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Very weird situation with Adsense

by juelz23
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey everyone,

So I've been having a bit of a problem over the last few days. One of my main sites received an "unnatural linking notice" from Google. It was expected, given all the algo changes Google has been doing. Coincidentally, on the same day, I noticed that on my site, only my link unit Adsense ads were showing..but the banner, skyscraper, and those types of ads not showing. Instead, they would just display a blank space.

I'm able to log into my Adsense account. The ads are still being shown as "active".

So basically, I went through the Adsense Troubleshooter, and then sent them an email. Immediately received an automated response back, which explained why they stop serving ads. Obviously, that is not the problem I'm having. Link units are being shown, but all other ad formats are not being shown.

Has anybody ever had the same problem? Any suggestions? I'm losing money, and my mind. :confused:
#adsense #situation #weird
  • Profile picture of the author carolrt
    I know there is a different TOS for search boxes than
    ad units. Don't know about link units.

    But link units are not ads, so perhaps there is indeed
    a different TOS as well. TOS meaning that the landing
    page does not need "content," or to follow other
    ad unit rules.

    Carol
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  • Profile picture of the author Janet Walker
    You would normally get an e-mail saying that they stopped serving ads to the site.
    Even if the link units are showing you can forget about adsense to that site.
    Even if some money shows up for the link units you will not get paid the following month.
    Link units do not count as the other ads where as you can only have 3 ads plus a link unit.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Actually, you can have 3 ad units.

      Not sure what you are reading. Nothing personal,
      but you prove my case when I say people just
      don't read google TOS.

      Links count as anything else, but you do not
      get paid for a click on a link. You get paid for a
      click on a link that shows in the page AFTER you
      click on a link unit.

      Search boxes are the same way. The above
      person is correct. Search boxes and link units
      are not ads. You can put a search box almost
      anywhere. Two per page, actually. That's
      why they don't have the same TOS. They
      are not served ads. If a page has been banned
      for adsense, you may get money for any revenue
      generated from a search box or link unit that
      shows up on it. The money is not generated via
      a click on your site, but a click on a google page.

      But I can't say for sure with the link units.
      Somewhat sure on the search box. I have yet
      to find anything that says much about the TOS of
      a link unit other than generalities. But those
      generalities do not apply to search boxes, so...

      Paul
      Signature

      If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author juelz23
    Thanks guys, I appreciate it. It's weird, because I had adsense on this site for months with absolutely no problems. I made sure it follows all TOS and such. Is there anything I can do at this point?
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  • Profile picture of the author juelz23
    I have spoken to a few of the "Top Contributors" over at the Adsense forum. They have all told me that this is definitely not a ban or anything like that, since link units are still appearing. They said it is certainly a specific word on my site that is being picked up as a partial stop word. I checked that word on the Google Adsense Sandbox tool, and they are correct; when typing that keyword, no ads are shown.

    What's ridiculous is that the keyword is in the educational niche (no, not sex education). I can't even begin to understand how the keyword is a partial stop word. I thought stop words were meant to stop ads from showing on innapropriate sites.

    What's even more frustrating/weird is that it took Google 5 months to decide that my site had a partial stop word on it, and to stop serving ads? Anybody have any suggestions? I'd even be willing to share my site URL through PM with some of the more reputable members around here.
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  • Profile picture of the author GeeWhiz1
    Maybe adsense can't find any related ads to show for your particular site? Maybe advertisers have also back listed your website from their adword campaigns?
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    • Profile picture of the author juelz23
      Originally Posted by GeeWhiz1 View Post

      Maybe adsense can't find any related ads to show for your particular site? Maybe advertisers have also back listed your website from their adword campaigns?
      Very unlikely IMO. I could understand one advertiser blacklisting my site, but there are so many advertisers in this niche. My ads have all gone completely blank. But my competitors still have ads on their site.

      I just got another click on one of the ads that isn't even THERE. So obviously, some visitors to my site are seeing the ads, but it looks like the majority are not.
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