OK this is not exactly new news, but it appears that this MAJOR LEAGUE news slipped below the radar, and it could have a devastating effect on AdSense publishers who are not aware.
Thousands of people will be reading forum threads about using images placed alongside AdSense, many threads will even include emails from Google AdSense team confirming this is OK. But here is the thing.
IT HAS ALL CHANGED!
The following is a snippet of information taken from the google AdSense blog if you use AdSense then read it. Also I recommend you sign up for the newsletter.
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Can I place small images next to my Google ads?We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a relationship between the images and the ads. If your visitors believe that the images and the ads are directly associated, or that the advertiser is offering the exact item found in the neighboring image, they may click the ad expecting to find something that isn’t actually being offered. That’s not a good experience for users or advertisers.Publishers should also be careful to avoid similar implementations that people could find misleading. For instance, if your site contains a directory of Flash games, you should not format the ads to mimic the game descriptions.
We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a relationship between the images and the ads. If your visitors believe that the images and the ads are directly associated, or that the advertiser is offering the exact item found in the neighboring image, they may click the ad expecting to find something that isn’t actually being offered. That’s not a good experience for users or advertisers.Publishers should also be careful to avoid similar implementations that people could find misleading. For instance, if your site contains a directory of Flash games, you should not format the ads to mimic the game descriptions.What if I place a space or a line between my images and my ads? Would that work?
No. If the ads and the images appear to be associated, inserting a small space or a line between the images and ads will not make the implementation compliant.
Does this mean I can’t place ads on pages with images?
You can definitely place Google ads on pages containing images — just make sure that the ads and images are not arranged in a way that could easily mislead or confuse your visitors. For example, if you run a stock photography site with a catalog of thumbnail images, don’t line the ads up with the thumbnails in a way that could be misleading. Consider using a full border around your ads or changing your ad colors, for example.
What do unacceptable implementations look like?
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The unacceptable examples can be found on the google blog linked to above.
So to finalise, I SERIOUSLY recommend you take notice of this, get along there, read it, understand it, and make those changes, or you might just find yourself unable to log into your AdSense account because it has been disabled. Google does NOT issue warnings as a general practise (although it sometimes does).
Ab-sense
I read something about this a while back James.
Did you ever get an email about this from Google?
I’m pretty sure I never, makes you wonder whether its just a case of making the right noises for publishers.
Fact is, image placement helps ctr. I just wonder whether it makes a lot of commerical sense to enforce this. Hence the email ab-sense 😉
p.s Nice header
No email for me either.
Very interesting read this one, i posted on a forum a few weeks ago and got an answser but this clears it up even further. Thanks.