I've recently implemented an idea I first saw here on DP by placing some images at the end of my content aside an adsense block which is seperated by a border image. I currently have an inquiry in with adsense support to see if this is in line with the TOS. What do you all think??? Here's an example: http://www.communitytraveler.com/guardian_unlimited_press_article
I think its not against google TOS for sure. I will be shocked if they reply negatively. Please do update us.
I asked google the same type of question and they replied to me with the following below. I personally think that looks great and it shouldn't violate the TOS. I want to implement this idea on my page BUT then again i do not want to risk it. Please let us know what they say when they reply to your message to them. Did you ask them to look specifically at your site? Hello Ryan, Thanks for your email. In general, you're welcome to place images near the Google ads on your site. However, some implementations are not permitted by our program policies, so we ask that you exercise some caution when choosing or placing the images. 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. Such images may draw undue attention to the ads and prompt unintentional user clicks, thereby artificially inflating advertiser costs. As you may know, drawing undue attention to ads is in violation of our program policies, so we're unable to approve the placement of all images next to Google ads. If you choose to experiment with placing images directly next to the ads, I'd strongly encourage you to maintain a visible border around the ad units to reduce the possibility of confusing users. For additional questions, we suggest you visit our AdSense Help Center at https://www.google.com/support/adsense . If you're unable to find an answer to your question on our site, please feel free to reply to this email.
by the way. your website loads REALLLLLLLLLLLY slow. all other websites on my computer load fast.. do you have a slow server?
I'm getting a 500 Server Error. I tried three times and then gave up. I can ping the server successfully though.
i emailed google and asked them if placing a bar between the images and the adsense module would be okay, which is what you have on your site. this is what they said: Please note that this implementation is generally acceptable. However, we ask that publishers place a visible border between the ads and the images, in order to avoid confusion; this border can be a bar, as you've suggested. In addition, publishers should be very careful not to place images that could deceive users directly above the ads. Highly general "stock" images are less likely to be deceptive than very specific images that suggest a specific offering at the advertiser's site. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. So sweeeeeeeeet!!! I will be adding images next to my adsense modules this afternoon, but i will be sure to place a bar between the module and the images like you have done. WOO!!!
Has anybody else experienced this server error??? Perhaps my host was doing an update but it shouldn't have lasted more than a minute. Please let me know if anybody else runs into this error. I haven't had any problems throughout the day with load times. This is the response I received from Adsense Support: Thanks for taking the time to clarify AdSense program policies with us. In general, you're welcome to place images near the Google ads on your site. However, some implementations are not permitted by our program policies, so we ask that you exercise some caution when choosing or placing the images. 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. Such images may draw undue attention to the ads and prompt unintentional user clicks, thereby artificially inflating advertiser costs. As you may know, drawing undue attention to ads is in violation of our program policies, so we're unable to approve the placement of all images next to Google ads. If you choose to experiment with placing images directly next to the ads, I'd strongly encourage you to maintain a visible border around the ad units to reduce the possibility of confusing users. For additional questions, we suggest you visit our AdSense Help Center at https://www.google.com/support/adsense . If you're unable to find an answer to your question on our site, please feel free to reply to this email. I am going to check out the ..support/adsense pages but I will definately have to follow up on this one. I would rather have some documentation that my specific site has been reviewed and is in compliance with their TOS. If I ever run into any issues down the road I could then pull out this backup and documentation which would greatly reduce my risk.
Please note that this implementation is generally acceptable. From this, I can say they'll never ban for such things. It's just a recommendation and nothing more.
i added images next to my ads but i put a bar inbetween the ads and the images. now i have emailed google and they are going to review my website and let me know if it is okay to do.
I added the bar between my images and ads but have seen many webmasters include images aside adsense blocks without any bar or division.