Another look at optimizations

We've given you many optimization tips over the years, and, as you know, it's important to consider how your ad implementations affect not only your click-through rate, but your users' and advertisers' experience as well. To support this, we'd like to remind you of the following two guidelines when optimizing your site.

1. Ads shouldn't be placed under a title or section heading in a way that implies that the ads are not ads.
For example, ads shouldn't be placed under titles such as “Dallas Business Opportunities” or “Today's Hot Deals”. Placing ads directly below titles such as these implies to your users that the links in the ads are publisher-created content. The example below shows a placement that does not follow this guideline.


2. Ads should be easily distinguishable from surrounding content.
Similarly, you should not place an ad unit by a group of links that has identical colors and line spacing. Doing so may cause users to think the ad unit is content created by you. In this situation, we recommend using a different color for the ad titles or indenting the ad unit to help distinguish the ads from your own content. This screenshot shows an implementation that does not follow this guideline:

As you can imagine, users who click on ads that they think are publisher-created content may lose trust in your site and decide not to return in the future. It's important to keep their interests in mind, as well as your own.

Also, advertisers can tell which sites have a high conversion rate for them using Placement Performance reports. A conversion occurs when a click on an ad leads directly to user behavior that the advertiser deems valuable, such as a purchase, sign-up, page view, or lead. Advertisers have the option to exclude your site from their campaigns and may do so if it is not leading to conversions.

We believe these guidelines invest in the long-term health of the relationship between AdSense publishers, AdWords advertisers, and your sites' visitors, and that they will help ensure your continued success in the AdSense program.

Posted by Meridith Major - AdSense Publisher Support

PIN without the pain

As you may know, we'll send you a Personal Identification Number (PIN) by standard mail when your account first reaches $10 in earnings. This PIN is used to help verify publisher accounts and addresses for security purposes. We often receive messages from publishers concerned about what to look for in the mail, and when they can expect to receive it. In response, we've created the short video below which we hope will help address these issues. It might not be a Hollywood production but hey...even the greats started small ;)



If you don't receive your first PIN, you can still request up to two more. Please note that aside from verifying your PIN, other holds may apply to your account -- you'll need to remove all holds and generate $100 in earnings before a payment can take place.

Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support

Stick 'em up!

Update October 6, 2011: Thanks for all of your letters and sticker requests. This promotion is now over, but stay tuned to Inside AdSense for the latest news, updates, and offers!

If you're well versed in webspeak, you're probably familiar with the concept of stickiness -- the quality that entices web users to stick around a given site. Here at AdSense, we're down with the web version of stickiness, but we've got a different kind of adhesive in mind: the kind that lets you take the AdSense logo a-go-go.

That's right, we're talking stickers.

We've printed up a batch of AdSense stickers, and we'd be delighted to send one or two your way, wherever you are in the world. The stickers are designed for laptops, but they'll work just as well for placement on mugs, skateboards, or temporarily on a shirt. (Note: turning a pal into a walking Google ad without their knowledge is not recommended.)


So how do you get one of these glue-backed masterpieces? Easy: send us a self-addressed, stamped envelope with enough postage to return 1 oz of sticker goodness to you from our office in California via standard U.S. mail. (Sorry, we can't help you calculate the postage to your location). Send your envelope, along with a note if you'd like, to:

Google AdSense
c/o Alejo Grigera
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA

Supplies are limited, so send your envelope soon! Then you can stick with AdSense wherever you go. (And one last thing to keep in mind: while we're flattered that you might want a whole box, note that we're only able to provide one or two per publisher.)

Posted by Julie Beckmann - AdSense Publisher Support

Terms and Conditions clarification

Since updating our Terms and Conditions a few weeks ago, we've received a number of questions related to the new privacy policy and the display language within accounts. We'd like to address those two areas below -- but please keep in mind that as with any legal terms, you may consider consulting legal counsel if you have law-related questions about our Terms and Conditions.

Privacy policy

Unfortunately, we can't suggest any privacy policy language for your specific site, as all sites are set up differently and laws may vary across different countries. You might want to review online resources such as the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), which suggests language for data collection of non-personally identifying information such as:

We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

Further examples can be found in Appendix A of the NAI Self-Regulatory principles for publishers (PDF).

Display language

At this time, the Terms and Conditions are only available in one language per country -- whatever is determined as the legally binding language. As such, you might see that the Terms and Conditions are displayed in a language different from your Google interface.

You can read our updated Terms and Conditions in a different language, but please keep in mind that the Terms will vary according to the country or territory of your payment address. If you select a different country, the Terms and Conditions you see may not be identical to those appearing in your AdSense account, and therefore may not apply to you.

Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support