The Embarrassment of Adsense
Hey all
Quick blog as I'm at a festive family BBQ....but couldn't resist.
I just answered a question about Google Adsense and it made me remember one of my first Adsense experiences
As some of you may know, my first niche site and still my favorite is healthynatured...and is a holistic lifestyle and therapy blog...
I decided to add adsense to this site (and actually its done alright and gets good revenue)...however I remember getting an email from someone (who will remain nameless) who joined my site as a member (but isnt a member of WA)
He complained that my site ads were disgusting and hardly befitting a holistic health site...he said that the ads on my site were all about dating and bordering on pornographic....
Honestly I almost had a hernia...or 2...
Then I remembered how it worked...
I had the embarrassment of writing back to him and explaining that GoogleAdsense doesn't show ads of my choosing...in fact I have very little control over the ads that are displayed BECAUSE Google is clever...and Google looks at the viewers search history, looks at the sites that the viewer commonly accesses and bases the ads that are displayed to suit the VIEWERS common preferences...
In respect to him he did reply that he understood and he jokingly said he did sometimes search for items related to the ads that Google had decided to serve him...
Learning point!
Remember Google will place ads on your site that suit your viewer NOT you...
Go to Google Adsense settings and ensure you remove any categories you don't want to be displayed on your site...you might not choose them...but you can remove them...
Recent Comments
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Brilliant article. I was also wondering if you the admin can somehow know the adverts your viewers see on your adsense space - probably not. But if you could it would tell you a lot about your viewers and this might help you to target your customers better.
Thats a very good point must admit I've not actually looked at whether or not you can see the ads served. You can select categories so maybe it's possible. Now I'm curious. Shall let you know lol
You were busted Jason. It was your search history...LOL
I used a service for discounting calls to inmates in Jail and that showed up on my Christian based website. "Cons call home." You know how that goes right--family members brother! LOL!!!
lol...it certainly wasn't my history bro
and of course you saw the ads you saw...based on your history...thankfully the ads i see when i look at my site are all wholesome and pure...very much like myself Ed...lol ..wink..wink..
LOL. Too bad that wasn't a phone or face to face conversation. It would have been interesting to see how long it took him to come up with that response. ;)
lol...the funny thing was I was sooooooooooo embarrassed UNTIL I figured it out...had i known then what I know now it could have been a moment for fun...lol
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Yeah you really have to keep an eye out when you add those to your site. To keep checking what is going on your site and dropping ones that aren't what you need or want. I'm glad you didn't have a hernia.
I'm pleased as well
Lol