Associate Programs Newsletter #358
In case you’ve been misled over the latest changes at AdSense, you need to read this newsletter.
Also, Neil Shearing has accidentally stumbled on a simple way of creating a site which generated its first affiliate sale in only 10 days and generated nearly $4,000 in affiliate sales in its first month. This is must-read stuff.
CONTENTS:
1. AdSense bamboozles AdSense expert
2. Cash in 10 days
3. Thought for today: Communication skills
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1. AdSense bamboozles AdSense expert
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For a bright company, Google can be SO dumb sometimes.
Google has changed its AdSense Terms and Conditions, using vague, imprecise language which is sure to leave thousands upon thousands of webmasters wondering exactly what they should do to comply, and puzzling over the exact meaning of the changes.
Even Jennifer Slegg, who is THE expert at putting weird AdSense stuff into plain language, has been fooled into misunderstanding one of the latest changes.
As Jennifer points out in her Jensense.com blog, AdSense has deleted a section of the Terms and Conditions which previously said that ads must not be displayed in the following places…
“…on any error page, on any registration or ‘thank you’ page (e.g., a page that thanks a user after he/she has registered with the applicable Web site), on any chat page, in any email…”
Jennifer comments…
“Is that the sound of publishers adding AdSense to chat pages, emails, 404 pages, registration pages and thank you pages? I think so!”
This looks like a MAJOR change in policy – we’re now apparently allowed to place AdSense ads in emails! Yet this apparent change isn’t trumpeted anywhere by Google. What on earth is going on?
But wait… DON’T put an AdSense ad in an email.
Trying to figure out the facts, first I hunted around and found Google’s feeble, non-explanation of the changes. Don’t waste your time reading it.
Next, I checked the Program Policies – https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=48182
Surprise! There it is in black and white… you are NOT allowed to place AdSense ads in an email. Google says…
“No Google ad or Google search box may be displayed in a pop-up, pop-under, or in an email.”
Source:
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=48182
You’re probably wondering… Did Google just forget to update its Program Policies?
To be absolutely certain, I emailed Google and asked about AdSense ads in emails.
Here’s the reply I received today:
“…you are correct, AdSense ads cannot be placed in email per our program policies. We believe that this policy helps to ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for our publishers, as well as our advertisers. As we grow, we may find that we are able to expand our program to a wider variety of publishing methods.”
Summing up… If you look only at the changes in the Terms and Conditions you’ll be badly misled. You have to also study and obey the Program Policies…
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=48182
DUMB GOOGLE EXAMPLE 2:
To obey the new AdSense rules, you’ll probably need to update your site’s privacy policy.
One of the additions to the terms says…
“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 website. Your privacy policy should also include information about user options for cookie management.”
“Oh dear!” I thought. “How am I going to explain user options for cookie management?”
Did I need to give instructions for different browsers? What a nightmare.
What really annoyed me was that Google knew thousands upon thousands of webmasters would be trying to figure out how to obey these vague privacy policy rules – and yet Google wasn’t offering any helpful advice on how to do so. It should have given us an example of an acceptable privacy policy.
Then inspiration struck. I found Google’s own privacy policy – https://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html – and simply borrowed a couple of ideas from it. I reckon if our updated privacy policy doesn’t satisfy Google, it’s Google’s fault, not mine.
You can see AssociatePrograms.com’s updated privacy policy here…
https://www.associateprograms.com/Privacy-policy
Note to Google: We need stuff in clear language, and all policy changes need to be clearly explained. Is that really so difficult?
I’ll leave the last word in this mess to Google…
“Unfortunately, we’re unable to interpret the meaning of changes in our legal documents for you. If you have questions or you need legal advice on interpreting the terms, please don’t hesitate to contact an attorney.”
Yes, dear reader, I really did find that on the Google website, here:
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=81794
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2. Cash in 10 days
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One of the things I admire about my old friend Neil Shearing is that he doesn’t just take other people’s word for things. He does his own marketing experiments to see what REALLY works.
The results are really surprising sometimes.
Quite by accident, Neil discovered a way to get a totally new website…
* Hit by multiple search engine spiders on its first day.
* Receive traffic from Google on its third day.
* Earn cash from an affiliate sale on its 10th day.
He did this without spending a cent on advertising, without creating an email list, without creating a product, and without any promotion from any of his existing lists or websites.
The site was launched on January 30. In February, it generated $3,851 in affiliate sales. (That’s sales, not commissions.)
What’s more, Neil can build sites like this fast – it takes him less than an hour.
Building one of these sites is simple, once you have the script (a WordPress plugin) that Neil’s programmers created for him, and a carefully chosen datafeed. As you probably already know, WordPress is a delight to use.
How many of the gurus’ rules has Neil broken here?
Let’s see…
* The so-called Sandbox which new websites are supposed to go into doesn’t exist as far as this site is concerned.
* Duplicate content rules don’t seem to matter much here.
* The “You need lots of links” rule doesn’t apply to this site. Neil had only one backlink. Yep, ONE.
How long will this technique work? I don’t know. My guess is that Neil’s report will be incredibly popular and, as we all know, once many people start using a marketing technique it often becomes less effective. So you’ll inevitably need to get more links to these simple sites and eventually do things to make them more unique.
In the meantime, Neil has stumbled on a VERY interesting opportunity. Those who move fast will receive the most benefits.
The really good news is that you don’t need a heap of expensive stuff to do this.
Neil describes exactly what you need for his cash in 10 days technique…
https://www.associateprograms.com/cash-in-10-days
I strongly recommend you jump on this while it’s fresh.
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3. Thought for today: Communication skills
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“Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.” – Jim Rohn.
All the best
Allan Gardyne