you exactly need from the search engines. Choose the Anchor text that directly speaks to your visitors and pulls the traffic that your web page requires. Targeted traffic results in increased CTR of ads. It helps promote your website to that segment of traffic, which is precisely searching for your content (or you can say the traffic that is most profitable to you). Targeting irrelevant keyword reduces your CTR by gathering the traffic which is not interested in your content or ads.

Wisely Choose the Title Text of Your Web Page

Title text of your webpage appears in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) as the Title link to your web page. Therefore, it is the title Text that directly speaks to the surfer on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) about your content's theme. It acts like a Free Advertisement Link to your website. If your title text does not interest the surfer, you lose considerable amount of much-needed traffic. Figure out a Title text that directly communicates with your potential visitors, brings targeted traffic, and enhances the CTR of your AdSense Ads. Don't overdo your title text, and use less than ten keywords in your title text.

Help Google Detect the Theme of Your Web Page

There are many on-page and off-page elements that affect your ad relevancy. Better targeted ads increase both your CTR and EPC. Here is how to optimize your ads:

Meta Tags

If there is NO CONTENT on your web page, the Google Mediabot will consider the Meta Tags while displaying ads. Meta tags have a considerable affect on the relevancy of your ads. It is advised never to leave this space empty. Also, try to make it as easy as possible for Mediabot to understand the theme of your web page.

Title Text

Google Mediabot gives good weightage to the keywords used in the Title text, which in turn gets reflected in your ads. Choose effective keywords for your Title text. Even the order of words in a keyword can affect the ads that are appearing on your web page. So, choose your keywords wisely.

Headings

Google Mediabot gives importance to the Heading text enclosed in <H1>, <H2> tags present in your web page. After Title text, here is another chance for you to dictate keywords to Google Mediabot.

Boost Relevancy Artificially - Use Google's Section Targeting

Now, you can enhance Ad relevancy by using Google's Section targeting. Using this technique you can advise Google mediabot about the areas of your content which should be considered or ignored while matching the Ads with your content.
For more information on the same topic, visit:
https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=23168&topic=371

Use Channels for Analyzing Your Ads' Performance

Try to relate your traffic logs with your CTR stats. You will get to know which Traffic source is giving you what CTR. This will help you recognize the traffic segment which is most converting for your website. Channels allow you to analyze your ads' performance, so that you can pin point the changes that your website needs to boost your AdSense income. There are two types of channels available - URL Channels and Custom Channels. You can use the URL channel to track your performance, without modifying your Ad code. Through URL channels, you can analyze the performance of individual page or a group of pages, based on the directory system of your website.

Custom channels can help you measure the performance of different Ad formats presented in your web pages. And, by pasting channel-specific ad code into your pages, you can track CTR, Impressions, number of clicks each individual ad format is generating, and compare its performance with other web pages.

Block Junk Websites and Competitor Websites from Showing Ads

There are many junk websites that might be displaying ads on your website. These websites steal the traffic from your website and recycle it on their own Adsense ad blocks. Recognize such websites and stick them in Adsense Competitive Ad filter. Also, you can block your competitor websites using this competitive filter.

This trick can sometimes double or triple your Adsense income, augment user experience, and makes look your Google ads more genuine. For more information about this tool, visit:
https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=21593&ctx=sibling

To study the behavior of high CTR keywords, there is no better place than
http://www.keywordcountry.com/adsense/ Go-ahead and snatch the highest CTR keywords that exist on planet earth for Adsense.

What is Google AdWords?

Google AdWords is a service that lets you create and run ads for your business, quickly and simply. Run your ads on Google and our advertising network -- no matter what your budget, you'll only pay when people click your ads. Just visit https://adwords.google.com/ to get started.

How it works

AdWords ads are displayed along with search results when someone searches Google using one of your keywords. Ads appear under 'Sponsored links' in the side column of a search page, and may also appear in additional positions above the free search results. That way, you'll be advertising to an audience that's already interested in your business. You can also choose to display your ads on Display Network sites in the growing Google Network. And, you can choose the exact Display Network placements where you'd like your ad to appear, or you can let contextual targeting match your keywords to content.
You can choose from a variety of ad formats, including text, image, and video ads, and easily track your ad performance using the reports available in your account.
Cost: There's no minimum monthly charge with AdWords. Learn more about the cost of advertising with Google AdWords

Getting started

To find out more about Google AdWords or to begin creating your ads, visit the AdWords homepage.
If you'd like to start advertising and you're looking for an agency or individual to help, you might consider using a Google Advertising Professional who has been certified by Google. Learn more about Google Advertising Professionals or visit Google Professionals Search to locate a list of professionals to suit your requirements.

100% Google AdSense: Tools, Tips and Resources

By Glen Stansberry and Smashing Magazine Editorial Team


Google AdSense is a simple and low-risk way for publishers to quickly monetize their content. The pay-per-click ad system has created an opportunity for anyone to instantly have advertising on their website, without the hassle of having to actively sell ad space. AdSense makes up a good portion of the advertising revenue for many websites, and other websites may use AdSense to earn the bulk of their revenues. Either way, AdSense is an excellent system for monetizing your content.
In this post we present an ultimate collection of resources, tools and tips to help you make the most out of Google AdSense. Among other things, this post covers various Google AdSense tools, Firefox-extensions, WordPress-plugins and related resources.
Please feel free to suggest related tools in the comments to this post. You may also be interested in our post Google AdSense: Facts, FAQs and Tools that was published two years ago.

1. Google AdSense Tools

iPhone AdSense Statistics Application
SenseApp is a program that lets you track your Google Adsense earnings on your Apple iPhone.

AdSense Earnings Tool
Free and fast tool to monitor adsense earnings in realtime. This tool posts all the correct post fields to Googles universal Account Services login and collects information about your earnings. You’ll able to see today, yesterday, this month and since last payment earnings. You don’t need to log in to Google anymore.

Google AdSense Toolbox
Type any web page URL (e.g. cnn.com) or keywords (e.g. web development), select a country (optional) and hit Enter to see the latest Google Ads that are contextual and geo-targeted.
Google AdSense Preview Tool
an addition to the right-click menu for Windows Internet Explorer 6.x, allowing you to preview the ads that may show on any webpage. With just a few clicks, you can see what ads may appear on your new webpages, or make an educated decision on whether to add AdSense to your existing site pages.
Google Search-Based Keyword Tool
The search-based keyword tool allows you to find high-paying keywords to target, based on the domain name you specify.

Google Traffic Estimator
The Google Traffic Estimator is an easy way to determine the search volume of certain keywords, and it shows related keywords and their volumes as well.
SpyFu
SpyFu allows you to look up any website and see how much it is spending on AdSense, how it ranks for each keyword, and which keywords it buys. The tool is quite useful for researching competitors.

adsblacklist
Identify and block low-paying advertisers and increase ROI with AdSense.

2. Google AdSense Online Tools

Contextual Ads Preview/Comparison Tool
This comparison tools comes in handy when you compare AdSense ads to those of other advertisement services (Chitika, Yahoo). You also have the ability to customize the colors and view what ads a certain URL would be likely to display.

Google AdSense Calculator
This AdSense Calculator is designed to help you to predict changes in your earnings depending on improvement (or deterioration) of Page Impressions, Click Through Rate and Cost Per Click. You can download further calculators here.

WordTracker
During the search, people use different keywords. Using this tool, you can find the most effective words before deciding what content to include on your page. Not free, but the free trial is available.
Traffic Estimator Sandbox
To use this tool, you need an AdWords account. This traffic estimator helps you to figure out what keywords result in the highest paying AdSense ads (more details on uphook).

Pubmatic
While Pubmatic isn’t strictly an AdSense tool, it will definitely help you earn more money from your website by optimizing your ads. With each page view, Pubmatic determines whether showing an AdSense ad or an ad from a different network would be best, based on the CPM.

AlterNut Ad
Instead of earning nothing from the PSA ads that Google fills the page with when it has no ads to show, earn a set fee by giving AlterNut Ad your unused PSA ads.

3. Google AdSense Firefox Extensions

AdSense Notifier
This extension displays your AdSense earnings in the status bar.
AdSense Preview
Check what Google ads would be displayed if they were shown on a particular page with this preview tool.

Money Quake
Money Quake allows you to see your real-time earnings for many popular advertising programs, including AdSense.

GraphSense
GraphSense gives you a visual look at your AdSense reports by adding graphs to the interface. As of this post, the extension is still classified as “experimental,” so you’ll have to log in to Mozilla to install it.

4. Official AdSense Resources

Google has provided some official tools and resources to help publishers get started with AdSense.
Google AdSense Help Center
A database of questions and answers about the AdSense program.

Inside AdSense Blog
The official AdSense blog. Find news, tips and other features about the ad system here.
AdSense Community Forum
Have an AdSense question? Ask a community of publishers and the AdSense team.
Official Optimization Tips
A collection of tips provided by the AdSense team.
Official AdSense Channel on YouTube
Instructional videos and interviews by successful AdSense publishers.
Interest-based advertising with Google AdSense
Just recently Google announced the launch of interest-based advertising. This help section addresses the new mechanism and explains how you can benefit from it.

5. Getting Started with AdSense

Because of the popularity of AdSense, many so-called “experts” out there try to give “inside information” or sell their secrets in the form of ebooks. If you’re truly a beginner to AdSense, use the official AdSense help database that Google provides.
Here are some “getting started” articles by a few trusted authors.
Problogger’s AdSense Tips for Bloggers
Darren Rowse’s excellent eight-part series will get you well on your way to making money from AdSense.

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Effective AdSense Link Units Optimization
A great rundown of the different types of link units and how they’re best used in a website layout.

Where Should I Place Google Ads on my Page?
The Google AdSense team has made a helpful map showing the different regions of a website layout where AdSense units perform the best.

6. Optimization Tips

Like any ad system, AdSense can be optimized to generate more clicks and revenue. Here are some tips to help boost AdSense performance.
Adsense Success Stories
Several examples of websites that increased their earnings significantly with Adsense. The success stories talk a lot about ad optimization, etc.
Google AdSense Tips
Google Blogscoped provides an excellent collection of AdSense tips based on its experience with implementing Google ads.

My top 5 tips for increasing adsense earnings (without increasing traffic)
Experiment with color and position, use different adverts for different dates, use content targeting, referrals and take care of the SEO.

Eye-Tracking Studies by Jakob Nielsen
Great eye-tracking examples that show where users’ eyes start and end up on a page.

Adsense Tips, Layout Optimization Tricks for Higher CTR
A collection of excellent do’s and don’ts for new publishers, as well as advice for more advanced AdSense users.
Rotate Google AdSense Ad Colors : Reduce Ad Blindness
One of the many enemies of publishers who rely on ads is banner blindness. Rotating ad colors is a good way to combat banner blindness, resulting in more clicks on ads.
Google AdSense Tips, Tricks and Secrets
Popular SEO blogger Michael Gray has an extensive post on various AdSense tips and performance boosters.

How to Display Ads Only to Search Visitors
Click-through ratios are much higher if you show your AdSense units only to visitors who were referred by search engines. Here’s an article on how to implement that functionality on your website.
Using the Competitive Ad Filter to Increase AdSense Earnings
Learn how to block made-for-AdSense websites as competitors, allowing only the best and most relevant ads to show on your units.
100 Google AdSense Tips
While this article is a few years old, it still has some very valuable tips on how to optimize Google AdSense. Perfect for the beginner.
20+ Practical and Ethical Tips to Earn More Revenue from Google AdSense
eTechBuzz shows us some useful and ethical AdSense tips.

Blogmitize!
The Official AdSense Blog has a post on how to make the most money from your blog layout.
Little Known ‘Boring’ Websites that Make Incredible Money with AdSense
An article highlighting that nearly anyone with a niche website can make money from AdSense.

7. AdSense WordPress Themes

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform, so it’s no surprise that a few themes come AdSense-ready, with ad placements already determined.
Pro Sense

Get Some!
CognoBlue

TechBlue

Elite Circle
Amazing Grace

Amazing

8. AdSense WordPress Plug-Ins

If you want to integrate AdSense in your existing website, here are some plug-ins to help display your ads.
AdSense Manager
The AdSense Manager widget allows for the automatic creation of AdSense ad zones on your WordPress blog. The plug-in also supports other ad networks, such as YPN, AdBrite and Commission Junction.

Easy AdSenser
Easy AdSenser is a feature-filled plug-in that allows you to easily insert AdSense into your posts and layout. It has an extremely user-friendly interface, with lots of features that make adding AdSense much easier than it is with other plug-ins.
AdSense Revenue Sharing
Share AdSense earnings with co-authors using the AdSense Revenue Sharing plug-in.

All in One AdSense and YPN
Use the All in One AdSense and YPN plug-in to automatically insert YPN and AdSense ads into your existing blog posts.
AdSense Under Image
If a post has an image, this plug-in automatically inserts an AdSense block under the image.
AdSense Deluxe 2
Another plug-in to automatically insert AdSense ad units into blog posts.

Google AdSense for Feeds
A simple plug-in that places AdSense in your blog’s feed.
Ozh’ Who Sees Ads
Determines what type of visitor will see ads on your website. This plug-in allows publishers to hide ads from regular visitors and show them only to search visitors.

9. AdSense Books

If you’re looking for an entire collection of tips and advice on making the most out of AdSense, you might want to try a print book instead. Plenty of excellent AdSense articles are available online, but on the whole, it is easier to find more accurate information in print media. Here are some of the most popular books on AdSense.

The Best Damn Google AdSense Book

Google Advertising Tools: Cashing in with AdSense, AdWords and the Google APIs
The AdSense Code
Google AdSense Secrets
The Google AdSense Millionaire

10. AdSense Forums and Communities

Webmaster World AdSense Forum
The WMW forum is by far the best forum for getting expert advice on AdSense. A member of the Google AdSense team actually reviews all the threads and answers questions, so the information is legitimate.

Digital Point AdSense Forum
Digital Point’s AdSense forum isn’t as strict as the Webmaster World forum, so there is a lot of engagement but less experienced users and less informed advice.

Jowl Comm’s AdSense Chat

SEOChat
SEOChat doesn’t have an entire forum dedicated to Google AdSense, but it does have a thriving forum for affiliate marketing in which many AdSense topics come up on a regular basis.

11. Those Against AdSense

It’s always a good practice to hear the other side of the story when rounding up resources on a topic, especially one as controversial as AdSense. Many experts argue that AdSense isn’t the best choice for publishers to monetize their content. Here are a few articles that criticize AdSense.
Dear AdSense, You Broke My Heart
Problogger Darren Rowse’s open letter to AdSense about why he was disappointed in its decision to change the referral policy for publishers outside the US.