hang on, is that really a violation of the TOS? I mean, he's asking for support (which could come from a number of routes, eg paypal, etc), not to click on the ads. Hell, he doesn't even mention adsense (well, depends if you want to take the "adsense" part of the name as being the reason for the violation, but surely that's being asinine?).
Relixx I dint expect such response at least from you. only read the bold part and you'll get your answer....I hope.
I have his 132 pg ebook "adsense secrets II", and it is filled with good info. I did pay $97 for it, maybe it's not worth that much, but we'll see.
Ah, my apologies. To tell you the honest true, I couldn't remember the TOS that well (hell, we don't have adsense on any of our clients sites...) I couldn't remember it being that specific. I always told myself I'd bother with studying the TOS properly once I started using it
But then, seeing how it /is/ against the TOS, it IS kinda funny that a guy who claims to be brilliant with adsense can't even follow the TOS...
Thats why I'd like to hear his explanation. he is suppose to be an Adsense Guru. and if he is not following the rules then there are only 2 reasons Either he knows it and gives a damn about it, then why should anyone buy anything from a cheater. Or he doesnt know it then why would any one buy the book from a guy who doesnt know basics of the subject he is writing on.
It could also be that Google has seen his pages and given him the OK to do that. There are a lot of grey areas in the TOS. That's why I always tell people to ask Google if there's something they want to do that may contravene the terms and conditions. You may get permission to do it. For example, during a particularly bad bout of click fraud I was experiencing, Google gave me permission to delay the display of advertisements on my pages. But that permission only applied to my sites, and was only granted because I was trying to combat tenacious fraudsters. Technically, that would probably be breaking the TOS because it would cause undue attention to the ads (when they magically appeared) but it was OK to do this in my case. (I stopped it after the click fraud was over, BTW.) So just because you see something that might be interpreted as a violation doesn't actually mean that the publisher is in violation.
I said I'd like to hear what joel has to say about it. if google has granted him use of such phrase then he must not having any problem stating that. and if that is the case then google is certainly making duel standards for publishers, because his site in the question doesnt serve any noble cause. your case was okay because you are taking action against Click fraud. but I dont think there is any such case with joel's site.
<stirs the pot>so, your saying that if he got special treatment, he got it because the TOS isn't clear enough </stirs the pot>
It's true that the support team is who decides when publishers ask about doubtful designs. But this is surprising, Joel has a section in his book (2.7 Google Policies) advising against phrases such as "click here" or "support our sponsors". Perhaps he can say that the small type phrase "Support AdsenseChat.com" is referring to the accompanying large type link to the AdsenseChat homepage, but that's very borderline. In this kind of cases publishers often get a serious warning or even a direct ban sometimes. Why risking the AdSense account for such a silly thing? Really, in my opinion he should remove it immediately. As said, unless support reviewed this indeed doubtful implementation and gave a specific permission.
And again this is not a grey area of TOS. TOS has clearly stated that you can not use such phrases "Regardless of the content" and he is placing support adsensechat.com just above the Adsense block.
Looks like Joel will be selling a Chitika Secrets book real soon as well. Is it a little too soon for that sort of thing?? http://www.adsensechat.com/showthread.php?t=1395 To defend Joel a little bit, I'm a skeptical mofo. I didn't want to plunk down the 97 on it, so I e-mailed him asking some questions and he offered me a good deal privately on it, because frankly I didn't have the 97 extra to toss out.. I can't remember what it was, maybe 30 bucks?? But I really appreciated that gesture-- And while most of the ebook is common sense, it was nice to have it all in one book so I didn't have to spend a bunch of time testing so many things and just jumped right into it. I can't say his ebook tripled my profits though-- some of his tips are very helpful though, but they can be found elsewhere online for free. For a noob wanting to jump right in and get a guide to using something like adsense or chitika, it is probably worth the 97 bucks or so just to jump right in and get all the basics and a few tips thrown in. I can't complain, and I certainly don't feel ripped off.
It doesn't matter whether it is a grey area or not, if you contact G and they say that you can do it then that's all there is to it. I can't imagine them agreeing to this case though.
Google bends over backwords for premium publishers and/or google domain parking publishers. If you ask it, it will be delivered (Zoom to Field of Dreams) Although it's definitely against TOS for general Adsense, premium publishers have that oh-so-sought-after (goog)lee-way.
I hope you are either offering someone else's material or recommending an affiliate link. To do otherwise would be considered theft. Re: the "Support AdSenseChat.com", I believe you are correct. I have a very eager webmaster who handles all my web pages and was not even aware of the text. Thank you for pointing it out. Re: the Chitika ebook... too soon? Chitika has an incredible buzz right now. It's called "striking while the iron is hot" and being first to market. It goes on sale monday at www.chitikasecrets.com Joel