Update [adsense-manager plugin]

I’ve not heard back yet. A number of people mentioned they were going to check in with Google for me but have been strangely silent since.

Get your tinfoil hat!

Seriously though, the best thing you can do is ask Google directly for me (as a result of my ban I am forbidden from contacting them). It’s probably OK especially now the Be Nice thing is removed, but a definite confirmation would remove the questions.

Ok, here’s a response from David at Google. I’ve been emailing and re-emailing for the past few days, so here’s the result – no result ??
Bottom line – use at your own risk [what a surprise], BUT, since it’s not a toolbar, it seems to be ok to use it? That’s what I understood from the emailing back and forth. The whole thing has been formatted, I’ve removed my IP, links, and some other stuff. However, the point remains the same. Start reading from the bottom.

—————————————————

Hi Bill,

You’re welcome to share this information with other users.

Sincerely,

David
The Google AdSense Team

Original Message Follows:
————————
From: “Bill Dexter” me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Subject: Re: [#156980457] WordPress Adsense Manager
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:53:05 -0400

Is it ok if I let the WordPress community know about this by posting this
entire message history as the plugin follow up?

—– Original Message —–
From: “Google AdSense” adsense-support[at]google[dot]com
To: “Bill Dexter” me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: [#156980457] WordPress Adsense Manager

Hi Bill,

Thanks for following up. Generally, publishers are welcome to use
software that helps in the implementation of ads directly into the HTML of a web
page as long as the software doesn’t alter the appearance or behavior of
the ads.
Unfortunately, I’m unable to comment specifically on your software.

Original Message Follows:
————————
From: “Bill Dexter” me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Subject: Re: [#156980457] WordPress Adsense Manager
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:52:49 -0400

One more thing: I’m sure that every script has to comply with the TOS.
I’ve read in the TOS that “a site or third party cannot display our ads,
search box, search results, or referral buttons as a result of the actions of
any software application such as a toolbar.” Now, the question is: is
Adsense Manager for WordPress a toolbar or a script? And, if it is a script, is
it allowed? You see, there’s no direct manipulation of the code itself,
so…? If you’re not totally comfortable to give me your honest opinion over
this email, then please consider making a post on my blog from a public or
your home computer. Know what I mean?

—– Original Message —–
From: “Google AdSense” adsense-support[at]google[dot]com
To: “Bill Dexter” me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: [#156980457] WordPress Adsense Manager

Hi,

Rest assured that you may view pages containing your own Google ads
without the risk of generating invalid impressions. However, we’d like
to remind you that clicking on your own ads for any reason is strictly
prohibited by our program policies.

Original Message Follows:
————————
From: “Bill Dexter” me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Subject: Re: [#156980457] WordPress Adsense Manager
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:43:27 -0400

If you can, please disregard/remove today’s 2 [two] ad impressions from
IP address xx.xx.xx.xx [my ip]. I was testing the code.

—– Original Message —–
From: “Google AdSense” adsense-support[at]google[dot]com
To: me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 1:16 PM
Subject: Re: [#156980457] WordPress Adsense Manager

Hi,

We’re unable to comment on third party software at this time.
We recommend that you exercise caution when using third-party software
to ensure that you do not violate the AdSense Terms and Conditions and
that you do not inadvertently disclose sensitive personal information or
information about your site through the use of such software. Please
note that AdSense participants are solely responsible for verifying that
any tools or software used in conjunction with AdSense do not violate the
AdSense Terms and Conditions.

Original Message Follows:
————————
From: me[at]billdexter[dot]com
Subject: WordPress Adsense Manager
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:16:52 -0700

Is the latest version of WordPress Adsense Manager [2.3] in compliance
with Google TOS?

Hi, I was surprised hearing all this since I was actually planning to switch from using AdSense Deluxe to AdSense Manager.

My best guess why you got banned is because you set an initial 5% commission of AdSense revenues directly to your client ID by default, whereas with AdSense Deluxe, this is initially not activated.

If we’re going to argue that the reward system is against the AdSense TOS then AdSense Deluxe should have been banned as well. I doubt if he is, still I’m not entirely sure.

In what way[s] does Adsense Manager differ from, well, just pasting the Adsense code directly into the template? I’ve pasted the code into the Main Index and the Sigle Post templates, and it looks ok…In other words, what’s the general purpose of the plugin?

How can I make the ads float along the left/right side of the content?

Martin,

I’ve queried Google about this.

It’s important to know the reason “why” you’ve been shutdown as, after reading the TOS, it is not obvious to me either.

I’ll keep you posted.

All the best,
Val

I guess to split the revenues you would have had to alter the Adsense code …? That’s against the TOS. Is there definitely no alteration to the code now that this has been taken out? – What does the Code Converter feature do?

Adsense Deluxe seems to have disappeared from the Plugins list. Maybe the same thing happened to him ??

PS. if you have a business setup maybe it’s possible to get a new account in your business name? (or your personal name if you used business name before?)

Hi there!
I have a request!
Could you please consider implement google_ad_channel feature to differentiate different ads on the same account?

Just to clarify, I actually received a message from Google stating that AdSense Manager was fine to use (see comment towards bottom also). The original ban was due to the Be Nice feature which was later removed.

Development has stalled for the time being because I do not have net access at my current address (other than via a mobile phone). From October I will be back online & plan to get to work again!

Thanks for all the support folks.

i downloaded version 2.5 but I still see the “Be Nice” feature at the bottom of my “Options>Adsense Manager” page. It was defaulted to 3%.

Also, if I want to put a 250×250 adsense block in my posts and floated to the left, how can I get the text to wrap around the Adsense block?

Thanks in advance.

dbcooper: The Be Nice thing is back in a slightly different form (which has been checked with Google to not be violation of T&Cs). Of course feel free to turn it off – I need to revert back to the more informative UI but can’t get SVN access at the moment (accessing the net via mobile phone, ugh).

To wrap a 250×250 left put DIVs in the “Before HTML” and “After HTML” to wrap the ad unit in them, then float the DIVs themselves. For example…

<div style="float:left;">

…then…

</div>

Should do it!