Getting AdSense approval from Google is one aspect, but retaining the account in good status is a must for all AdSense publishers. There are two guidelines all publishers should read and remember all the time – one is AdSense policies and the other is terms and conditions. In our other article, we have explained important AdSense policies in detail and in this article let us discuss AdSense terms and conditions.
Google AdSense terms and conditions are subjective and vary based on the country of your billing address in AdSense account. We strongly advise you to read the terms and conditions before accepting it. You can go to the terms of service page and choose the country to check out the applicable terms in detail.
AdSense Terms & Conditions
12 AdSense Terms and Conditions All Publishers Should Know
- Communicate only with Google
- No guarantee of ad delivery
- Your liability can be adjusted from your payment
- Definition of account inactiveness
- Google may use your private data
- Provide correct data when applying
- Comply to local lawas
- Don’t use Google brand without permission
- Avoid automating search queries
- Never modify search results
- Differentiate ads and search results
- No incentives for using search box
A. General Google AdSense Terms and Conditions
1. Communication
Do you have any complaints or query regarding your AdSense account? Well, remember to communicate only with Google for all queries. Never try to communicate directly with the advertiser. You can post your questions on the AdSense forum or send emails to the support team if your account supports the feature.
2. Guarantee of Ad Delivery
Google does not guarantee the delivery of ads on your site, though you have placed ad codes on your site’s pages. Google will not make any guarantee on the ad impressions, clicks on any ads, the timing of delivery of such impressions and clicks. Though these things happen automatically through ad auction and controlled by your ad blocking, there are no guarantee from Google that it always work as intended.
3. Payments
It is very important to understand the terms and conditions regarding your payments. You will get paid on monthly cycle when your account balance reached the threshold level. But there are different possibilities as mentioned below:
- When you have payments due to Google using any programs like AdWords, Google will hold your AdSense payment till you settle all outstanding payments. Google will also reserve the rights to offset the outstanding amounts from your AdSense earnings.
- In case if your payment can’t be done due to inactive account then you acknowledge and agree that Google may donate your payment due amount to any charitable organization.
4. Account Inactiveness
The account inactiveness for payment is defined as below by Google:
1. For a period of two years or more you have not logged into your account or accepted funds, payments or other amounts that Google has attempted to pay or deliver to you
2. Google has been unable to reach you, or has not received adequate payment instructions from you, after contacting you at the address shown in Google’s records.
5. Privacy
Google is popular for tracking all your activities. As an AdSense publisher, you are signing a contract agreeing that Google shall use your name and logo in presentations, marketing materials, customer lists, financial reports, website listings of customers, search results pages and referral pages.
6. Correctness of Data
You have provided correct and accurate information for applying for AdSense account. You should be either the owner of the site or legally authorized to act as an owner.
7. Compliance
Ensure to continue complying with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances, and regulations in your performance of any acts.
8. Use of Google Brands
You should not use Google brand features like name, logo and other copyrighted materials without permission. Always avoid using product names in the domain like adsensetips.com, adwordstricks.net, etc. Google will straightaway reject the applications with this type of domain names. You will receive warning or your account will get banned if you display ads on these types of domain after approval.
B. Terms and Conditions for Custom Search Ads
Above terms are applicable for all AdSense account holders. In addition, you should also comply with the following terms if you use custom search box to display ads.
9. Search Query
Ensure that all search queries are entered manually in the search box and you are sending the queries without modifications. The search box should not be pre-populated with search terms, and publishers may not create links containing pre-populated search terms.
10. Showing Results
You should never cache or modify the search results received from Google before displaying to end users. Also you should not change the order of the results sent by Google on the results page. The results should only be shown to the end users on your’s or Google hosted page. It should not be on the popup or pop-under similar to AdSense ads.
11. Ads Must be Distinct from Search Results
Ensure to differentiate the AdSense custom search ads from the actual search results. You should not customize Ad units to mix with search results in a way that users can’t find the difference between the results and the ads. Google also suggests some easy ways to distinguish your ads from site content like shading the background color of your ads in a different color than your site background, adding borders to your ads or indenting the ads so that they are not aligned.
12. No Incentives for Searches
Obviously, avoid encouraging users to use custom search box only for the purpose of displaying ads on the results pages. Generally Google expects, 90% of the results pages should contain some organic search results from your site.
Final Words
Violating any of the terms and conditions will result in Google sending you the warning. Check your AdSense account and correct the problems to resolve the violation. One of the best example for violation is to use Google brands in the domain name. You shouldn’t use Google brand to drive traffic to your site and then try to make money from that traffic.
The above mentioned terms are only few important terms, we strongly recommend you to read the complete terms and conditions before applying for AdSense account.
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