TOPIC: Engaging users with policy-compliant images and video

Date: Wed, Jan 16 2008 11:03am
From: Inside AdSense Team

http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/d298d981f3dca135?hl=en

As it's becoming easier and easier to embed videos and pictures on
websites, many publishers are now enhancing their current text content
with relevant videos and photos. We wholeheartedly support adding these
different forms of content to improve the user experience on your site
-- hey, we like watching entertaining YouTube videos too! But here's a
friendly reminder about keeping our program policies in mind when you
choose video and image content for your site.Before posting videos or
pictures on a page with Google ads, put yourself in an advertiser's
position and consider whether you would want to have your ad displayed
on the page. If your content might potentially be seen as offensive or
disturbing, an advertiser may not be comfortable running their ads on
that page. Here are a few specific types of content that you can check
for:
- Adult or mature: Includes, but is not limited to, images and videos
containing sexual activity, full nudity, and lewd poses. Please review
this recent post to determine whether your content might fall into this
category.
- Violent or gory: Can include images and videos of street-fighting,
people hurting each other, or gruesome accidents and their victims.
- Culturally insensitive or hate speech: Includes content promoting
racial intolerance or advocating against a specific individual, group,
or organization.Also, keep in mind that publishers may not place
AdSense ads on pages involved in the unauthorized distribution of
copyrighted materials. Unauthorized copyrighted materials include
music, movies, images, or any other copyrighted material that the
publisher does not own or license from the copyright owner.The list
above is by no means exhaustive, since there are always some borderline
cases which will feature content that may be tame to one person but
offensive to another. If you're uncertain about specific pictures or
videos, we recommend that you err on the side of caution and refrain
from placing this content on pages containing Google ads. In addition,
if you host a site with user-generated content, we ask that you
continually monitor your network to ensure that ads don't appear
alongside the types of content described here.Posted by Dan Zilic -
AdSense Publisher Support

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 1/16/2008 11:03:00 AM

TOPIC: Sounds of success for Buenamusica

Date: Thurs, Jan 10 2008 2:23pm
From: Inside AdSense Team

http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/d3bef7331a2561ab?hl=en

In just three years, Manuel Treto's Buenamusica.com has become quite a
successful enterprise. A U.S. based Spanish-language site dedicated to
everything associated with music, Buenamusica.com now receives around
100,000 unique visitors per day from users around the world.When Manuel
first started, he knew he needed an ad network that would deliver both
English and Spanish ads relevant to his U.S. Hispanic and Latin
American visitors -- a one-stop shop with domestic and international
inventory. "This was one of our biggest hurdles for monetizing the
website," Manuel says. "Several of the networks I tried billed
themselves as 'Hispanic networks', but after testing fifteen different
ad networks on our site, we were happiest with AdSense. AdSense is
better for Hispanic publishers because it usually outperforms all other
ad networks by at least 50 percent in earnings, even those ad networks
that are specifically targeted toward Hispanic sites."With a staff of
only five people, Manuel and his colleagues wanted a product that could
adapt to their needs without requiring significant development
resources. "The product's flexibility in terms of customization options
is its most impressive feature," says Manuel. "What has worked the best
for me is incorporating colors that are already associated with the
site. We try to customize everything so that it matches the look and
feel of the site, and users have commented on how nicely the ads fit
into the page."Manuel now employs AdSense ads on 100 percent of his
pages. He also offers his users the ability to navigate through his
site with the Google Custom Search Engine, which he has linked to his
AdSense account. This has allowed him to monetize his search results
and to generate additional revenue for the site. "The more exposure you
give to Google the more money you are going to make, and every little
bit adds up. I strongly recommend using other Google products. Using
the Custom Search Engine feature is bringing a little bit of Google
technology to your website, and you can't beat that."If you'd like to
share your own success story with us, please fill out our
questionnaire. If you're not yet an AdSense publisher and would like to
get started with Manuel's suggestions, you can submit an application
today. Posted by Meridith Major - AdSense Publisher Support

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 1/10/2008 02:19:00 PM

TOPIC: Site maintenance on November 10th at 10 am

Date: Fri, Nov 9 2007 1:32 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team

http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/6f0e6c8f3b8664a0?hl=en

Tomorrow, November 10th, our engineers will be performing routine site
maintenance. Although you won't be able to log in to your account
between 10 am and 2 pm PST, we'll continue to serve ads to your pages
and track all earnings in your account as usual.Our international
readers can expect the maintenance to start at the following
times:London - 6 pm SaturdayKiev - 8 pm SaturdayChennai - 11:30 pm
SaturdayManila - 2 am SundayMelbourne - 5 am SundaySome of you have
been curious about what our engineers are up to during these
maintenance periods. As you can imagine, running the system reliably
requires constant nurturing. Some maintenance tasks are more
fundamental to the way the system operates and are not easily done on
the fly -- as a result, it's most efficient and helpful for us to take
the system offline for a few hours. With that in mind, our engineers
line up these tasks in advance and implement them during our regularly
scheduled downtimes. We hope that these maintenance periods aren't too
much of an inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding.Posted
by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 11/09/2007 01:31:00
PM

TOPIC: Quick update on the Manage Ads feature

Date: Thurs, Nov 8 2007 4:22 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team

http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/b2e689af6b302b0b?hl=en

Thanks for all of the immediate feedback on our new Manage Ads feature.
Your comments have helped us identify a technical issue causing delays
in some publisher accounts. This is not directly related to the
capabilities of the new feature, but it has been preventing new ad
units from immediately appearing on some publisher sites. We dislike
delays as much as you do, so our trusty operations folks are working on
fixing the problem and we expect to have things back to normal by next
week. We appreciate your patience.We know you have a lot more to say
about this feature and we want to hear your feedback, so please send us
your comments and we'll continue to keep you updated on future
enhancements.Posted by Traci Hailpern - AdSense Product Marketing

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 11/08/2007 04:21:00
PM

TOPIC: Site maintenance on Saturday, October 20th

Date: Fri, Oct 19 2007 2:45 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team

http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/0697f1c8f124af15?hl=en

This Saturday, October 20th, we'll be performing routine site
maintenance from 10am to 2pm PDT. You won't be able to sign in to your
account during this time period, but rest assured that your ads will
still appear and your earnings will continue to be tracked in your
account. Here's the start time converted for various cities around the
world:London -- 6 pm SaturdayAthens -- 8 pm SaturdayNew Delhi -- 10:30
pm SaturdayKuala Lumpur -- 1 am SundaySydney -- 3 am SundayWe hope the
down time gives you more time to work on your Halloween costume. If
you're all out of costume ideas, how about dressing up as an ad unit?
We suggest the medium rectangle for maximum visibility :) Have a great
weekend!Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 10/19/2007 02:44:00
PM

TOPIC: AdSense Publisher Stories: Askthebuilder.com

Date: Tues, Oct 16 2007 5:02 pm
From: Inside AdSense


Askthebuilder.com's Tim Carter is one publisher who's been able to do
great things with AdSense. Here's his story on moving from building
houses to building websites and how AdSense has helped him along the
way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve-6yFHvZ6M
Now that you've heard Tim's story, we want to hear about your
experience with AdSense. We've heard from publishers who've been able
to keep their site free to users, quit their jobs, and even pay for
their wedding! What have your AdSense earnings enabled you to do?
Whether you have a blog, a small website, or an entire company, we
want to hear your story. There's no need for a production crew or
studio; you can create the video at home with a webcam.

Here's how it works:

1. Shoot a video (2 minutes or shorter) about your story with AdSense.
2. Fill out the submission form at https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py?contact=youtube
and submit your video as a video response to Tim's video on YouTube.
3. We will review your submissions and pick a few videos to be
featured on the AdSense blog in the coming weeks.

In your video, you may want to answer some of the questions below, but
feel free to include others.

* Where you are from and what you do for a living?
* Why did you create your site, blog, or forum?
* Who is your intended audience?
* How did you hear about AdSense?
* How has AdSense helped you?
* What are some useful AdSense tips you would give to other publishers
so that they can see the same success?

When creating and submitting your video, here are a few important
things to remember:

1. You need to have a YouTube account to participate -- you can sign
up for one at http://www.youtube.com/signup .
2. Be creative! Use props, backgrounds, and sets; however, please do
not use any trademarked logos, images, or copyrighted material for
which you don't have permission to display in your videos.
3. You can disclose gross earnings, but not any specific AdSense
statistics such as clickthrough rate or eCPM.
4. Feel free to talk about your site, but don't advertise or encourage
users to visit your site and click on your ads.
5. By posting your video you give Google the rights to display,
reproduce, and distribute your content.
6. Your video must adhere to both YouTube and AdSense Terms and
Conditions. These can be found at http://www.youtube.com/t/terms and
https://www.google.com/adsense/static/en_US/Terms.html . Google has
the right to remove any video submission that does not comply with
these terms.

Submission deadline is October 31st, so what are you waiting for?
Create and submit your video at https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py?contact=youtube
today!

Posted by Sunil Subhedar - AdSense Publisher Support