Pretty Sneaky Ad Placement On This Adsense Site...

[TryBPO]

I was cruising through Flippa, looking at AdSense sites since I recently posted a few of our own for sale when I noticed this site had recently sold: Laundry room cabinets pricing, products, reviews and more - Laundry Room Cabinets

Take a look at the site, specifically at the bottom of the page. He's playing some tricks with "laundry room organization", "More", and "on this site", making them look like links. When you realize they're not, you're only 1/4 of an inch away from the similar looking AdSense links.

Nice trick...

[guitarjosh]

Originally Posted by TryBPO

I was cruising through Flippa, looking at AdSense sites since I recently posted a few of our own for sale when I noticed this site had recently sold: Laundry room cabinets pricing, products, reviews and more - Laundry Room Cabinets

Take a look at the site, specifically at the bottom of the page. He's playing some tricks with "laundry room organization", "More", and "on this site", making them look like links. When you realize they're not, you're only 1/4 of an inch away from the similar looking AdSense links.

Nice trick...

That is a neat little idea.. though I'd be sticking it by a nice big 336 or 225... not the .5 cent links.

[TryBPO]

We're trying it out on a site just to check it out...it seems a little TOO sneaky to us though...

[guitarjosh]

Originally Posted by TryBPO

We're trying it out on a site just to check it out...it seems a little TOO sneaky to us though...

I'd probably agree. The more $$ I make with AdSense, the more I desire to play by the rules, because quite obviously... the stronger the desire to never get banned becomes. I've actually designated this entire month to going through every site I have and fixing all those little things that might be questionable, updating all my privacy policys, fixing design flaws... little things that pile up. It's amazing how fast it can happen and how easy it is to backburner everything. One one hand, it's been hard to not build new sites because the money just keeps rolling in with new ones in just a few months, but on the other hand, I'm really becoming quite pleased with the end result so very glad I made the decision to finally take care of this. Just half my sites to go! No more sneaky stuff for me though.

[TryBPO]

Originally Posted by guitarjosh

I'd probably agree. The more $$ I make with AdSense, the more I desire to play by the rules, because quite obviously... the stronger the desire to never get banned becomes. I've actually designated this entire month to going through every site I have and fixing all those little things that might be questionable, updating all my privacy policys, fixing design flaws... little things that pile up. It's amazing how fast it can happen and how easy it is to backburner everything. One one hand, it's been hard to not build new sites because the money just keeps rolling in with new ones in just a few months, but on the other hand, I'm really becoming quite pleased with the end result so very glad I made the decision to finally take care of this. Just half my sites to go! No more sneaky stuff for me though.

I definitely hear what you're saying...the risky stuff starts to sound scary, right?

[Ducksauce]

The site has changed, and the sneaky bar is now up the top.

It looks like a Navigation Bar to me. Tricking folks to use Adsense for navigation?

What are your thoughts?

I really believe in doing it safely.

[Ducksauce]

Double Post. Opps.

[mmsearch]

what did it sell for?

[BarryWheeler]

It might be a bit questionable or "grey" area ... pushing the limits IMHO.

[paulgl]

I think you people need to know how link units work. You don't get paid for a click. You get paid for a click after a click. When someone clicks on an link unit, they are taken to a link page with ads. The price depends on the second click, and that may be any price.

Link units done right can be very profitable.

The way the site is now is a very common way to use link units. Nothing really sneaky.
I'm mean where else does one put a horizontal link unit?

Paul

[Ducksauce]

Thanks Paul very much, to be honest, I did not know it was a link unit, in trying one I now see what you are talking about.

Are there separate guildlines for link units in TOS?

I presume for normal ads this would get you banned?

Thanks for your knowledge.

[TryBPO]

Yes, Paul, the way it is now is pretty normal...nothing sneaky. But...the way it was before making the content at the bottom look like links but not be...and then placing the real links/ads right below those words was, I thought, pretty sneaky.

We tried that out on one site but didn't even go back to really look at the results. Ultimately, we thought (and felt) it was trickery and wanted to avoid it in general. I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong in Google's eyes (although I tend to think it would be acceptable) we just thought it wasn't for us.