Hey guys... I run a really big forum and have supported it for years with standard banner advertising. I also run many other non-related websites that are supported by adsense.. and do quite well. But with the forums that I run, I want to try placing AdSense on them. However, we have a large following that is extremely dedicated to the forums and I am very fearful that many of them will start clicking on the ads over and over thinking that it will help the forums and website. I am afraid they will repeatedly click the ads thinking that they are helping the owners out by doing so. While they would be well-intentioned in terms of trying to help the site, it would be VERY BAD for Google and consequently, put as at risk of being penalized and/or banned. Since I already have other VERY successful AdSense websites, the last thing I would want is these forums negatively affecting or even banning the entire account (all the sites) for adsense alltogether. Does anyone have any guidance or suggestions on this? Any words of wisdom here? Thank you so much and I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this.
I think you are thinking in the wrong direction, if you have a forum as big as this then you will be making plenty of money with adsense, yes if the users think they are helping you by clicking your ads then take the help , you are not doing anything wrong, and that is compleatly legal as long as you dont encourage them to click on the ads.
Unfortunately I cannot do this since we are a registered business and need to keep things straight tax-wise. I would never (and never have) encouraged clicking, and I would be happy if they did indeed click the adsense... after all that's what supposed to happen. But what I am worried about is the visitor who says to themselves (hey!! The admins put up those google ads! I think the site makes money when ppl click on them... and since I love this site so much and want to see it succeed... I'm going to click on the ads about 100x right now to show my appreciation.) Of course that user does so with a well-intentioned mind-set, but not knowing they are violating a TOS and putting the site at risk. I would imagine I could have potentially hundreds of people who would be capable of thinking this way. Whether or not Google understands this kind of dilemma and insures it's account holders that they will not penalize them for excessive clicking they have no control over is the real question I guess. I got a real good thing going currently with AdSense. I can make a ton more money with these forums... but it ain't worth risking the whole basket of eggs either.
So long as you do all things according to the TOS and you don't manipulate the clicks and encourage your forum users to click the ads, I see nothing wrong here. Google can see the difference what is fake and genuine click, anyway.
I would add AdSense and just gather 3-5 days stats. See how it works for you. If you see a future, keep it on and monitor stats. You should be fine... if you get more paranoid there are free click-tracker scripts available. [I ditched those months ago.] Normally with larger sites it's hard to catch problems. That's where a majority of my time is spent daily (making sure things are in order). I also check IP hits, etc.
The few adsense sites I run make about $200/day... and I would guess the forum would rake in about $50+/day. I don't worry about my current AdSense sites because they don't have a "following" or community of repeat visitors who have an interest in the well-being of the site. The visitors don't know, nor do they care about the ads on those sites. But with these forums I run, people take quite an interest in that kind of stuff. So by that, there is much more risk for abuse by my visitors. Jontish's remarks make me tremble at the thoughts of getting banned for some of my visitors getting click-happy. I don't want to risk losing $200/day to make another $50/day. But on the other hand... I COULD DEFINITELY use another $50/day. Hence, the dilemma I'm in.
Hey man, I got a forum with strong community. If they want to click on an ad, they go ahead click it. I didn't tell them too.. So just relax, follow TOS to the point and watch as teh money come in.
i think you are worrying too much based on a hypothetical assumption. one or 2 might think that clicking on the ads might help you but usually the is no way every one in such a large group will wake up one day, see the adsense ad, and just start clicking on them. and if the visitors are that closely knit and loyal, you can do a sticky thread to give everyone a heads up and set the expection.
The topic this forum covers however, brings a different sort of web traffic demographic. I wouldn't worry at all if it was a tech forum of sorts, but this particular forum covers a topic that attracts some of the most computer-illiterate folk you'll ever come across. They're some of the nicest people in the world, but I can just see a bunch of them waking up everyday and clicking 20 times on an ad thinking they were "doing their part" to help the site. This has happened before with my banner advertising. However I don't even look at the banner statistics anymore.. haven't for years to check if it still goes on. So many clicks now I wouldn't even know if that was the case anyway. Maybe I'll throw another question into the mix: If you have 10 websites under the same adsense account, and only one has issues like I'm afraid of above... would google ban just the 'click-happy' website or the whole account altogether? Anyone know?
No, all your websites would be "banned". The only thing they do is ban your account. You should not be afraid, but very careful concerning all this. I know Google is a big company, they're the boss of the internet. We think they are a good guy, but as they are the biggest with almost no competition, they can play the game however they want. I don't really think Adsense is that loyal. For example, just check their rules. Basically, they're including this in every single invalid-click point (something like it): "Remember, Google makes the decision if the clicks should be counted as invalid or not". In my ears, this means that if they're not sure if it was a fraud or not, they rather ban you (especially if you are a small player). Anyway..as I said, send them an email. Explain your situation. Remember, a question will NOT hurt. They can't ban you for asking something.
One option would be for you to put up a sticky thread in your announcements section (assuming you have one) notifying your users that you will be adding adsense ads, and letting them know that clicking on the ads repeatedly will do far more harm than good for you. Encourage them (without breaking the Google TOS) to click on any ads that they have a genuine interest in, but to only click if they are genuinly interested. Also include a link to the Google TOS. At the very least, if someone does click-bomb you, you will be able to show the post to Google to show that you attempted to ensure that it wouldn't happen.
If your visitors are not familiar with how Adsense works, and you don't explain it to them, they will click only when the ads have interest to them, which is the way it is supposed to work. One poster suggested that you post a sticky asking visitors NOT to click. That's a bad idea. It's like telling a kid not to do something -- they'll do it. If your visitors understand Adsense, it can work against you in two ways: 1) they will "help" you and click multiple times on ads, and 2) visitors who don't like you or your site, will click-bomb you. So, it depends on the type of site you have, who your visitors are, how techncal they are and how well they understand PPC ads.
Could you set it up where only non-registered and non-logged in users see the bulk of the ads? Perhaps do it slowly and incrementally where it is an ad here and there and watch things. While in general I agree with the not posting a please only click when message, maybe email privately a few of your core members and see what they think as they know your community better than we do. I hear what you are saying though. My friends and family don't even know the URLs of my sites for the very reason you list. Mom doesn't understand why she couldn't click on an ad if it honestly interested her - we live in the same house and use the same connection. That's why I've banned her. lol $200 a day? Sigh, maybe someday.