Good questions: I am interested in the answers or any help too!! I bought CTR and read peeps getting banned by Google....truth or fiction?

Thnx

Tom

Very interesting.. i was planning on using the CTR theme on my new niche. I hope this is not true.

I've never heard anything like this. Wat?

Here is the post on the thread where you can buy the CTR Theme here on WF



"Originally Posted by PPCJunky
I just got a message from adsense saying I'm violating their terms using CTR theme

VIOLATION(S) FOUND:

FORMAT MIMICKING: Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that disguises the ads in any way. For instance, publishers may not format
neighboring content to look similar to the ads, or make ads look like games or forum posts. More information about this policy can be found in our help center"



I have not used the theme yet --- and was wondering if there is any truth to his statement.....
I also see Eppie responded to this -- go read and see if it makes sense

I honestly do not know at this time

There's definitely no CTR Theme penalty by Google in the SERPs. My sites are still ranking #1 for a bunch of terms. Remember that correlation does not imply causation -- just because CTR Theme is the theme used on a site that gets a penalty, doesn't mean the penalty is because the site is using CTR Theme. It's WAY more likely that somebody got whacked for their link-building approach and decided to blame the theme instead.

As for the format mimicking issue, a text divider between the ad block and menu items should be more than sufficient to solve this problem. Just label your menu (or recent posts widget) as a menu (or "Important Information" or anything else you'd like and you should be fine). If you're really uptight about it, use the custom CSS option to change the color of your sidebar links. The theme will let you be as aggressive (or safe) as you'd like to be in optimizing your AdSense.

I'm just wondering, when google bans a site, do they give a warning first or do they just ban the site without any prior warning? Does anyone know this? Someone who got banned before can you let us know?

I'm agree with clickstrength... I've been using CTR theme for most of my sites without any problem. As for mesmerist, they do not give you warning. They ban you straight away! =(

I don't believe this is against the TOS. It's certainly aggressive, but the folks at adsenseflippers.com have spoken specifically about this with a Google rep and were told it was fine. You can't encourage clicking on the ads, so you're title can't be "Hey, click on these links down here" but A normal title should be fine.

And I've had no problems using CTR theme, but I do have the word Pages between the side bar ads and the page navigation. And I don't use any link units, FWIW.

I am using adsense pro ultimate and all my sites are working perfectly fine, still ranking well in google search terms...

I use CTR theme and running all WP sites without any problems. Recently pad update was happened. That can be a reason for some web masters.

Get the clickbump theme
no badmouthing by webmasters and good CTR with this theme
not free but worth the price

I've implemented CTR theme across all of my AdSense sites POST Panda.

And my average CTR across all sites went from 8% to about 13%. The theme has been installed on all of them for about a month.

I'd highly recommend the theme, and put the violation above down to somebody getting a little too comfortable in encouraging users to click ads.

I've always made AdSense ads blend with site design colours and never had an issue. My ads and articles are coloured the exact same and there has always been no dramas. Touch wood.

Aaron.

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The theme has nothing to do with the quality of the site
if google is closing accounts because of quality its not because they used a certain theme, its because of content

google has been recently been blocking accounts with adsense on service sites(as opposed to content ones!)

heatmap theme is quite good for the best ctr

We've been using CTR Theme and haven't had any problems with the theme, specifically. Any problems we've experienced we don't believe are theme related at all.

I would say, though, that the previous theme we were using was performing better than CTR Theme, even though I LIKE the look of CTR Theme much better. (Even more than the Clickbump theme...and we own both!)

I think John (XFactor) had mentioned something about having the ads right below the title and setting a dividing line and people ran with it saying it's "not allowed"...although I'm not sure that was his intention...I think he just meant that it's safer. It's PARTICULARLY safer if your titles are something like "Best Deals, Click Here" as that would be going to far and encouraging clicks on the ads, I think.

Either way, the AdSense rep that reviewed our sites didn't have any problems with placement of ads below the title. She'd also mentioned you can either wrap the text or don't wrap...not wrapping is a bit more aggressive, but both are ok. Still...remember that's from the AdSense team...not the search quality team...totally different departments with different goals.
- Justin

I guess CTR is getting targetted, just like sites that used Blue Sense theme.

Let's look at this with the eye of an investigator.

If you are using a theme which is intentionally created for higher Adsense CTR it is unlikely to cause your site to be banned, but it may be likely to get your site reviewed. First, it would depend on whether your site is even announcing which theme it is using...

If I were on an investigative path to reduce Adsense abuse and to find sites which were violating the terms of service I'll guarantee one of my first search criteria would be to look for sites using "optimized for Adsense" themes. This would not mean the site gets penalized for use of the theme, it just gets scrutinized sooner and closer.

It is kind of like watching drivers leaving a bar to see if they are drunk....the odds are higher, so you watch closer. 95% of the people walking out the door are fine, but those 5% who are over the limit are going to get nailed, and then will probably scream "entrapment"....or was that "it's the theme's fault"...

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Looks like Eppie's wso thread for ctr theme has been locked?

last i heard eppie sold the ctr theme. I still think CTR theme works. It is just some of the adsense layouts may be far to aggressive. Lining up two 336x280s side by side or underneath each other may be too much. But there are other options with this theme which can make it worth your wild

I am afraid it's a case of trail and error, some themes work better with others, and some jus depend on the mindset of the visitor and the ad they see at that particular time

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I would suggest to use magnum ctr theme.... it works best for me

I think using CTR theme will potentially violate TOS of google adsense..It's clear..Because this theme have adsense code too blend with site's content..

Google have told us "Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that disguises the ads in any way"..That's way many people get their adsense account banned/disable..

And in my opinion..using CTR theme has nothing to do with google banned(google ban your domain/site from search result)..Just share my opinion..

This may sound like a stupid question but there is something i don't really understand in CTR Theme

How come it allows us to display 4 sets of adsense ads on the same page? Aren't we allowed 3?

(i mean the 728 x 15 ad links should be considered as an ad, no?)

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It is not like that. Google is not concern about which theme you are using, it concerns about whether you are following their TOS or not....

may put too much advertising?