Publishers may want to experiment with a variety of ad placements. Explore Adsense ad placement policies below.
Avoiding accidental clicks
Encouraging accidental clicks
Unnatural attention to ads
Placing ads under a misleading heading
Aligning images with ads
Formatting content to mimic ads
Offering compensation
Distance between ads and Flash games
Ensuring proper ad placement
Auto-refreshing ads
Ads in private communications
Ads on emails
Ads in a software application
Ads in a new window
Ads in pop-up and pop-under windows
Ads on a site with pop-ups or pop-unders
Ads on content that we cannot evaluate
Ads on the same page or site as another publisher
Ads on a hosted site (e.g., Blogger)
Avoiding accidental clicks
Encouraging accidental clicks
Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google ads in any way. This includes implementing the ads in a way that they might be mistaken for other site content, such as a menu, navigation, or download links.
Be careful when placing links, play buttons, download buttons, navigation buttons (e.g., “Previous" or “Next"), game windows, video players, drop-down menus, or applications near ads because they might lead to accidental clicks. Even if the layout unintentionally leads to accidental clicks, publishers may still receive a violation notification.
Encouraging accidental clicks | AdSense Program Policies
Unnatural attention to ads
Publishers are not permitted to bring unnecessary or unnatural attention to their Google ads. Examples of this include:
- flashy animations that draw a user’s eyes to the ads
- arrows or other symbols pointing to the ads
Unnatural attention to ads | AdSense Program Policies
Placing ads under a misleading header
It's important that visitors to your site are not misled in any way and are able to easily distinguish content from Google Display ads. This policy prohibits placing ads under misleading headings such as "resources" or "helpful links". Publishers may only label Google ads with either "Advertisements" or "Sponsored Links".
Additionally, as shown below, a site's heading might be interpreted as an inappropriate ad label. Because ads in such a position might be mistaken for links or listings instead of advertisements, such an implementation is considered unacceptable. Monitor your site and its layout carefully to ensure this doesn't happen.
Publishers are not allowed to use language to lead users to click the ads, such as:
- "Feel free to click an ad."
- "Contribute to the cause by clicking an ad."
- "Help keep this site running. Check out our sponsors!"
- "We need a new server. Support us!"
Aligning images with ads
Publishers may not attempt to associate specific images with the individual ads appearing on their sites. Such an implementation might confuse users who assume that the image is directly related to the advertiser's offerings and therefore is a violation of our policies.
Formatting content to mimic ads
Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that disguises the ads in any way. This includes formatting neighboring content to look similar to the ads. If a publisher places ads on non-Google search results pages, there must be a clear distinction between search results and ads. Review our AdSense for search policies for more information.
In the example below, the content is formatted very similarly to the ads and it's difficult to tell them apart. This implementation is not permitted.
Offering compensation
Offering compensation or any incentive for clicks on ads is strictly prohibited.
Distance between ads and Flash games
When placing Google ads on Flash gaming sites, we strongly recommend a distance of at least 150 pixels between the ads and the edge of a game. When users are concentrating on a Flash game and clicking frantically, invalid clicks are likely to occur. Since each game and site is unique, some games might require a greater distance based on the type of game and how it is played. For more guidelines, review AdSense for content ads on game play pages.
Ensuring proper ad placement
Auto-refreshing ads
Publishers are not permitted to refresh a page or an element of a page without the user requesting a refresh. This includes placing ads on pages or in placements that auto-redirect or auto-refresh. Additionally, publishers may not display the ads for a preset time (i.e., pre-roll) before users can view content such as videos, games, or downloads.
Auto refreshing ads | AdSense Program Policies
Ads in private communications
Publishers may not place Google ads on screens where private communication between people is the primary focus. Examples of private communication include direct messages, live chats, video-chats, private chatrooms, etc.
Ads on emails
To ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for both our publishers and advertisers, publishers may not place Google ads inside email messages. In addition, publishers may not place Google ads alongside email messages when they are the primary focus of the page.
Ads in a software application
Publishers are not permitted to distribute Google ads or AdSense for search boxes through software applications including, but not limited to toolbars, browser extensions, and desktop applications. AdSense code may only be implemented on web-based pages and approved WebView technologies.
Ads in a new window
Publishers are not permitted to open Google ads in a new window or alter the result of clicking on an ad. For more information, review Opening the ads in a new window. Please note that this policy does not apply for AdSense ads served via dynamic allocation through Google Ad Manager.
Ads in pop-up and pop-under windows
Publishers are not permitted to place Google ads in any window that is not initiated by an intentional user interaction (e.g., click). Additionally, Google ads may not be placed in any web browser window that lacks navigational controls, including back and forward browse buttons, and an editable URL field.
Ads on a site with pop-ups or pop-unders
Publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on sites which have more than three pop-ups. If pop-ups are displayed on a site, they may not interfere with site navigation, change user preferences, initiate downloads, or distribute viruses.
Publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on sites that contain or trigger pop-unders.
Additionally, sites using AdSense may not be loaded by any software that triggers pop-ups, modifies browser settings, redirects users to unwanted sites, or otherwise interferes with normal site navigation. It is your responsibility to ensure that no ad network or affiliates use such methods to direct traffic to pages that contain your AdSense code.
Ads on content that we cannot evaluate
In order to protect the quality of our ad network, we may disable ad serving on content that cannot be evaluated. This includes but is not limited to content whose robots.txt file blocks Google’s crawling and password-protected content where the publisher has not provided login credentials to Google.
Ads on the same page or site as another publisher
If a site is in compliance with our Program policies and the company or owner of the site has given you permission to display ads on their site, you may place your ad code on the same page as the other publisher's ad code. You will, however, need to contact your web hosting company or the owner of the site to obtain permission to display ads on their site. Additionally, you will only be credited for clicks and impressions on the ad units associated with your account.
Keep in mind that every publisher is responsible for the content of a site on which their ad code is placed. If a site is found in violation of our policies, we will notify any publisher(s) whose ad code is on the site.
Ads on a hosted site (e.g., Blogger)
You are welcome to place the AdSense code on any page which complies with our Program policies, including hosted sites. However, note that in order to use AdSense, you might need to have access to your site's HTML source code. It is also your responsibility to check with your host and determine if using AdSense is a violation of their terms of service.
