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Initial release
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June 18, 2003[1]
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Cross-platform (web-based application)
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Website
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Overview
Google uses its Internet search technology to serve
advertisements based on website content, the user's geographical location, and
other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted advertisement
system may enroll through Google AdWords. AdSense has
become a popular company in creating and placing banner advertisements on a
website, because the advertisements are less intrusive than most banners, and the
content of the advertisements is often relevant to the website.
Many websites use AdSense to monetize their
content; it is the most popular advertising network.[4] AdSense has been
particularly important for delivering advertising revenue to small websites
that do not have the resources for developing advertising sales programs and
sales people to generate revenue with. To fill a website with advertisements
that are relevant to the topics discussed, webmasters place a brief HTML code
on the websites' pages. Websites that are content-rich have been very
successful with this advertising program, as noted in a number of publisher
case studies on the AdSense website. AdSense publishers may only place three ad
units per page.
Some webmasters put significant effort into
maximizing their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:[citation needed]
1.
They use a wide range of traffic-generating
techniques, including but not limited to online
advertising.
2.
They build valuable content on their websites that
attracts AdSense advertisements, which pay out the most when they are clicked.
3.
They use text content on their websites that encourages
visitors to click on advertisements. Note that Google prohibits webmasters from
using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates.
The phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and
"Advertisements".
The source of all AdSense income is the
AdWords program, which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction.
AdSense commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (i.e., a bid not
observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received,
advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid. Google
currently shares 68% of revenue generated by AdSense with content network
partners, and 51% of revenue generated by AdSense with AdSense for Search partners.[5]
History
Oingo, Inc., a privately held company located
in Los Angeles, was started in 1998 by Gilad Elbaz and Adam Weissman. Oingo
developed a proprietary search algorithm that was based on word meanings and
built upon an underlying lexicon called WordNet, which was
developed over the previous 15 years by researchers at Princeton
University, led byGeorge Miller.[6]
Oingo changed its name to Applied Semantics in 2001,[7] which was later acquired by
Google in April 2003.[8]
Google launched its AdSense program in March
2003 and made it public in June of that year. Some advertisers complained that
AdSense yielded worse results than AdWords, since it
served ads that related contextually to the content on a web page and that
content was less likely to be related to a user's commercial desires than
search results. For example, someone browsing a blog dedicated to flowers was
less likely to be interested in ordering flowers than someone searching for
terms related to flowers. As a result, in 2004 Google allowed its advertisers
to opt out of the AdSense network.[9]
By early 2005 AdSense accounted for an
estimated 15 percent of Google's total revenues.[9]
In 2009, Google AdSense announced that it
would now be offering new features, including the ability to "enable
multiple networks to display ads".
In February 2010, Google AdSense started
using search history in contextual matching to offer more relevant ads.[10]
Types
AdSense for Feeds
In May 2005, Google announced a
limited-participation beta version of AdSense for Feeds, a version of AdSense that
runs on RSS and Atom feeds that have more than
100 active subscribers. According to the Official Google Blog,
"advertisers have their ads placed in the most appropriate feed articles;
publishers are paid for their original content; readers see relevant
advertising—and in the long run, more quality feeds to choose from."[11]
AdSense for Feeds works by inserting images
into a feed. When the image is displayed by a RSS reader or Web browser, Google
writes the advertising content into the image that it returns. The
advertisement content is chosen based on the content of the feed surrounding
the image. When the user clicks the image, he or she is redirected to the
advertiser's website in the same way as regular AdSense advertisements.
AdSense for Feeds remained in its beta state
until August 15, 2008, when it became available to all AdSense users.
AdSense for search
A companion to the regular AdSense program, AdSense for search, allows website owners to
place Google Custom Search boxes on their websites. When a user searches the
Internet or the website with the search box, Google shares 51% of the
advertising revenue it makes from those searches with the website owner.[5] However the publisher is
paid only if the advertisements on the page are clicked; AdSense does not pay
publishers for regular searches. Web publishers have reported that they also
pay a range from $0.64 to $0.88 per click.
[AdSense for mobile content
AdSense for mobile content allows publishers
to generate earnings from their mobile websites using targeted Google
advertisements. Just like AdSense for content, Google matches advertisements to
the content of a website — in this case, a mobile website. Instead of
traditional JavaScript code, technologies such as PHP, ASP and others are used.
AdSense for domains
AdSense for domains allows advertisements to
be placed on domain names that have not been developed. This offers domain name
owners a way to monetize domain names that are otherwise dormant or not in use.
AdSense for domains is currently being offered to all AdSense publishers, but
it wasn't always available to all.
On December 12, 2008, TechCrunch reported that AdSense for
Domains is available for all US publishers.[12]
On February 22, 2012, Google announced that
it was shutting down its Hosted AdSense for Domains program.[13]
AdSense for video
AdSense for video allows publishers with
video content to generate revenue using ad placements from Google's extensive Advertising
network including popular YouTube videos.[14]
How AdSense works
·
The webmaster inserts the AdSense JavaScript code into a webpage.
·
Each time this page is visited, the JavaScript code uses
inlined JSON to display content fetched
from Google's servers.
·
For contextual advertisements, Google's servers use a cache of the page to determine a
set of high-value keywords. If keywords have been cached already,
advertisements are served for those keywords based on the AdWords bidding
system. (More details are described in the AdSense patent.)
·
For site-targeted advertisements, the advertiser chooses
the page(s) on which to display advertisements, and pays based on cost per mille (CPM), or the price
advertisers choose to pay for every thousand advertisements displayed.[15][16]
·
For referrals, Google adds money to the advertiser's
account when visitors either download the referred software or subscribe to the
referred service.[17] The referral program was
retired in August 2008.[18]
·
Search advertisements are added to the list of
results after the visitor performs a search.
·
Because the JavaScript is sent to the Web browser when
the page is requested, it is possible for other website owners to copy the
JavaScript code into their own webpages. To protect against this type of fraud,
AdSense customers can specify the pages on which advertisements should be
shown. AdSense then ignores clicks from pages other than those specified.
Abuse
Some webmasters create websites tailored to
lure searchers from Google and other engines onto their AdSense website to make
money from clicks. Such websites often contain nothing but a large amount of
interconnected, automated content (e.g., a directory with content from the Open Directory Project, or scraper websites relying on RSS feeds for
content). Possibly the most popular form of such "AdSense farms" are splogs (spam blogs), which are
centered around known high-paying keywords. Many of these websites use content
from other websites, such as Wikipedia, to
attract visitors. These and related approaches are considered to be search
engine spam and can be reported to
Google.[19]
A Made
for AdSense (MFA) website or webpage has little or no
content, but is filled with advertisements so that users have no choice but to
click on advertisements. Such pages were tolerated in the past, but due to
complaints, Google now disables such accounts.
There have also been reports of Trojan horses engineered to produce
counterfeit Google advertisements that are formatted looking like legitimate
ones. The Trojan uploads itself onto an unsuspecting user's computer through a
webpage and then replaces the original advertisements with its own set of
malicious advertisements.[20]
Criticism
Criticism
There have been numerous complaints reported
about the difference in treatment that a publisher is receiving from Asia
against one from the US.[21][not in citation given]
Due to alleged concerns about click fraud, Google
AdSense has been criticized by some search engine optimization firms as a large source of
what Google calls "invalid clicks", in which one company clicks on a
rival's search engine advertisements to drive up the other company's costs.[22]
To help prevent click fraud, AdSense
publishers can choose from a number of click-tracking programs.[citation needed] These programs display
detailed information about the visitors who click on the AdSense
advertisements. Publishers can use this to determine whether or not they have
been a victim of click fraud. There are a number of commercial tracking scripts
available for purchase.[citation needed]
The payment terms for webmasters have also
been criticized.[23] Google withholds payment
until an account reaches US$100,[24] but many micro content
providers[citation needed]require a long time—years
in some cases—to build up this much AdSense revenue. However, Google will pay
all earned revenue greater than US$10 when an AdSense account is closed and not
disabled. On the other side Google bills its customers (API users for example)
monthly, in increments as low as a few cents.[citation needed]
Many website owners complain that their
AdSense accounts have been disabled just before they were supposed to receive
their first paycheck from Google.[citation needed] Google claims accounts have
been disabled due to click fraud or forbidden content, but have offered no
proof of this.[citation needed] An automated email is sent
to the publisher's owner which offers no reasoning, or options but a link to
file an appeal.[citation needed] In the email, Google states
that "Because we have a responsibility to protect our AdWords advertisers
from inflated costs due to invalid activity, we've found it necessary to
disable your AdSense account. Your outstanding balance and Google's share of
the revenue will both be fully refunded back to the affected advertisers."[citation needed] The revenue generated -
whether legitimate or not - is taken, and all complaints are deferred.[25][not in citation given]
Google came under fire when the official
Google AdSense Blog showcased the French video website Imineo.com. This website
violated Google's AdSense Program Policies by displaying AdSense alongside
sexually explicit material. Typically, websites displaying AdSense have been
banned from showing such content.[26]
It has been reported that using both AdSense
and AdWords may cause a website to pay Google a commission when the website
advertises itself.[27]
In some cases, AdSense displays inappropriate
or offensive ads. For example, in a news story about a terrorist attack in India, an advert was generated for a
(presumably non-existent) educational qualification in terrorism.[28]
AdSense uses tracking cookies that are viewed by some
users as a threat to privacy.[29] Webmasters that use AdSense
must place the appropriate warning in the privacy policy page.[30]
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