Setting Up for AdSense

One misconception that I had when I wanted to start using AdSense was that
it would be difficult and time-consuming to set up. Boy, was I wrong! Setting
up the account doesn’t require your first born child or your signature in
blood. Setting up the account takes only a few minutes and a minimum of
information. But how you set up the account is determined by whether you
already have a Google account.
Having a Google account isn’t a requirement, but it can be useful. If you don’t
have a Google account, you’re missing out on other Google applications, like
Gmail (Google’s Web mail program), possibly AdWords (the other side of
AdSense; it’s a pay-per-click advertising program in which you only pay for
ads that users click), and Google Analytics (a Web site traffic measurement
program that tells you all kinds of cool information about who visits your site
and what they do while they’re there). A Google account makes connecting
all these applications considerably easier, too.
If you’re going to use AdSense, you most definitely want to have some kind of
Web site analytics program. A Web site analytics program tracks the number
of visitors to your site and some of their behaviors while they’re on your site.
You can use a program like AWStats or ClickTracks, but those programs are
nowhere near as easy to use as Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is free, and it integrates with AdWords and AdSense, so it
makes it easy to track your efforts in those programs. You may also want a
program that’s easy to understand and use. Google Analytics fits that bill,
too. And did I mention the program is free?
But I digress.
One reason that many people choose not to have a Google account is
because they don’t like the way that Google collects personal information.
People fear that because Google’s claim to fame is its ability to analyze the
heck out of online information, it’ll use its expertise to dredge up all the personal
information that it can about them. To some people it just feels far too
much like Big Brother is watching.
In my experience, however, Google hasn’t used my personal information for
anything more than what I want it used for. I have a Google account, multiple
Gmail accounts, a Google Analytics account, and accounts with Google
AdWords and AdSense (and a couple dozen other Google applications and
accounts that I won’t list here). Not once in the past decade has Google used
my information inappropriately. And I’m pretty careful about who I give my
information out to. If you’re still not convinced, Google has a pretty rigorous
Privacy policy in place to protect you. You can find that policy at www.
google.com/privacy.html.
If, after reading that document, you still don’t want to register with Google,
you can jump to the instructions for opening an AdSense account if you don’t
have a Google account. Otherwise, you can set up a Google account while
you’re setting up your AdSense account. And if you already have a Google
account, you’re one step ahead of everyone else.
One more note about setting up a Google AdSense account: Some experts
suggest that you should have an AdSense account that’s separate from your
other Google accounts. The purpose behind having them separate is so that
there are no repercussions should you accidentally end up in Google’s bad
graces with your AdSense efforts. I think that caution is unfounded.
Unless you plan to use your AdSense account in a manner that’s prohibited
by Google, you should run into no problems at all. And I find that it’s much
easier to have an AdSense account that’s as easy to access as all the other
Google applications that you use. One difficulty that I’ve discovered is the
frustration of not having your AdSense account connected to other accounts,
especially Google Analytics and AdWords.
You have to decide what you’re most comfortable doing: using your existing
Google account, creating a new Google account, or not using one at all. But
no matter what your preferences are, you can still get started with AdSense
(even if not effectively) as soon as you get the approval from Google.

Taking the Plunge

If you have a Google account that you want to use when you set up your
AdSense account, here are the steps for setting up the account:
1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at http://www.adsense.com.
2. Click the Sign Up Now button,
3. Fill in the requested information on the form that appears ) and then click the Submit Information button.
The information you’ll be requested to enter includes
• Your Web site URL: Google will check the site to ensure it’s appropriate
for ads to be displayed.
• Your Web site language: To ensure that AdSense is available to your
site visitors and that any ads placed are properly targeted to the
main language of your site.
• Type of account: Use this drop-down menu to select whether you’re
creating a personal account or a business account. (If the account
is for you, it’s personal, and if you plan to use it as part of a business
that you own, it’s a business account.)
• Country or territory: You do know where you live, don’t you?
• The payee name: This is the name under which you want your
payments issued. If you’re creating a personal account, it should
be your personal name. If you’re creating a business account, it’s
best to use the business name, but you can also use your personal
name if you prefer.
Payments are made electronically or by check, but you set that
information up after you’ve created your AdSense account, so for
now all you need to know is to whom and where payments should
be sent.
• Address and telephone number: Use the address where you would
like to have your payments sent, and be sure to include a working
telephone number in case the good people at AdSense need to contact
you concerning payments. You also need to select the I Agree
that I Can Receive Checks Made Out to the Payee Name I Have
Listed Above check box. This just ensures that you’re aware that
the name you have selected in the Payee Name portion of the form
is the name your checks will be made out to.
• Email preferences: If you want to receive the AdSense newsletter
and surveys about AdSense, place a check mark in the In Addition,
Send Me Periodic Newsletters with Tips and Best Practices and
Occasional Surveys To Help Google Improve AdSense check box.
• Who referred you: Use the drop-down menu provided to tell Google
how you heard about AdSense. This information is likely used to
help them effectively market the AdSense service.
• Agree to AdSense program policies: The last part of the form is
where you register your agreement or disagreement with the
AdSense program policies. Be sure to read these policies completely
(a link to them is provided on the form). If you don’t agree
to the program’s policies, you will not be approved for an AdSense
account. Two of the four check boxes on this list are the most
important points in the program policies. The third check box is
your agreement (if you agree) and the fourth check box is just confirmation
that you don’t already have an AdSense account. (You’re
only allowed to have one, so don’t try registering another because
it will be refused.) All four of these check boxes must be selected.
Don’t blow off the Policies section. You need to read the policies and
make sure you understand them because Google strictly requires that
publishers (AdSense users) adhere to these policies. Slip up, and Google
will strip your AdSense capabilities so fast you’ll wonder if there’s some
capability-stripping super power out there that you’ve never heard of.
4. In the new page that appears, confirm your payment information, and
then choose either the I Have an Email Address and Password (Google
Account) option or the I Do Not Use These Other Services option.
If you select the first option, you can jump right to the next section.
If you select the second option, a new form appears, .
5a. If you select the second option, choose a new e-mail address for the
account, designate and confirm a password for the account, and then
enter the verification word. When you’re finished, click Continue.
A Gmail account will be created for you, using the e-mail address you
select.
5b. If you choose the I Have an Email Address and Password (Google
Account) option, then you have to choose one of the other two options
on the page: I’d Like to Use My Existing Google Account for AdSense or
I’d Like to Choose a New Login Name and Password Just for AdSense.
If you choose to use your existing Google account for AdSense, a form
like the one appears. Enter your active e-mail
address and password and click Continue.
The other option you have is to set up a new login name and password
just for AdSense. If you select that option, a form like the appears. Create a new e-mail address for your username, add
a password (and confirm it), and then enter the verification word and
click Continue.
6. Wait.
First you have to wait for an e-mail confirmation from AdSense. That
should arrive in your e-mail Inbox within a matter of minutes.
After you’ve confirmed your e-mail address, you have to wait a little
longer for approval of your account. But don’t wait too long. Google
should only take a few days to approve or deny your application for an
AdSense account.
One question you may have is whether you really need a Gmail address to
complete the AdSense application. The answer is no. I can sing the praises of
Gmail — Google’s Web mail program. I’ve had an account since the program
was in beta testing, and it’s the best Web-based e-mail program you’ll find. But
it’s not necessary to have one. Any e-mail address will suffice. Just be sure it’s
an e-mail address that you have access to because that’s where Google sends
your communications from AdSense, and you must be able to access those
communications to verify your account.

Understanding Google’s Policies

If you’ve read anything at all online about AdSense, you’ve probably seen the
phrase “familiarize yourself with the AdSense Program Policies” at least as
many times as you’ve seen the moon. There’s good reason for that.
Google is very strict about AdSense users (publishers, in their jargon) following
the guidelines set forth in the AdSense Program Policies document. If you
don’t adhere to the program policies, Google reserves the right to disable
your AdSense account. And Google will — faster than you can say “What did
I do wrong?” They’re that serious about the guidelines because the appearance
of your site and your adherence to their guidelines determine how
people view the advertisements. Google wants to be in users’ good graces,
and your cooperation helps to accomplish that.
The program policies aren’t filled with quite as much legalese as you might
find in other policy documents, but you’ll encounter ten-dollar words like pursuant.
Here’s a quick list of what you’ll encounter in the policy document:
Legalese
Invalid clicks and impressions
Encouraging clicks
Site content
Copyrighted materials
Webmaster Guidelines
Site and ad behavior
Ad placement
Competitive ads and services
Product-specific policies
In the next few sections, I deal with each of these points in greater detail.
(Remember: This is just an overview. Read the document completely before
you agree to the policy requirements of the program.
Legalese
The document starts with an explanation of Google’s legal rights. Basically,
the Google lawyers are telling you that you need to be nicer and follow the
guidelines Google sets forth or Google can — and will, if it becomes necessary
— disable your AdSense account. The rub here is that after your
account is disabled, you’re just finished. You can’t use AdSense anymore.
(Yes, you could try to cheat fate by creating a new account, but if Google
finds out it’s you, they’ll just shut you down all over again.)
Invalid clicks and impressions
“Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest.”
That’s the first line of the most highly debated section of the program policies.
This section of the policy lays out the guidelines for what constitutes a
valid click. If you click your own ads, those clicks are invalid. If you program
(or purchase) some piece of software to click your ads, those clicks are
invalid. And these types of invalid clicks are click fraud. Click fraud is fraudulently
clicking your own or someone else’s ads with the intent of affecting
AdSense revenues or AdWords costs and is enough to get you banned from
AdSense completely, no questions asked — and please don’t re-apply.
A valid click or impression has these qualities:
It’s initiated by a real user to your Web site.
The actual click is performed by a real, live person.
The click is the result of genuine interest in the content of the advertisement
by the real, live person.
Any clicks that don’t meet these requirements can be (and usually are)
considered invalid clicks. Clicking your own ad even one time could get you
banned from AdSense. It’s not worth it.
You don’t have to say it. I hear your objection: How are you supposed to
know how the ads apply to your site if you can’t follow them? Or how will you
know how the ads will look or how they will integrate into your Web site?
Well . . . it’s half about trust and half about testing. Trying to view every
single ad that’s shown on your Web site probably isn’t prudent. Because ads
rotate constantly and each site visitor might see a different ad set — also
called an ad group or an ad block — you probably couldn’t view all the ads,
even if you wanted to.
Instead, AdSense has a testing capability — the AdSense preview tool. It’s a
small application you have to download and add to your computer’s registry,
which allows you to see what the ads look like and how they behave without
having to click your own ads.
Download the preview tool from the AdSense Help Center at https://www.
google.com/adsense/support/. In the Help Center, search for preview
tool. You should be taken to a search results page where the top result is a
link to the page from which you can download the preview tool. The directions
on the page walk you through downloading and installing the preview tool.
Here’s one catch: If you’re a Firefox user, the preview tool won’t be much
help. It only works with Internet Explorer. For the purposes of previewing
your AdSense ad blocks, it might be wise to keep Internet Explorer as a
backup browser. You don’t have to use it all the time — just when you want
to preview your AdSense ad blocks.
Encouraging clicks
The next section of the AdSense Program Policy document addresses the
kinds of things you shouldn’t pull in an attempt to encourage people to
click on your ads. I know this is a little negative, but it’s important that
you pay attention to these no-nos because ignoring them could have dire
consequences.
You can’t point out ads. You can’t pay people to click your ads. You also
can’t use any kind of misleading titling around the ads (for example, using
a Favorite Sites title when the ads really are just advertisements), and you
must be cautious about the graphics you include around ad blocks. If they’re
at all misleading and appear to be associated with the ads, that’s more fodder
for the banning machine.
In short, all you can really do to encourage ad unit clicks is to place the ads
in the best possible locations. Make them appealing with the design tools
that Google provides and then leave them alone. Much more than that and
you run the risk of landing on Google’s black list.
Site content
Here’s where the program policies begin to get interesting. Okay, not really.
There is rarely anything interesting about program policies. But a lot of meat
is in this section of the program policies, and you should pay close attention
to what’s here.
Google’s requirements for site content are basic: no violent content, no adult
content, nothing related to gambling, and nothing associated with any type of
illegal activities. But that’s not all. Google also frowns on Web sites that are
related to anything that could be construed as controversial — tobacco, alcohol,
prescription drugs, and weaponry of any kind. Google stops just short of
disallowing ads on political pages, though that might not be a bad idea.
Think of it this way: If you were Google, what would you not want your name
associated with? Just about anything you come up with will probably be on
the restricted list that Google’s created. Read the list closely. Google doesn’t
accept I didn’t know as a good excuse for violating the policies.
Copyrighted materials
This should really go without saying, but plagiarized content will ensure that
Google pulls your AdSense access. Copyright infringement is a serious crime;
one that’s more prevalent on the Internet than grains of sand on a beach.
Many people mistakenly believe that because articles and other content
on the Web are on the Web, they’re free for anyone to use. That’s not the
case, and Google is a bulldog in the copyright protection arena. The Google
crawler, which is the program that looks at your Web site to determine the
main topics, or keywords, that are relevant to the site, can determine if the
content on your page is original or if it appears in another place on the Web.
If it’s not original and you can’t prove you have permission to use it, you’ll
pay the price. So, be kind; use original content.
Take the time to read about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and
Google’s stance on that piece of legislation. The details are on the Web at
http://www.google.com/adsense_dmca.html. Not only will copyright infringement
and plagiarism get you banned from AdSense, but they can also get you
thrown in jail, so use original content. You not only protect your investment
in AdSense, but your Web site will probably rank better in search results, too,
because search engines — and site visitors — love fresh, original content.
Having fresh, original content would naturally make your site more popular.
Webmaster Guidelines
Google’s Webmaster Guidelines tell you everything you need to know about
what the company expects from the design of a Web site. The document is
pretty complicated, but it can be summed up in one word: simplicity.
Keep your Web site simple, easy to use, and relevant to your site visitors, and
you shouldn’t run into any problems with Google where site design is concerned.
Of course, it still doesn’t hurt to familiarize yourself with and follow
the Webmaster Guidelines. Read them here:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#quality
A more in-depth discussion of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines can be found
in topic . There’s even a bonus to using this set of guidelines — Google is
the search engine to rank in. Following these guidelines helps ensure that you
rank well in its search results.
Site and ad behavior
Need a few more guidelines for how your site should be designed? Not necessarily?
Well, tough because Google’s giving a few more anyway. In this section
of the program policies, Google outlines yet more no-nos. You can’t use
pop-ups or pop-unders in your site design. (Pop-ups are those annoying little
windows that pop up out of nowhere when you click a link leading to a Web
site or when you click away from the site. Pop-unders are the same except the
window appears under your Web browser so you don’t see them until you
close the browser window.)
You also can’t try to deceive your visitors into clicking through ads by disguising
the ads or hiding them within text, behind graphics, or in the background
of the Web page. The ads must appear as ads and not as sponsored
links of any kind.
And to take it all one step further, Google also has Landing Page Quality
Guidelines to help ensure that your landing page — the first page that site
visitors land on when they click into your Web site — is designed well and
adheres to the AdSense Program Policy requirements. These guidelines ask
the following of you and your site:
That you have relevant and original content on your site
That your site is clear in your intent and the nature of your business (if
that’s relevant)
That it’s clear how your visitors’ information will be used
That users can find their way around your site, or navigate the site,
easily
I recommend checking out the full set of Landing Page Quality Guidelines at
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=
46675&hl=en.
The real key to staying in Google’s good graces (for both search engine ranking
and the AdSense program) is to design your Web site with the end user
in mind. If you’re designing a site strictly to collect ad clicks, you might get
a high number of visitors for a short time, but that number will fall like a
penny dropped from the Empire State building as soon as users figure out
what you’re up to. Or worse, Google will figure it out first and ban you from
AdSense and probably from search engine rankings, too.
A much better idea is to design your site for site visitors. Provide the information
that visitors are looking for. They’ll spend more time on your site,
which means more exposure to AdSense ads, which means ultimately more
clicks. And Google will leave you alone to make your money. Not a bad trade
for doing things the right way instead of trying to deceive site visitors.
Ad placement
In case there was any doubt, Google set up guidelines for how and where ad
units can be placed on your site. The policy document lists the particulars,
but it’s safe to say that Google wants ads tastefully displayed and in context.
Google also doesn’t want visitors overwhelmed by the number of ads on a
page, so, you’ll also find guidelines for how many ad blocks of each type you
can have on any given Web page.
More information about how to actually place ads on your Web site — as well
as information about creating appealing ads — can be found in topic .
Competitive ads and services
This isn’t about your competition; it’s about Google’s competition. Like any
good contender, Google doesn’t want competitors competing for its share of
the prize money. So, you can’t display ads from any competing services that
could be confused with AdSense ads.
For example, it’s okay to include ads on your site from Amazon or other retail
services. And you can even include other pay-per-click ads, as long as they
don’t mimics AdSense ads. Ads that look like they belong to AdSense but do
not are a real no-no — that could really stir Google’s pot!
Google stops just this side of saying you can’t use other advertising services, but
only because denying your freedom to use any program without thought of how it
could be misconstrued as a Google capability is creating a monopoly. And monopolies
draw the attention of Big Brother. He’s a sibling no one wants to spend time with.
Product-specific policies
AdSense has a few different divisions, such as Internet ads, video ads, radio
ads, and a massive variety of content ads. Google is slowing working into
many other types of advertising as well. Because there are so many different
types of media in which you can use AdSense, and all those media differ in
some way, there have to be policies that directly address some of the differences
for each medium. You can find those guidelines at http://www.google.com/
adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=71600.
The AdSense Program Policy document seems pretty tame on first glance.
But as you look closer at the contents of the policy, you can quickly see that
there are additional bits and pieces about those program policies scattered
behind several different Web links. And after you start getting into those
links, you can truly see how complicated Google’s policies get.
Don’t skip anything, though. Read through all the policy documentation and
then read it all again. And read it again as you need to, to stay on the right
side of Google’s good graces, because if you get booted, it’s hard to reestablish
your presence on the Web.

Creating Your First Set of Ads

You created your account, waited, and were approved. Now AdSense is
active. Now you can fill that blank space on your Web site with money-generating
ads. But first you have to set up your ads.
Log in to your new AdSense account by using the username and password
that you set up during the registration process. The page that appears at
login is the Reports tab (AdSense always opens to this), which features
a quick overview of your earnings and the reports that are available for
AdSense. Because you don’t have any data to be reported yet, you’ll have a
big, fat zero on that page, much like the one
If you want to change that big fat zero into something a bit more lucrative,
you need to set up a few ad blocks. Here’s how:
1. If you haven’t already done so, log in to your AdSense account.
2. Click the AdSense Setup tab, immediately to the right of the
Reports tab

3. On this page, select the type of ad block you want to set up.
For this example, go ahead and select AdSense for Content. The other
options are covered in later chapters.
The page that appears is the first step in the Ad Wizard, which walks
you through setting up your ad.
If you prefer a single-page form instead of using the wizard, click the
wizard’s Single Page link. The information you’re asked to enter is the
same, but on the single-page form, you just scroll down the page instead
of clicking a Continue button.
4. Choose your ad type and click Continue.
Your choices here are
• Ad Units: A graphical text box inside of
which linked ads are displayed.
• Link Units: A set of linked keywords that
lead to advertisers’ pages.
Just to keep it simple for now, select Ad Unit.
5. In the new page that appears, choose the size of ad you want to have
appear on your Web site.
Google offers a variety of different shapes, sizes, and types of ad formats.
The format that works best for you depends on the space you
have available, the content of your Web site, and the design of the page
on which the ad appears. For now, select 234 x 60 Half Banner from the
Format drop-down menu. (I give you all the details about ad styles and
formats in Chapter 7, when I cover designing the perfect content ad.)
6. On the same page, choose a color scheme for your ad.
Google has several pre-made color schemes available in the drop-down
list to the right, or you have the option to specify border, title, background,
text, and URL colors by hexadecimal number. This is useful if
you know the exact hexadecimal numbers of your Web page design and
want to match them.
For your purposes, select Seaside from the drop-down list.
7. Still on the same page, choose Slightly Rounded Corners from the
Corner Styles drop-down list.
The other options available here are Squared Corners or Very Rounded
Corners. Visually, each has a different appeal to people in different situations
and on different Web sites.
8. For the last option on the page, choose Show Public Service Ads from
the drop-down list and click Continue.
What’s this about public service ads? Well, Google shows public service
ads when your site is so new that it can’t be properly populated with
paid ads and when your site content doesn’t match ad content. You can
choose to have these ads displayed, to have ads from another service
displayed, or to have a solid color displayed as a placeholder if either of
these situations applies.
9. In the new page that appears, click Continue.
This page of the wizard gives you the option to assign the ad to a channel,
but you have not yet set up channels. I show you how to set up
channels in Chapter 14. For now, channels aren’t an aspect of AdSense
that you need to worry about. They’re for tracking your ads, but before
you can track them you need to know how to create them and get the
highest percentage of clicks possible. After all, tracking nothing — which
is exactly how many clicks you’ll have if you do your ads wrong — still
leaves you with nothing to track.
10. In the new (and final) page that appears, enter a name for your ad unit
in the appropriate field and then click the Save and Get Code button.
When the page appears, a default name is already filled into the Name
text box. I recommend renaming the ad unit something useful, but if you
want to leave the default name, that’s fine.
The page appears with the code for your ad unit.
11. Copy the code provided by AdSense and paste it into the HTML code
of your Web site.
How you access your HTML code depends on how you got your code in
the first place. If you’re using an HTML Editor/Web Page Creation program
to design your Web site, you may need to dig around the menus to find out
how to get the raw HTML code on-screen. If you’re writing your code from
scratch, though, all you need to do is pull up the Web site code and paste
the ad code into the spot on which you want AdSense ads to appear.
Creating the ad for your Web site is an easy process. Getting it to appear on
the right spot on your Web site might be a little bit like landing a jumbo jet in
the median of the New Jersey Turnpike. It’ll take a little practice, and in the
beginning, it could get a little hairy.
One resource you may find helpful during the implementation process is the
AdSense help page for code implementation:
http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=44511&sourceid=
aso&subidww-ww-et-asui&medium=link#3
The one thing you need to remember is that this is just an exercise in creating
your first ad block. There are more details to implementing ads that work
than there are quills on a porcupine. So maybe you do have an ad that you
think is ready to go online, but it might not be. You can put it online now, and
tweak it as you have time. Or, flip through some of the more detailed chapters
about creating specific types of ads. Putting a basic ad on your Web site
probably won’t hurt you, but your time might be better spent figuring out
how to make that ad really sing to your site visitors.
Creating ads seems easy enough. Even getting the ads to display isn’t all that
difficult. However, getting site visitors to take note of those ads is a completely
different tale. One way that you can get users to click your ads is to
ensure they appear in the right context on your Web site. In Chapter 3, you
find out about building content-rich Web sites and how you can optimize
your Web site content for AdSense. Use those tips to help create pages that
are complemented by the ads Google dishes out to your site.