Tag Archives: AdSense

Matched content: designed to engage your users and increase visitor duration

Last year we launched Matched content to help publishers promote their own content to readers. Since then, we’ve run some experiments and found that when a publisher used Matched content, readers tended to consume more content and spend more time on sites, resulting in a corresponding revenue increase.

If that’s not enough to convince you, take a look at the results from our experiment:


  • Number of pages viewed increased by 9% on average
  • Time spent on site increased by 10% on average


Matched content is available for sites with multiple pages and high volumes of traffic. Have a look at the site management settings in your AdSense account to see if your site(s) is eligible to run Matched content.

Make the most out of your Matched content units with these best practices:
  • Let Google help you find the right size by using responsive Matched content units. 
  • Place your Matched content unit directly below the article and either above or below your ad unit
  • Consider using Matched content on long scrolling pages


We'd love to hear your thoughts about this new feature in the comments section below this post and be sure to follow us on G+ and Twitter. 


Posted by: Vasyl Pihur, AdSense Data Scientist

* These suggestions are designed to help you optimize your pages and are not meant to guarantee any specific results. And, just as a reminder, you are responsible for the content and layout of your site. 

Source: Inside AdSense


Meet AdSense’s next generation ads: Page-level ads

Today, we’re excited to introduce AdSense’s next generation ads. Page-level ads is a family of ad formats that offer a new and innovative way to help you earn money from your mobile content.

With Page-level ads, you place the same ad code once on each page that you want to show ads. They’re designed to show automatically at the right time and in the right format -  potentially increasing your earnings without interfering with your users’ mobile experience.

The benefits of Page-level ads include:


  • Optimized ads that show when they’re likely to perform well and provide a good user experience.

  • One-time set-up that only requires you to place the Page-level ad code once on each page you’d like the ads shown. 

  • Ability to adjust the settings in your account and to enable new ad formats without having to change the code on your site.

  • Additional ads on your site that don’t count towards your AdSense per page ad limit.


Watch the video below for a quick view of Page-level ads:


Currently, the Page-level ads family includes the anchor/overlay and vignette ad formats. More ad formats will be available soon.

Learn more about the Page-level ads in the AdSense Help Center. Get started with Page-level ads today and let us know what you think in the comments below.


Posted by Matthew Conroy, AdSense Product Manager

Source: Inside AdSense


Tips for writing a successful invalid traffic appeal

In a previous publisher blog post, we discussed tips for writing a successful policy appeal. In today's topic, we’re exploring what happens when publisher accounts are disabled due to invalid traffic, when to submit an appeal, and tips for making those appeals successful.

Invalid traffic includes any clicks or impressions that may artificially inflate an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings. Invalid traffic covers intentionally fraudulent traffic as well as accidental clicks.

In the ads ecosystem, advertisers rely on the relevance of our ad placement and the quality of the interaction their ads receive. Publishers in turn count on advertiser participation that contributes to the success of their apps and business. Without this trust, the Google advertising network could not exist. Google treats invalid traffic very seriously, analyzing all clicks and impressions to determine whether they fit a pattern of use that might artificially drive up an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings. If we determine that an account might pose a risk to our advertisers, we may take actions against the account, such as suspending or disabling it, in order to protect our advertisers' interests.

Before we continue, let's clarify the difference between an account suspension and an account disablement.

If your account was suspended due to invalid traffic, ad-serving has been turned off for a fixed period (typically 30 days). While suspensions are not currently appealable, if you would like to provide additional feedback to help us improve our processes and communications, you may do so using our suspended publisher feedback form. If there are no further compliance issues with your account, it will be automatically unsuspended after the fixed period. For more information about account suspensions, please visit our AdSense Help Center (or AdMob Help Center).

If your account was disabled due to invalid traffic, your account is no longer serving ads, and you will be unable to monetize with any Google ad solutions. You're eligible to file an invalid activity appeal, but please be aware that that filing an appeal does not guarantee reinstatement. For more information about account disablements, please visit our Help Center.

If you would like to file an invalid traffic appeal for account reinstatement, please first review the AdSense program policies and top reasons for account closure. These policies and reasons apply to all Google ad solution products, including but not limited to AdMob and YouTube.

Here are some tips that you may find useful in writing your appeal:


  1. Review the top reasons for account closure. Think about if any of these reasons applied to you and your content. Did your friends click on your ads too many times? Did you purchase traffic that led to a surge of invalid activity? Can you make content and/or behavioral changes to prevent the activity from happening again?
  2. Review ad implementations on your desktop site, mobile site, and/or mobile app. Think about what your typical user journey would be, and see if the ad implementations may cause users to accidentally click on your ads.
  3. In the appeal form, provide the e-mail address that is associated with your disabled AdSense account. This will help locate your account and reduce delays in appeal processing time.
  4. Tell us what changes you’ll make for the future. Once again, carefully consider the top reasons for account closure. What systems or behaviors have you put in place to ensure this won't happen again? For example, tell us how you've adjusted your ad implementations, evaluated your traffic sources, hired testers to properly test your content, etc. We will appreciate your honesty in the appeal.


Publishers are a vital part of the online ads ecosystem, and we want to see you succeed while keeping your users happy and engaged. Everyone in the digital ecosystem benefits when publishers provide engaging content and useful resources, which in turn incentivizes advertisers to bid for space on your content. We hope that these resources can provide some guidance.

Posted by Danielle Chang of the AdSense Ad Traffic Quality Team

Source: Inside AdSense


[New Resource] Download the AdSense Guide to Audience Engagement


Research shows that “29% of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site or app if it doesn’t satisfy their needs.”

In a world where people are making split decisions about what to consume, it’s increasingly challenging but critical for publishers to figure out how to effectively engage their audiences on their sites. To help lay the foundation to a winning engagement strategy, we’ve created the AdSense Guide to Audience Engagement.

This guide help you drive toward your goals for growing your site – from defining your brand voice to tips to make your site’s content easy to consume. Don’t waste another moment developing web pages that leave you with little opportunity to engage with your audience. Download the AdSense Guide to Audience Engagement here.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

  • How to help your audience become familiar with your brand
  • Best practices to design delightful user journeys
  • How to develop content that resonates with your audience
  • Ways to make your content easy to consume
  • Why you should share the love with other sites by referring to good sources



Check out the guide and share your feedback with us on Google+ and Twitter using #AdSenseGuide. We’d love to hear what you think. 




Posted by Jay Castro
Content Marketing

Source: Inside AdSense


More defenses roll out to thwart Clickjacking

At Google we defend our ad systems from fraud using technology in a variety of ways. Often our investment in these defenses goes beyond protecting against only known threats. Our engineering and operations teams are continually working to identify new and emerging threats.  Once a new ad fraud threat is found, we move quickly to defend our systems against it using a combination of technology, operations, and policy.

Recently we identified “Clickjacking” (aka UI Redress) as an emerging threat to cost-per-click display ads, and we’ve rolled out new defenses to protect advertisers against this threat. Clickjacking is a type of web attack where the appearance of a website is changed so that a victim does not realize they are taking an important action, in this case clicking on one or more ads. For example, a user may intend to click on a video play button or menu item, but instead clicks an invisible ad unit.

Figure 1: An example of a clickable ad hidden behind a video playback button.

Moving quickly to thwart Clickjacking attempts
Earlier this year when our operations team identified Clickjacking activity on our display network, they moved swiftly to terminate accounts, removing entities involved in or attempting to use this technique to trick users. Our engineering team worked in parallel to quickly release a filter to automatically exclude this type of invalid traffic across display ads.

This approach delivered a one-two punch to publishers who violated our policies: our operations team, which forms an early line of defense against invalid traffic, cleaned out publishers from our ad systems, while engineers built a new filter as a durable defense to protect against Clickjacking traffic.

Figure 2: An example of mouse-tracking, which leads to a page with lots of ads being opened regardless of where a user clicks.

Even as there are ongoing attempts to perpetrate this type of attack, our ongoing and proactive hunt for emerging types of invalid traffic has enabled us to move early and quickly to address Clickjacking threats on several occasions.


A combination of defenses
Our Clickjacking defenses operate at considerable scale, analyzing display ad placements across mobile and desktop platforms, evaluating a variety of characteristics. When our system detects a Clickjacking attempt, we zero-in on the traffic attributed to that placement, and remove it from upcoming payment reports to ensure that advertisers are not charged for those clicks.

This latest effort also is a great example of how our work against invalid traffic is at the intersection of technology, operations, and policy.  Each piece plays a key role in keeping our ad systems clean and defended against ad fraud.

Equally important, our efforts also promote a level playing field for good publishers on our ad systems.  And while our Ad Traffic Quality team works hard to keep our ad systems clean, we also rely on publishers to do their part in contributing to a healthy ads ecosystem.


Best practices for publishers
Publishers play a crucial role in delivering a good ads experience.  We’ve included some relevant best practices below to remind publishers of ways that they can improve the ads experience on their web properties.

  • Double and triple-check implementations to verify that your sites contain no programming errors, conform to AdSense policies, and display correctly across different browsers and platforms.
  • For mobile devices, plan your layout carefully to accommodate limited screen real estate.
  • Avoid placing ads close to other clickable content to prevent accidental clicks. For more guidance on how to implement banner ads see our best practices video.
  • Monitor analytics often to spot traffic anomalies. For example, setting up Analytics alerts can show if an unusual amount of traffic comes from a particular ad placement or site.
  • Lastly, if you find suspicious activity, please report it via the Invalid Clicks Contact Form.

We’re proud of our work to protect our ad systems against emerging threats like Clickjacking, and we’ll continue to be vigilant as we fight the good fight against ad fraud. 


Posted by: Andres Ferrate, Chief Advocate, Ad Traffic Quality


Source: Inside AdSense


AdSense now understands the Filipino language

Today, we’re excited to announce the addition of Filipino, a language spoken by millions in the Philippines and around the world, to the family of AdSense supported languages.

Publishers can now easily monetize the content they’re creating in Filipino with AdSense, and advertisers looking to connect with the growing online Filipino audience can now reach them with ads that are more relevant than ever before.


To start monetizing your Filipino content website with Google AdSense:
  1. Check the AdSense program policies and make sure your website is compliant.
  2. Sign up for an AdSense account
  3. Add the AdSense code to start displaying relevant ads to your users.
Maligayang pagbati mula sa AdSense!
Welcome to AdSense!



Posted by:


Emanuele Brandi (AdSense Lead, PSI) on behalf of the AdSense Internationalization Team

Source: Inside AdSense


Acting On Your Moments: Five ways to go from knowing your users’ moments to winning them

This is the third in our series of posts about micro- and macro-moments. In parts one and two we talked about how to think about these moments of intent and find out what they are for your audience. Today let's talk about what to do about it.

1) A good place to start is with a moments map. This is where you identify the set of moments you absolutely want to win or can't afford to lose. Examine all phases of the consumer journey for your business, and look for the moments when people want to find inspiration, learn about something you’re reporting, make a social statement, or anything in between.


Breaking news stories are an
example of moments you
can’t afford to lose


Suppose you have a news site and a user visits your review of a restaurant as they walk through town. They may just want to know if you gave it two or four stars… or they may want to know your reviewer's in-depth thoughts and recommendations for each course. How you deliver this information will make a big difference. (And remember, they're impatient!) 

2)  Next up: try to understand customer needs in the moment. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes for each moment you want to win. Ask yourself, “What would make this easier or faster? What content or features would be most helpful for this moment?” Again, ask yourself: Is your user looking for a quick moment or are they there for the long haul?

In a story or photo feature about fashion, for instance, you could add a widget showing locations of the stores that sell each dress or pair of shoes you feature, or video of the fashion shows where they were revealed.

3)  Third, make sure you use context to deliver the right experience. Contextual signals like location and time of day will help you deliver experiences and messages that feel tailor-made for the moment.

For example, if a soccer fan is having a micro-moment, they probably just want the top highlights and the final score from the match last night. This could be your spot for a social media update or a 30-second video. But if they're in a macro-moment, they'll want in-depth match analysis, team lineups and analysis of how the final score will affect the league. That's your moment for the long-form article or podcast.


What contextual signals can 
you gather from your users?


4)  Be sure to optimize across all aspects of the journey. People move seamlessly across screens and channels. Does your brand deliver seamlessly in return? Don’t let competing internal objectives or departmental silos stand in the way; anchor your action to the consumer and organize around their moments.

Ask: "Is our journey optimized for search?" How do consumers across all the different social channels interact with your sites? Are they optimized correctly?

5)  Now keep the momentum rolling: measure every moment that matters and iterate. Keep improving your content based on what you find; then measure and iterate again.

You can't afford to under-serve your customers while you deal with measurement gaps. Even if the return on investment (ROI) for certain moments may not be directly measurable (yet), train your team to use credible estimates to ensure nothing’s falling through the cracks. 

We’ll leave you with these questions:

  1. Are you ready for the moments ahead? 
  2. Can users consume your content (or a form of it) in the queue at Starbucks?
  3. How are you capitalizing on seasonal macro-moments like the Rugby World Cup or the upcoming Summer Olympic games?

If you take the time to think about your customers, find their micro- and macro-moments, and then fill their needs in those moments, you'll be well on your way. And in fact, you'll likely be getting a leg up on the competition.

Think with Google recently published a research study that takes a deep dive into micro-moments, it's a great follow up to this blog series. Download your copy today, and win the shift to mobile.

Posted By: Chris Jones, Audience Development Specialist


Are you on Twitter? Follow us for more insights and tips.



Source: Inside AdSense


From Micro to Macro: How to find your audience in all the moments that matter

In the last post we talked about the rise of micro-moments. But what about macro-moments?

According to this great response to micro-moments and our own interpretations, the three most important types of macro-moments are:

  • Affinity Moments, when fans act in unison in support of their favorite team or musician. 


  • Buddy Moments, when friends connect and bond everything they see, hear or read -- whether that's a live concert or a funny cat video on YouTube.




  • Deep Knowledge Moments, when someone wants to learn deeply about a topic (maybe political issues or financial news) so they can share that knowledge later.


In essence, micro-moments happen on the go and with intent, while macro-moments are more tribal or community-based. They're deep-dive media experiences that impact individuals in ways micro-moments can’t.

Publishers should remember that preferences and loyalty are shaped by both micro and macro moments. The brands that do the best job of addressing our needs in each moment will gain the greater share of our attention, and they'll be the publishers we start with next time. They will, in short, win.

Where to begin? 

Determining the right macro moment to target a user is no easy feat, but here are some Google tools that can help you discover what your audience is looking for, set your strategy and start taking action.

Google Trends 
What are the biggest events coming up this year? When do searches spike for football or flowers? The Google Trends tool uses real-time search data to help you gauge consumer search behaviors over time. Find out more »

YouTube Trends 
The world's largest video site has a lot of content and a lot of users. The YouTube Dashboard lets you track what's being viewed and shared all over. Compare trending videos by age, gender and location, and see what the world's watching. Find out more »

Google Consumer Surveys 
This fast and affordable market research tool lets you ask questions to Internet and mobile users on high-quality content around the Web. Users who answer the survey gain access to content or get credits they can use for music, apps and more. Google aggregates and analyzes their responses, so you can make more informed business decisions. Find out more »

Marketer's Almanac
From the Super Bowl kickoff to holiday gift giving, each year has trends and events that create huge opportunities to connect with consumers. The Google Marketer's Almanac offers data and insights for these key moments to help you get a jump on planning. Find out more »

And as always, some of your best insights can come from good old-fashioned methods like talking to and engaging with your audience.

Once you have the insights, it's time for action. We'll cover that in our next post.

Posted by:

Chris Jones
Global Audience Development Specialist

Source: Inside AdSense


Micro-Moments for Publishers: Reach your users in their moments of intent

For a long time, we've all heard that we're perched on the edge of a new golden age of digital, like divers on a cliff.

By now it seems clear that we have well and truly jumped off that edge and are swimming, frolicking (and sometimes drowning) in that futuristic sea of digital, connectivity, cams, drones, the Internet of Things… and especially mobile.

Today, we'd like to kick off a three-part blog series that will look at how publishers can do more frolicking and less failing in this digital sea. In particular, we'll look at what we call digital moments that matter, and the best ways for publishers to think about those moments. Part one today is Micro-Moments for Publishers, to be followed by From Micro to Macro and then part 3, Acting On Your Moments.

Where to start? In an age where people create and consume their very own newsrooms on a daily basis, expectations for content are growing higher and higher. Just a few examples:


So the publishing business has changed tremendously over the last two decades, but the big questions are still very much the same:
  • How do I reach the right audience?
  • How do I make sure I stand out?
  • How do I drive enough views and revenue to grow my business?

Today you have more choice than ever in how to approach these questions, thanks in large part to huge changes in mobile consumer behavior.

We don’t 'go online' 
anymore – we
live online

There's no such thing as sitting down for an “online session” anymore. Mobile is not just a hand-held device; it is a human and consumer behavior. It's why we no longer have those empty spaces in our day -- at the bus stop, in line at a store, or even at night in bed.


As a publisher, you don't always have to be there for those moments when users browse their friends' photos and status updates, or find out that they need to pick up milk on the way home from work. In fact, if you try to insert your content when people aren’t receptive, it can do more harm than good.

But certain moments really do matter for publishers: Moments when consumers turn to their phones to seek information or ideas. In those moments they have an intent: a need that can be met, a curiosity fulfilled, or a decision made.

These countless moments are full of intent signals that publishers can capitalize on. A "time for a new one" moment with a worn-out hairdryer can be satisfied with a product review. An "I can fix it" moment is perfect for do-it-yourself articles from publishers. (Over 100 million hours of “how-to” content have been watched on YouTube so far this year.) What about “I want to watch” moments? Can you give those users short and easy-to-watch content?


"How do I reach my audience?" "How do I make sure I stand out?" The answer lies in creating the content for these micro-moments. And in the next post, we'll talk about an opportunity that's similar and yet different: macro moments.

Want to learn more about micro-moments? Check out the Think with Google Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile.

Chris Jones
Global Audience Development Specialist


Source: Inside AdSense


AdSense Management API v1.2 & v1.3 are going away

AdSense Management API v1.2 and v1.3 have been marked as deprecated and will be sunset on August 17th 2016, after which all requests will begin to fail. Please migrate to v1.4 as soon as possible to ensure your API access is unaffected; be sure to check the release notes and migration guide for help while changing versions.

If you have any questions about this migration, please contact us via the forum.

Dean Lukies, AdSense API Team