Google Adsense Policy A Closer Look

AdSense being one of the main sources of monetization for my websites is something that I pay great attention to.

Taking a close look at the AdSense policy I came across this apparently innocuous statement

I hope you can read the text that I have circled in black ink.

This section of the policy is with regards to encourage clicks.

For all the years I have been using and learning about AdSense, I must have bought at least 50 ebooks or training videos on how to get the best out of your AdSense campaigns

And they all advice the same thing

'Blend your ads'

'Make you ads appear to be part of your content'

Being one that likes to test things out, I tried all sorts of different formats and sizes for my AdSense ads on my main sites.

And found that blending just did not work for me.

My click through rate was higher with ads that stood out. Different colours and what have you. So as a result I have tended, on most of my Internet properties, not to follow the 'blend your ads' mantra

But reading the AdSense policy in detail again, I am glad I haven't

For those who cannot read the screen capture the policy says

In order to ensure a good experience for users and advertisers, publishers participating in the AdSense program may not:

• Format ads so that they become indistinguishable from other content on that page.
• Format site content so that it is difficult to distinguish it from ads.

I don't know about you but it does make me sit up and take notice.

The long and short of it is read the policy carefully and avoid getting banned