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Discussion in 'AdSense' started by Critters, May 26, 2005.

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  1. patsalko

    patsalko Peon

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    #1181
    great job man! keep it up
     
    patsalko, Oct 23, 2006 IP
  2. Chopster

    Chopster Peon

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    #1182
    I just got an email from Google telling me my images next to ads was a violation. I had a light grey border between the ads. Could be that it wasn't visible enough, but it was indeed visible.

    I think they also implied that the images related too well to the content of the ads and therefore made users click the ads thinking the ads were related to the image.

    I have 3 days to remove all the image/ad placements from over 30 of my websites or they will disable my account.

    It's kind of a bummer that this image/ad strategy is such a grey area. It's difficult to know when you are stepping over the line, knowing which thumbnail images are ok to show next to the ads and which aren't, etc. I'd rather not take the risk of getting banned and just remove the image/ad placements all together.
     
    Chopster, Oct 23, 2006 IP
  3. xtraders

    xtraders Peon

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    #1183
    Indeed that's too bad.
    I'm just at the point to start trying the "image thing" out on one of my websites.
    I will be receiving my first adsense money whatsoever and after I have it I will try it out, don't want to risk my first payment.
    I will first email google with a screenshot of how the new look will look like, before setting it up online...think that is the best way no to violate the TOS.
     
    xtraders, Oct 23, 2006 IP
  4. Juan G

    Juan G Peon

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    #1184
    Chopster, sorry to read that. When they always repeat about a visible border, naturally what they mean is clearly visible, not difficult to see.

    If you had a screenshot with the light grey line, surely many publishers would be grateful for an information that can help us to conform with the program policies. Thank you!

    Critters and others have been correctly advising to ask AdSense Support in advance when we are not completely sure about the policy compliance of any of our designs. Many have received an OK from Support, because we took much care about the guidelines of visible differentiation between ads and images, and because we asked and submitted tests of designs in advance, not after a warning.

    As AdSenseAdvisor from Google explained:

     
    Juan G, Oct 23, 2006 IP
  5. shopping

    shopping Peon

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    #1185
    This is a good theory. And I'll do like you done.

    By the way... Can I put Banner above the adsense code?
     
    shopping, Oct 23, 2006 IP
  6. Juan G

    Juan G Peon

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    #1186
    Just seen yet another new thread where most people is unaware of the image requirements.

    No matter if fellow publishers and Support repeat it thousands of times. People on this and other forums just follow the famous and outdated first post of this thread, without visible borders, etc., which isn't within the current guidelines.

    Let's hope Critters and moderators will find a suitable solution (link to updated info, or additional update note on the images or the text, etc.).
     
    Juan G, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  7. Lexiseek

    Lexiseek Banned

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    #1187
    No kidding. This thread is bunk info.
     
    Lexiseek, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  8. Chopster

    Chopster Peon

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    #1188
    I got another email response from Adsense Team. Here's an excerpt:


    We ask that you exercise caution when placing images near the Google ads
    on your site, as AdSense publishers may not rely on deceptive or
    attention-grabbing implementation methods to generate clicks.

    To be specific, we ask that publishers not place misleading images near
    Google ads or use images that appear to be directly associated with the
    advertisers and their offerings. The use of such images may confuse users
    or draw undue attention to the ads and result in unintentional clicks.
    Additionally, we ask that publishers not place images near ads that draw
    undue attention to those ads.

    Given the current layout and content of your site, I strongly suggest that
    you refrain from placing images next to the Google ads on your site.



    Later, I talked to YPN over the phone and the rep said that even with a border, you can't put images next to ads. Not sure if it's different between YPN and AS, but I figure it's not worth the risk.

    Sure is a bummer seeing my CTR dropping like a lead weight since I removed most of the images yesterday. I still got 20 more sites to remove the images from. Once I removed them all, I'll bet I'll go from 800 clicks/day down to around 50 clicks. This suuuuuuuuckkkks! :(
     
    Chopster, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  9. Juan G

    Juan G Peon

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    #1189
    Yes, they say ok to some publishers, and no to others.

    Before, they helped more to fix wrong designs, but now there are really too many publishers not following the image guidelines on differentiation, borders, etc. As a result, according to most AdSense publishers' testimonials that I've read (a few exceptions apart), currently the general tendency seems to be no second chance to those with a bad implementation. They are simply asked to remove the images, as I said on a previous post.

    As also said, if I'm interpreting the recent testimonials correctly, only those publishers who follow the guidelines from the very beginning, with a clear differentiation between ads and images, obtain an OK from Support.

    If the YPN rep said that to you, you need to accept it. For example, I exchanged emails only with AdSense Support, because I'm not using YPN for now. All what I can know on YPN comes from what they and their publishers say on forums, blogs, etc.

    My previous data on YPN comes mainly from around July and before. Reading more recent info, I'm now getting the impression that YPN has become stricter on policies in the last few months, due to abuse from part of the publishers.

    In relation to compliance with the image requirements, also YPN was saying yes to some publishers and no to others.

    An important detail is that, in July, YahooSarah (from Yahoo) said the following on the official YPN Blog:

    The same month, she also wrote the post YPN: Ads and Images Clarification, on the Digital Point YPN Forum:

    That is to say, on the YPN Blog, probably she was referring -with "images next to ads"- to images united to ads, the most frequent case of publishers unaware of the image requirements on differentiation, etc. It seems that only a minority followed YPN's guidelines on borders, etc.

    Her post on Digital Point is more detailed than the one on the YPN Blog about this specific matter, contemplating right and wrong designs.

    However, this is from July. I'm not sure about the current situation at YPN.
     
    Juan G, Oct 24, 2006 IP
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  10. Juan G

    Juan G Peon

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    #1190
    Really impressed by your situation, Chopster. I hope you are fine.

    P.S.: Are you sure your loss is going to be so drastic? There is a wide variety of cases, and publishers who implement several optimization techniques at the same time to reduce ad blindness and increase ad reading (Google heat maps, placing ads above the fold and near site images and content, making the pages more topic-focused to get better ads, etc.) sometimes obtain very significant results. For example, 2x, 5x, or even more as a total combined effect from all site improvements, for similar traffic. But of course, just from correct image implementations, without other changes, such a 16x difference in clicks and CTR is unheard of.
     
    Juan G, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  11. Chopster

    Chopster Peon

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    #1191
    Two days ago, my daily earnings was $65 bucks.
    Today, it appears as though by the end of the day, my estimated earnings will being about $10.

    I agree with you though. There are other alternatives, such as heat maps, placement, etc.

    Or I can try to move all my sites to YPN, do a better job of separating the images from the ads with darker border/line separation, spacing, etc. and hope they find it acceptable.
     
    Chopster, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  12. MTbiker

    MTbiker Well-Known Member

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    #1192
    I posted in the "adsense placement example" forum and everyone told me to get rid of the border between the images and the ads!
     
    MTbiker, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  13. utunes

    utunes Peon

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    #1193
    wow, i should do that
     
    utunes, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  14. decodethis

    decodethis Well-Known Member

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    #1194
    Nice post! Thanks for taking the time and illustrating it. :)
     
    decodethis, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  15. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #1195
    On the up side chopster, your earnings must have been around $10 a day before you added images.. so it was nice while it lasted... some more Christmas moneys ;)

    With so many sites adding images right next to the ads, with no border (I use stumble to browse random sites and I see it more and more) It will only be a matter of time b4 G go the way of Y and just say no to any images next to ads in the way we have been doing it.

    Most people I have heard from have seen a 2, 3 and in your case 6 times increase in income from doing this... times that by the number of sites out there that have read this thread and done the same.. must have earned G quite a bit of $$ this year :) So I am sure they wont make any policy change lightly or advise people to remove the images without good reason.

    I (and others) have said it 100 times before.. but I will say it again, this time in list form (for all those that skip to the end of the thread):

    1. If in doubt make the change on a hidden copy of a page and email G asking them (very politely) to take a look.

    B. Always include a border / visible gap between the images and the ads.

    III. Do not use misleading images (images of ipods when the ads could be anything to do with mp3's)
     
    Critters, Oct 27, 2006 IP
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  16. Mong

    Mong ↓↘→ horsePower

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    #1196
    Though its quite common today .. but 518 days back it would be a great jump in optimizing adsense ctr :)

    Thumb Up.
     
    Mong, Oct 27, 2006 IP
  17. peth

    peth Peon

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    #1197
    Sorry this is off-topic but 'Mong' looking at your sites and the top two are having problems with their SQL databases.

    just though you should know. ;)

    (soz to distrupt thread:eek: )
     
    peth, Oct 27, 2006 IP
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  18. oseymour

    oseymour Well-Known Member

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    #1198
    Man this was a long thread but I learned a lot from it....Thanks.....................

    A "friend" of mine was banned for similar stuff and Google offered vague explanations about violating TOS.....now I see why my "friend" was banned.
     
    oseymour, Oct 27, 2006 IP
  19. Chopster

    Chopster Peon

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    #1199
    Borders or no borders, don't use images with ads.

    I know it's tempting due to the increased clicks, but in the end, it'll bite you in the ass. I had borders separating my images and it didn't matter.

    Sooner or later, the Adsense Team will come across your page and tell you to remove them (that is if they don't ban you in the first place).

    What members should be discussing is an alternative way to increase CTR without images.
     
    Chopster, Oct 28, 2006 IP
  20. Chopster

    Chopster Peon

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    #1200
    Haha. That's true. I made $3000 from the two last months of using images with ads and it'll certainly help with the mortgage.. Now I'm back to around $500/month which I can use to pay for cable, cellphone, insurance, and other smaller bills. :)

    I agree with your prediction. It's only a matter of time when this technique will be integrated into the TOS, flately stating "no thumbnails next to ads".

    Well, it's true that if I'm making a lot of money from images next to ads, then google is also with their 40% cut. However, Google is a super smart company and I think they have the insight to realize that in the long run, they will get less advertisers due to a poor conversion rate for their clients.
     
    Chopster, Oct 28, 2006 IP
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