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**MrNase** · Thu 5 Feb '04, 11:05pm

i made 50$$ a week but google kicked me after 8 days

**DavidKosiba** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 12:45am

Did they tell you why?

**pablo** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 1:16am

I have adsense, not making a whole lot of mulla but it does the job for the moment. Its better than most programs due to the relevant matching the do.

**MrNase** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 1:24am

Originally posted by DavidKosiba

Did they tell you why?

I deleted that mail but it was about the following:

It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on
the ads on your web pages.

**buro9** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 2:13am

I ran it for 3 months... it easily covered all my costs in that time... but then I also got the invalid clicks e-mail.

I removed their ads rather than be kicked.

But I have some rather nifty integration tips if anyone wants them:

Put the ads at the bottom of a thread... new post searches always jump to the end of the page not the top!

Exclude the ads from pages that are effectively search generated and a firm 'context' cannot be established... i.e. not on the homepage, memberlist or search page.

Choose not to serve their charity ads... I created a HTML page to store our own charity ads... which pleases our users.

Randomise the colours.

Google AdSense has an undocumented facility to pass in keywords to provide context where context is not yet determined... this means you can pass in the page or thread title to AdSense and you avoid charity ads if context can be determined from the keywords... i.e. before the spiders have arrived.

I used the following javascript... which contained my adsense code... and I included this in pages rather than the adsense code directly.

I've added comments to let you know what it does... try it

Code:

 //
 // Trim removes whitespace from the beginning and end of strings... it also lowercases the text
 //
 function trim(str) {
   return str ? str.replace(/(^\s+)|(\s+$)/g,"").toLowerCase() : "";
 }
 
 //
 // Strips HTML tags and special chars from a string... i.e. a &gt; in a thread title
 //
 function stripTags(strHTML){
   var strOutput = strHTML.replace(/\n/g, ".$!$.")
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/\&[a-zA-Z]{1,4};/g,"");
   var aScript = strOutput.split(/\/script>/i);
   for (var i = 0; i < aScript.length; i++) {
 	aScript[i] = aScript[i].replace(/\<script.+/i,"");
   }
   strOutput = aScript.join('');
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/\<[^\>]+\>/g, "")
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/\.\$\!\$\.\r\s*/g,"")
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/\.\$\!\$\./g,"")
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/\r\ \r/g,"");
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/>/g,"");
   strOutput = strOutput.replace(/  /g," ");
   return strOutput;
 }
 
 //
 // Fetches the title of the window as set in the <title> tag in the <head> of the html
 //
 var docTitle;
 if (document.title) {
   //
   // Note that I strip out irrelevant words... in my forum which is the Bowlie Forum, I strip out those words so as not to upset the keywords I create from the title
   //
   docTitle = document.title;docTitle = docTitle.replace(/Bowlie|Forum|-/g,"").toLowerCase();
 }
 
 //
 // I gave the HTML element that stores the breadcrumb info the ID="breadcrumb" so that I could get hold of it
 //
 // I then fetch the breacrumb info and strip the HTML from it
 //
 var breadcrumbText;
 if (document.getElementById) {
   var breadcrumb = document.getElementById("breadcrumb");
   if (breadcrumb) {
 	if (breadcrumb.innerText) {
 	  breadcrumbText = breadcrumb.innerText;
 	} else {
 	  breadcrumbText = breadcrumb.innerHTML;
 	}
 	breadcrumbText = stripTags(breadcrumbText);
   }
 }
 
 //
 // If we have the breadcrumb we use that, else we use the window title
 //
 var hintText = trim(breadcrumbText ? breadcrumbText : docTitle);
 
 //
 // window.google_hints is the undocumented method of passing in keywords for context... we populate it with the hintText... this is fine... google escapes it at their end
 //
 if (hintText) {
   window.google_hints = hintText;
   if (window.google_hints == "") {
 	window.google_hints = null;
   }
 }
 
 //
 // An array of URL's to NOT show adverts on
 //
 var adPages = new Array(
   'forumdisplay.php',
   'announcement.php',
   'showthread.php',
   'calendar.php',
   'donate.php',
   'misc.php',
   'memberlist.php',
   'vbstats.php',
   'member.php',
   'forum/f',
   'forum/t'
 );
 
 //
 // Determine if the page this script has been included on should show an advert
 //
 var returnAdvert = false;
 var pageString = new String();
 pageString = document.location.href;
 for (var ii = 0; ii < adPages.length; ii++) {
   if (pageString.indexOf(adPages[ii]) >= 0) {
 	returnAdvert = true;
 	break;
   }
 }
 
 //
 // If we are to return an advert... return it
 //
 if (returnAdvert == true) {
   //
   // Put your own google ad code here
   //
   var google_ad_client='pub-9576666925012421';
   var google_ad_width=728;
   var google_ad_height=90;
   var google_ad_format='728x90_as';
   var google_alternate_ad_url = "http://www.bowlie.com/charity/charity.html";
   var google_color_border = ["336699","000000","B4D0DC","A8DDA0","DDB7BA","B0E0E6","CCCCCC","DDAAAA"];
   var google_color_bg	 = ["FFFFFF","F0F0F0","ECF8FF","EBFFED","FFF5F6","FFFFFF","FFFFFF","ECF8FF"];
   var google_color_link   = ["0000FF","0000FF","0000CC","0000CC","0000CC","000000","000000","0033FF"];
   var google_color_url	= ["008000","008000","008000","008000","008000","336699","666666","0033FF"];
   var google_color_text   = ["000000","000000","6F6F6F","6F6F6F","6F6F6F","333333","333333","000000"];
   document.write('<scr'+'ipt type="text/javascr'+'ipt" language="JavaScr'+'ipt" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></scr'+'ipt>');
 }

In the end though... it's a temporary thing... you won't manage to stay on AdSense for long. They've been kicking users all over the place and prefer content sites to forums, which are more profitable... as advertisers want to appear on their competitors pages and not on forums.

I wonder how long it will be before Google recognise popular forum software URL's and refuses to handle them?

**Kathy** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 3:47am

Originally posted by DavidKosiba

Is anyone using AdSense on their forums? Is it making you money?
Ive read on some popular WebMaster forums that people are making 400 a week using Googles AdSense. I wish i could use AdSense but Google said no as my board is in Polish

And currently they dont support Polish websites.

Yes...I'm making more than you have indicated here....

I think the key to making money includes:

niche/content of your site. (Some content is more competitive within google adsense than others)

Keywords within the content

Traffic (lots of it so lots of meaningful click throughs)

Site language

Banner used and placement.

I'm sure there are more variables but I'm getting a large check from them each month. I love it.

**Floris** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 3:57am

I think most accounts that get kicked are users who their banners are clicked by themselves or their close friends on dailup, trying to get it kicked up. (result: kicked off).

Artificial clicking is lame, and I am glad that make a tight deak for this.

I do disagree that they decide to remove users who run a forum.
Who are they to decide which site content is allowed and not?
With that I mean: You apply, and they accept you or not, and not afterwards.

I have google adsense and it works just fine.

**noppid** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 4:32am

[sarcasm]
In the true spirit of vB I ratted you all out for discussing revenue.

LMAO
[/sarcasm]

**Shining Arcanine** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 4:37am

So has this worked in the long term for anyone? It sounds like an idea...

**TheEDIGuy** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 4:40am

Having been a member of Google AdSense for a short time (I'm making more money through another network, so I dropped it), I can say that I've read the contract *carefully*, and nowhere in it does it prohibit talking about total revenue. What you can't talk about is click-through rates or the revenue per click.

Every time I see discussion of Google AdSense, I see people jumping all over anyone who mentions a dollar figure, so I thought I'd mention what the contract actually states.

(I'm making these numbers up, for example purposes)

I could say, for example, that I make $1500 per month on Google AdSense. But I could not say that it was because I have a click-through rate of 0.68% and make an average of 90 cents per click. Those last 2 numbers are what GAS prohibits.

**noppid** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 4:48am

No, actually it says you may disclose revenue for tax purposes.

You can view your earnings at any time by logging in to your Google AdSense account at https://www.google.com/adsense and clicking the Reports tab. You'll be able to see the total number of page impressions, ad clicks, clickthrough rate, and your total earnings so you can get an idea of how well the program is performing for you and how much you can expect to earn over time in the program. Please note that these reports and the information contained in them are confidential. However, we do understand that you may have a need to report yearly or quarterly total earnings from Google AdSense for tax purposes.

**Raz Meister** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 5:13am

We only run Adsense on the showthread pages. It doesn't make sense to show them on any other.

**TheEDIGuy** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 11:23am

Specifically, here's the confidentiality clause in the contract:

Confidentiality. You agree not to disclose Google Confidential Information without Google's prior written consent. "Google Confidential Information" includes without limitation: (a) all Google software, technology, programming, technical specifications, materials, guidelines and documentation relating to the Program; (b) click-through rates or other statistics relating to Site performance in the Program provided to You by Google; and (c) any other information designated in writing by Google as "Confidential" or an equivalent designation. It does not include information that has become publicly known through no breach by You or Google, or information that has been (i) independently developed without access to Google Confidential Information, as evidenced in writing; (ii) rightfully received by You from a third party; or (iii) required to be disclosed by law or by a governmental authority. Nothing in this Agreement shall prohibit or limit either party's use or disclosure of the U.S. Federal income tax treatment and U.S. Federal income tax structure of any transaction contemplated by this Agreement and all materials of any kind (including opinions or other tax analyses) that are provided to it relating to such tax treatment or tax structure, except where confidentiality is necessary to comply with applicable federal or state securities laws.

**Surrix** · Fri 6 Feb '04, 12:07pm

You didn't read it too carefully. Look at clause c in the part you (TheEDIGuy) posted and then look back at the clause noppid posted. It defines your total revenue and confidential and in clause c if says anything Google declares as confidential is just that so in truth you cannot post your total revenue.

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Your Forums + Googles AdSense = $$$ ?

Your Forums + Googles AdSense = $$$ ?

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