Google Updated it’s Adsense Program Policy page

[life.rocks]

Google recently posted about the updated program policy page its its Offical Blog(adsense.blogsot).

Call it getting a jump on spring cleaning: They had launched a new version of the AdSense Online Program Policies today(01.17.07). They tried to make the format more readable, so those of you who start the day with a cup of coffee and a copy of the Program Policies may notice that much of the wording is new. Nearly all of the policies themselves have stayed the same, but they encourage everyone to take a look at the new version, if only to re-familiarize yourself with the details.

[FireStorM]

Thank you for informing me about this.

[khin007]

thanks for the notice brother.

[tlainevool]

Yikes! This change is huge. Ads from other networks can no longer look like AdSense ads. No more rotating AdSense and YPN or other ad networks to do split testing. This is going to effect a lot of people and cause a lot of confusion. I have blogged my thoughts.

JenSense has the full scoop: http://www.jensense.com/archives/200...competi_1.html

I can't believe that Google blog says: "Nearly all of the policies themselves have stayed the same"

[adleym]

People can't rotate adsense with ypn anymore? A lot of people are gonna be pissed....

[enQuira]

Looks like google is starting to feel the heat from ypn and is being over protective on its ad program. I believe they have insider information that ypn is going international very soon or that microsoft is launching its content ads program.

[geomark]

Pretty presumptuous for G to tell website owners what they can do on pages that don't carry Adsense. Some time ago I started demphasizing Adsense and focused more on affiliates and other income sources. This will accelerate that trend for me and many others, no doubt.

[somegamer]

I guess this change essentially does away with geotargetting with YPN. I suppose that geotargetting would involve "rotating" ads.

[tobycoke]

No more rotating AdSense and YPN or other ad networks to do split testing.

You can stiill rotate as long as the other ads don't have the same color scheme or look like your Adsense ads.[/[QUOTE]

[kawebspy]

gonna change all my sites because of this

[vatu]

Thanks For The Info Frnd

[Surf_Dude]

Jensense, as usual, has posted a great explanation of the Adsense TOS changes.
This is a nightmare for those running both Adsense and YPN. ".. that also contain other ads or services formatted to use the same layout and colors as the Google ads . ."

I guess the big "Ads by Yahoo" at the top, and the big "Ads by Goooooogle" at the bottom is no longer adequate to differentiate between the two different ad programs.

Google is not going to tell us how much "differentiation" is required, or the nature of it. The forums will be going crazy guessing about ad sizes, borders, and color changes. The actual acceptable minimum difference in formats will have to discerned by studying the posts of those who get banned. None of us want to spend our time juggling subtle, undefined nuances, but now we all must. Ughhhhh.

[kawebspy]

It was stated on the policy that Adsense should not be published on pages with copyrighted materials.

My question is: Is Lyrics of the Songs included on these copyrighted materials?

[Mohammed Elnahrawi]

* AdSense for search results pages may show only a single ad link unit in addition to the ads Google serves with the search results. No other ads may be displayed on your search results page.

First time -for me- to see this.

[kh7]

The main problem with this change is obviously the way other ads (that look like google ads) are pushed out of the TOTAL website that adsense is on. I was so glad google only minded the page its ads were on...
This is really a big deal - it makes geo-targeting with yahoo impossible.
It makes it much harder for any competitor to take over from google. In short: they are using their domination of the market to make sure that domination will increase or stay the same. They have definitely crossed the line on the 'do no evil' thing. This is comparable to microsofts way of keeping its monopoly. I expect the EU to at some point look in on that. This crosses a very significant line. It means (especially US) publishers will have to start treating google like a very picky employer.

Us non-US publishers don't have that many adsense competitors to choose from anyhow - so for me, for instance, there isn't that much change.

Jensense's article was very subdued for such a significant change. Other bloggers would have cried Wolf. She just noted the changes and its consequences and that the blogosphere would be up in arms on this one.

[chewbacca]

Thanks for the notice. Usually I only re-read the TOS if Google sends out an e-mail, but since I didn't get one yesterday I didn't know until now.

[trichnosis]

thanks for the information . as i understand , adsense has started to see ypn as a competitor.

[Eric Giguere]

Originally Posted by kawebspy

It was stated on the policy that Adsense should not be published on pages with copyrighted materials.

My question is: Is Lyrics of the Songs included on these copyrighted materials?

Yes. Music publishers are actually quite protective of song lyrics. I know you can find lyrics on the Web for almost any song, but most of those lyrics are posted without authorization. See this page for music publishers' views on the matter.

However, this explicit copyright policy won't stop people from scraping material and reposting it without permission from their sites. It was always implicit (i.e. it was illegal) anyhow. And Google can kick you out of AdSense for whatever reason it wants anyhow.

Filling out a DMCA complaint is a pain, though.

[qwestcommunications]

Why do you think they've updated the policy not to allow rotation with YPN.

[sadiejane]

So far, I only have Adsense on my sites, but still feel like I am walking on egg shells. Trying to learn the allowable policies before violating them.

Appreciate you sharing this update.