Hi guys I just wanted to contribute to the community by letting you know that punting adsence in the smart bar is against Google Adsense policy. How do I know? I am in contact with an Adsense representative and she told me explicitly that I should not use that function. Just wanted to inform you all so you don’t risk a ban.
hope this helps, Have a great day!
yes, you are right, i also talked with google adsense representative, he told me to put it down!
it is totally against their TOS!
Having an adsense ad in a “sticky” sidebar does not violate their TOS. This is not new content rendered by ajax load/reload, it’s simply bootstrap “affix” where the “rendered” DOM has a section of the page which using CSS “sticks” on scroll. The page doesn’t change, reload or otherwise render new ads, nor does it instantiate new ads or popups. It’s still the same page, it’s still the same sidebar, same div, same “session ID” for the person seeing the ad, with same cookie and tracking for the ad(s) in the sidebar.
Having an ad in any element which refreshes or reloads is a violation; that is not what is happening here.
Simply having a section of the site “stick” and not move does not violate TOS, per my own conversation with them last year.
Keep in mind the “sales reps” don’t make policy.
They will contact you if it does. They will also contact you if you promote ads on your pages which promote software that defeats any Google DRM tech (like ripping YouTube movies or Android hacks), and they will contact you if you use the word “sponsored” near your ads(s) vs “advertisement.”
We’ve been working with Google since they launched AdSense, and trust me, you’re fine.
sorry Chris, but you are wrong in this one. The technical mamboJambo doesn’t really matter as is is clearly stated here:
Unnatural attention to ads
Drawing unnatural attention to ads includes placing Google ads in a floating box script that causes the ad to appear in a “sticky” position on the page as the user scrolls down. This type of ad implementation is not permitted.
https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1346295#Unnatural_attention_to_ads
I know it is done in a way it “technicaly” doesn’t move, but policy is very clear…
They mY never contact you (if you are lucky) but if they do a manual check you may get in trouble.
People accounts get banned all the time, often with no explanation or mail telling you to modify the site….
Feel free to disagree.
We have a large ad network and dedicated senior rep with Google AdSense. In our sites we are using a wide variety of content in our sidebars including search, relational content, and the ads are not the primary element, so while this is stated
Drawing unnatural attention to ads includes placing Google ads in a floating box script that causes the ad to appear in a “sticky" position on the page as the user scrolls down. This type of ad implementation is not permitted.
The meaning of that text refers specifically to a floating sticky AD, not your entire sidebar; meaning, it is a direct violation to have sticky ad similar to floating social buttons.
But specifically:
They have looked at our sites numerous times and said it’s not an issue in this context. If you have nothing on your sidebar except an ad and cause just the ad to stick — THAT violates the TOS. If you have 10 things on your sidebar and ONE of them in the middle is an ad, that does NOT violate the TOS as you’re not specifically “drawing attention to the ad” — you are “keeping content visible” which would otherwise disappear on scroll — meaning, it’s the same as having a “short” page vs “long page” … you’re drawing attention to content, and there happens to be ad as smaller part of that … so in a 300×1400 block, a 300×250 element is only a fraction of the “content” and so you’re not targeting eyeballs with just an ad.
Doubleclick actually allows ajax reload of ads on the page, which is different of course (look at mashable home page right now to be assaulted by Star Wars ads…!). This is NOT the same thing.
So, note that keeping your whole block of content visible is one thing, keeping an ad visible to draw attention to it is a different thing.
We got approval and getting paid every month across our network of sites. Your mileage may vary.
No luck involved on our end, we KNOW this is okay and have it approved. But do what you want.
(FYI: above a certain payout amount or number of sites they *do* check your sites once per year, based on our experience the past decade.)
Luckily you can turn it off/on with one click. 🙂
I agree, Yes if you have other stuff is it, it’s alright but it kinda defeat the propose :). Anyways I am not using this position anymore from my testing I get better conversions using the other positions.
So for the average guy here, I sum it up:
You can use it, but make sure you have other elements on it otherwise you are bringing attention to the ad as it sticks while you keep scrolling…and that is against TOS.
cheers!
s
Thank you guys for pointing this out.. i have read couple of discussion over the internet as well. it seems like every person have different opinion on this topic.
But we all know that google is the king and the savior of all the living on this planet:D. I dont want to get in to trouble so i have decided to switch off the sticky sidebar functionality.. :/
i dont want to but there are plenty other better positions which can be used… Sad — the web looks much better with the sticky sidebar…
After 2 years no problem with Google AdSense here for our sites. But then, we are making the sidebar sticky with related stories, subscribe box, search box, and not just making the whole sidebar an ad section. So, if you have the ad as “part of” the sidebar and not “the entire” sidebar it *is* okay to have an ad unit in there, like the classic 300×250 box. Seriously.
Sorry, Chris but I have to disagree here about the ads on the smart sidebar. I even had been banned from them from doing it. I been banned and resigned up using different emails and still its the most pickiest monetizing network in the world. You can get banned for unknown reasons too. Been there done that.
That is why you read the TOS. Its there for people to read. If people don’t know that yet and it is all over Google search about Adsense and floating ads. They will ban you for it. Funny that people are just realizing that its been in the TOS. As far as I have even heard about Adsense. I knew that moving ads with scrolling was against their TOS. Adsense it the only network I have known to be against it.
Yes, I did do it even knowing that it was not right. So I tried to get away with it. I bet a lot have too.
I am using Adsterra on my website, which will let me use smart sidebar with their ads with no problems. I was surprised I was even accepted through them because their requirements are 300,000 pageviews a month and I am not even close to that.
Fine if you disagree with me over and over.
We have a senior rep at AdSense and our usage has been reviewed and accepted.
Sorry your usage was banned.
Perhaps you need to read the TOS in future; I sure did. I’ve been part of the Adsense program since in beta. SO I do know more about it than you.
If you were blocked/booted it was likely for some other reason as they would have given you warning before actually booting you for non-compliance, based on my own experience on behalf of clients.
So, again – for those who think the newbies on here know what they are talking about – they don’t.
If you use the smart bar properly, to not focus on just ads, and your ad is only part of the content then it’s fine.
Read the TOS again — it relates to “bringing unnatural attention to an ad” — which is not done if the whole sidebar is sticky, and the ad is not the dominant element.
Sheesh. Sorry that can’t through your thick skull.
I don’t know why I bother with some of you folks.
In fact, I fuc*ing give up.
Good bye all.
Just because Adsense is the pickiest network and even having other content on the sidebar with it scrolling, they will find something to complain about and ban people. You think it you know it all most of the time. My first impression since I actually been on here for support was like I should of never been here at all. So if anyone has felt like they wasted their time on this support forums its others. You really have not been very nice Chris at least to me.
All I said is what I felt about Adsense and you flipped. They don’t even have use for PayPal. Of course I am go to use Adsterra because they do use PayPal and it also does pretty much the same as Adsense. I would never go back to Adsense. Sometimes I wondering if support is even worth it sometimes. Always find someone that wants to put others down.
Better safe than sorry.
I learnt Adsense Premium publishers can have their ads on a sticky sidebar.
So if you see a site with Adsense on their sticky sidebar, plus have more than the recommended 3 ads per page (some sites have more than 5), that’s probably an Adsense Premium publisher/site.
Provided he’s not an ordinary publisher unknowingly violating the Adsense TOS, follow their tactics, put your ads on a sticky sidebar and you’re sure to get banned.
Probably Chris is an Premium publisher. And maybe it doesn’t go against the TOS if you have other elements on the sidebar that scrolls with your page.
Still… better safe than sorry. You shouldn’t risk losing your Adsense account.
Yes; this is actually correct. This is why you see some big publishers with blatant sticky ads. Those generally get served through the Doubleclick (DFP) engine.
Although, to be fair, on couple of our sites we were doing that for a loooooong time with normal AdSense ads, just not making the ad the sticky focus; meaning at the bottom of the sticky bar, not the top, so that “focus” would be on the “related content” and then when you got to bottom the ad would be at bottom, just like it would have been anyway.
But it’s best to err on side of paranoia. Keeping in mind the actual revenue these days from AdSense is about 20 times less than it was due to ad blocking.
Consider using local hosted graphics for locally sold ad campaigns, and loaded from a normal folder not one called “ads” as possible revenue replacement strategy.
Food for thought … I’m not going to be around here in 2017 but just putting in my two cents while I still am. Happy holidays!
