The Matthias Chronicles: The real meaning of Google's AdSense policies

In my previous article, Daniel left the following comment which I will answer here:

"I have also found several pages through google that suggest that Google will ban any site involved in any program that promotes traffic" (from my previous post)

You may have to clarify this for me. So once you add adsene to your blog you can in no way use any service to promote traffic to your site? I noticed you also have a entrecard and blogrush widget on your blog, aren't these tools specifically designed to exchange traffic in order to gain more credits/impressions? Not to mention google or any other type of directory or search engine. Am i missing something here?

Thank you Daniel for asking a very good question. In answering this question, I will dissect Google's AdSense policies. As I said in my last post, the devil is in the details, and Google has buried them well. Lets start with the obvious, Google's ATC. This is pretty much your standard terms of service or terms of usage... or is it?

Right off the bat, in section 1, the ATC refers to the APP. How many people have really clicked on this link and read it in its entirety? I'm willing to bet not many. None-the-less, section one has the following gotcha:

If, however, You subsequently use your Account to participate in the Program (i.e. for the purpose of displaying Ads, Links, Search Results and/or Referral Buttons on a Property), then such use of the Program will be governed by the terms of this Agreement.

This block will become more prominent as we proceed, for now though it looks like any other terms of service (TOS). On to the second gotcha (still in section 1):

You must have and abide by an appropriate privacy policy that clearly discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users' browser, or using web beacons to collect information, in the course of ads being served on your web site. Your privacy policy should also include information about user options for cookie management.

I can't begin to count the number of sites that I visit each day with AdSense that do not have this. Section 2, first bullet has an interesting item:

Google will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide You with corresponding Search Results and/or Ads, as applicable and as available.

Why is this interesting? Its interesting because Google never defines HOW it commercially uses this information. The assumption is to conduct the requested search. When did doing a search become a commercial transaction? This opens the door for a wide range of possibilities, including charging visitors to your web page for the "service" of searching Google's indexes. From Section 2, second bullet:

You acknowledge and agree that Ads and/or Links: (i) shall only be displayed in connection with the Property(ies), each of which is subject to review and approval by Google in its discretion at any time; and (ii) shall be subject to the placement guidelines set forth herein.

This is interesting... The AdSense user must accept that Google has total say on where the "Ad Units" are placed. So, it says that if I have Adsense, I must accept where Google says I can place their ads on my page. Doesn't sound too bad... but we'll see. On to Section 2, fourth bullet. This has a link to the AFV policies... How many AdSense members actually read these? Back to the paragraph under scrutiny:

You acknowledge and agree that the Ads will be displayed on the Property in a video format approved by Google, and that such Ads: (i) shall only be displayed in connection with the Property(ies) and non-advertisement video content (collectively "Video Media"), all of which is subject to review and approval by Google in its discretion at any time; and (ii) shall only be requested in connection with end user initiated Video Media.

There are a couple of sticky wickets here. First, if video advertising is used, Google decides where the content is worthy and its at Google's sole discretion. Hmmm... so if I bust my @$$ making a video and Google doesn't like it, what happens? Oddly, there is no mention of that. Perhaps, that will be disclosed later on. Second, what happens if the video automatically plays (read the AFV) and you visit your page to make sure your latest updates work properly? Wouldn't that be considered in the same context as clicking on an ad? No mention of that either. Section 3 is interesting...

You agree to direct to Google, and not to any advertiser, any communication regarding any Ad(s) or Link(s) displayed in connection with Your Property(ies).

What happens if an advertiser contacts you? I have had this happen several times where an advertiser has a question specific to my page. Section 5 looks real intriguing:

You shall not, and shall not authorize or encourage any third party to ... through any automated, deceptive, fraudulent or other invalid means, including but not limited to

I wonder if the owners of Google are related to Moses... Not limited to what Google has already mentioned? What's left?

This is a shot in the foot right out of the box. There are countless web hosts that use caching to maximize bandwidth... Ah, now we're getting to the meat:

engage in any action or practice that reflects poorly on Google or otherwise disparages or devalues Google's reputation or goodwill. You acknowledge that any attempted participation or violation of any of the foregoing is a material breach of this Agreement

So calling AdSense over inflated or saying Google is monopolizing the search engine market is not allowed... So much for free speech. Which leads us to Section 6:

Google may investigate any activity that may violate this Agreement. Google may at any time, in its sole discretion, terminate all or part of the Program, terminate this Agreement, or suspend or terminate the participation of any Property in all or part of the Program for any reason. In addition, Google reserves the right to terminate without notice any account that has not generated a sufficient number of valid clicks on Ads or Referral Buttons or valid impressions of Ads (in each case as measured by Google) for a period of two (2) months or more.

So Google can whack an account at any time at their sole discretion if they believe you have violated their APP or if a web page doesn't get enough traffic, based upon their tracking, of course. Whose to say that a given site has actually violated the APP, after all, Section 7 (the infamous non-disclosures part) states that Google does not disclose any information about the violation (including, but not limited to, how or where (IP address) the situation originated from).

If you haven't read the rest of the APP, you should. I have enough information at this point though to be able to answer Daniel's question. If you haven't read my last article where I answer part of Daniel's question in the comments, now would be a good time to do so as it addresses the issue of traffic exchanges briefly. Google's AHC makes it clear that they advise against any traffic exchange as as they may also result in similar invalid activity (third paragraph).

Now I can actually begin to answer Daniel's question. Google doesn't seem to have a problem with anything they own. It only becomes an issue if they aren't profiting from the exchange. Any site that allows a link that a visitor can click on can be construed as a traffic exchange, even if the link is in content of the discussion. Since Google has no legal obligation to actually prove its allegations against a site, how can a potential AdSense member challenge their accusations. All social bookmarking sites allow their visitors to post links that are contextual to the discussion. Digg shows a brief description of an article, thus encouraging(a violation of Google's APP) the visitor to click the link to read further as do several other sites.

So to specifically answer Daniel, correct, you can in no way use a traffic exchange (based upon Google's definition) without the risk of having your AdSense account terminated (remember the first gotcha) at their sole discretion unless the exchange is sanctioned by Google (principally their own products). I have already found posts that question whether EntreCard and other similar exchanges are at risk of being victimized by Google's tyrannical policies. Its quite easy for Google to ban anyone since there is no way to challenge their accusations and Google doesn't have to prove that their actions are actually valid.

You're right those terms are pretty vague. Overall though, BlogCatalog is no more a traffic exchange site than google itself is. We index, categorize and rank blogs and make them searchable. Our members visit each others blogs because they are interested in the content, not to gain credits or points such as sites like Entrecard or straight up traffic exchange sites.

After spending the time I have at BlogCatalog, I am in agreeance. The biggest problem I find with Google is there is no third party arbitration. If that existed, then Google's terms would be like any other company on the internet.

The traffic exchange world in not going away no matter how much Google or the AdSense zealots want it to, so it becomes a choice or strategy in market planning. Use the traffic exchanges to build a base, then switch over to AdSense, or use advertising that is not as restrictive along side the traffic exchanges.