I never realized just how much deception went on with adsense until I began looking into this forum. Maybe I am in the minority here, but for me, adsense is just an ad like any other advertisement that is displayed on my site, and I can understand all the work that goes into trying to hide the ads hoping that people will click on them by mistake thinking it is part of the site. Don't get me wrong, I blend the ads so they don't stand out like a sore thumb, but I just think alot of these sites go way to far in the effort of hiding their ads in the content. I am also concerned that these practices could very well be dragging down the revenue potential of the ads. I know in the sports industry that I am in, google ads generally pay 1/2 to 1/3 what they were paying a year ago, and I can help but think schemes like this are part of the reason. Am I off base here? Or are others thinking the same as me?
true, i agree with you. case in point: there're some sites that blend in their ads so much that they look like part of the navigation bar. it's deceptive (i clicked the ad thinking it will lead me to another subpage).
Questions: Does Google mind? Do advertisers mind? If advertisers complain probably G would take action..
Google actively encourages such deception on their site and in seminars. Need you ask if they care or not?
Need I ask? Yes I need to ask. As someone who provides thousands of impressions per day for adsense I think it is something I need ask. The internet keeps filling with crap websites that throw out information strictly for adsense revenue and all they do is provide crap in regards to content. Over the past year, I have found less and less reason to display ads from google. When I look at the amount of displays I provide in exchange for the revenue I receive, I see a problem.
What I'm trying to tell you is, Google knows people do this, and they don't just look the other way, they encourage it whenever they can. It's pointless to point it out to them, or make too big a fuss about it, because they could care less. For a bunch of self-professed "hippies", those Google guys sure worship the buck!