Re-Thinking Using Images Near Adsense Ads

• Posted by B Jones on December 13th, 2007 - Comment on this Post »

Yeah, I know the whole “Images near adsense ads” is last year’s news, but I thought I’d post this anyway. Partly because it’s sort of funny, and also partly because it made me think again about what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable when it comes to placing images near Adsense ads.

When I do a search for [Bakersfield hotels] , this is what comes up:
(you may or may not see this from where you are, and also, this may work for other searches too)

The Adsense Terms of Service clearly state

- May not direct user attention to the ads via arrows or other graphical gimmicks
- May not place misleading images alongside individual ads

Hmmm…. little snowmen lined up along the sponsored ads? Let’s take another look at the Adsense rules.

- Attracting attention to the ads? Check
- May be seen as “graphical gimmicks”? Check

Back when Google announced their new more definitive rules about using images near ads, I would have never suggested doing anything like this to improve you click through rates, but after seeing this, I may have to rethink that.

I definitely wouldn’t go as far the example above (even though Google is doing it). I’m pretty sure that if you did, your ads would stop showing and you’d get an email from the Adsense team telling you to remove the images immediately.

But if you’re using Adsense, and are struggling with improving your click through rates, there is definitely a lot of room for experimentation with images. Just be careful, and if you’re not sure, you can always send an email to Adsense asking whether or not something is ok to do.They probably would never reply, but at least if you got into trouble, you would be able to say, “hey, I sent an email asking first. See?”

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