Say No To Google Ads Under Menu And Drop Down Links

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Its been a long time I am using Google Adsense. I lost my Google Adsense account once but luckily got it back. You can read this story on DevilsWorkshop that how I got my Adsense account back in 14 days. If you use Google Adsense service, you should read its TOS first and then move further. I was reading the Google Adsense blog today and was shocked to read that we cannot place Google Ads :


a) In close proximity to Macromedia Flash games
b) Under pop-ups or download prompts
c) Near site navigation controls on your pages, such as drop-downs or menu links

Google says that they do not want accidental clicks on their ads but they want that users should only click on Google ads in which they’re interested. Below is the screenshot of the actual wording on their blog :

click on the image to enlarge

I’ll explain the 3 points in brief :

1) Flash Games : As flash games requires mouse clicks, so Google warned users to place Ads in flash games as users can click on ads accidentally.

2) Downloads : You cannot put Google ads near downloads.

3) Site Navigation : You cannot put Google Ads under menu links and drop down menu.

I’ve also placed the text ads under Menu Links. I was a bit confused today what to do. Should I remove the ads or not ? I searched the Adsense blog and at last found a solution.

Solution :

The bottom line is that we are allowed to put Google ads under menu links. For example you can see Labnol and DevilsWorkshop blog.

labnol.org

devilsworkshop.org

These are the acceptable formats. Some more example of acceptable formats are :

image credits : AdsenseBlog

Now we move on to some unacceptable formats of placing ads :

If a drop down menu link gets over the Google ads, then its an unacceptable format of placing ad because a user can click on Ad accidentally. For more clarification have a look at the image below :

image credits : AdsenseBlog

If you are using the above ad format please remove it as soon as possible because Google will not give you another chance.

You can read this post clarifying about accidental clicks.


I request you to please inform about this ad placing format to all your fellow bloggers.


If you like this post, you will love these :

  1. Mashable Violating Google Adsense Rules By Encouraging Accidental Clicks : Post Updated
  2. New Adsense Placement Strategy For Google AdSense Ads on a Blog
  3. How To Place Google Ads In Middle Of The Post In Blogger
  4. Use Google Related Links To Display Related Articles In Your Blog
  5. Triple Your Adsense Earnings With A Simple Trick
  6. What To Do When You Start Getting Invalid Clicks Continuously For A Long Time?
  7. How Not To Get Ban From Google Adsense : Part 1

Gaganpreet Singh on January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Google Adsense

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Nikhil January 29, 2009 at 10:56 pm

u saved my account. Thanks Gaga.

Reply

2 Sriganesh January 30, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Is there any rules regarding the color of the navigation panel and the color of the ad link?
Coz in all the three cases labnol, dw and urs there is a color variation between the nav bar and the ad link.
Is it wrong if we make both of em with the same color??

Reply

3 Gagan January 30, 2009 at 12:40 pm

@ Sriganesh

In the Adsense blog there is no mention about the color scheme.. So there is no rules about any color and all… :)

Reply

4 Sriganesh February 1, 2009 at 1:26 am

Thanks for the info.
But if you notice properly even google places ads under drop links in their image search… :)

Reply

5 ArpitNext February 12, 2009 at 12:36 am

Thanks Gagan :)

Reply

6 Nitesh patel May 20, 2009 at 9:05 pm

thanx dear friend for informing me and saving me i m workin on it and now i have removed the links thanx again

Reply

7 Gagan May 21, 2009 at 10:00 am

you’re welcome Nitesh :)

Reply

8 Pradeep Singh July 29, 2009 at 11:31 pm

People often suggest to use adsense ads in the menu items so that you could have more clicks and so increase the CTR. Your explanation justifies that, that’s against the Adsense TOS.

Reply

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