Google disrupts repeat Adsense users
I’m noticing that when Adsense users put more inserts than the allowed three on their web pages, the fourth now produces an ugly error message.
Previously, it would be cut off allowing you to post a small ad block at the bottom of each post, as we do. Anyone accessing an archived post as a single page would then see the ads as normal in every post on the site.
Now, it strikes me that the old arrangement would not be a problem for Google, especially since it obviously adds to their income from older posts. It helps the content provider too.
So Google have changed the way this works for a specific reason. It can’t be because there’s a drain on Google’s resources from the old system, a cut-off at three appearances is relatively easy to arrange.
And a high total number of ads may not come into it, either. Syntagma only uses two ads per block, making six in all in a package of ten posts on a page. If we used a sidebar frame with six ads in it, that would only count as one use.
So why this problem? Anyone know?
Sure.
1. More than 3 for regular publishers is against the terms of service.
2. It wasn’t ugly before so lots of people did it.
3. “Enforcing” the tos by showing ugly ads will ensure people abide by the tos
Seems entirely reasonable to me that google would take this interim step before taking blatant action, so if I were you I’d fix the underlying issue so you aren’t violating the tos!
By jeremy wright on October 16th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Yes, Jeremy, but what’s Google’s objection to having more than three instances on a “page” of 10 posts, especially if seven are automatically suppressed?
By John Evans on October 17th, 2007 at 9:24 am
[...] to the subject covered in a recent post here on Google’s change of format for Adsense blocks which occur more than three times on a page, [...]
By SYNTAGMA » Change to Syntagma page on October 21st, 2007 at 10:54 am