BadSense

Do you Yahooooo? These hackers do!

2005-12-30T21:33:00.000-05:00

Warez on the net is bad enough. It involves illegal hacking, stolen serial numbers, distribution of costly merchandise, etc. - it's basically bad business. So I guess we should expect sites like this to break the rules of AdSen-- wait a minute! Why should they even be IN the AdSense program?! Look at this snip of the AdSense policies:

Site Content

Site may not include:

Hacking/cracking content
Any other content that promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others

So already, just having AdSense on a hacking/warez site is against the rules. But how about that same site with AdSense and Yahoo ads running at the same time?! Let's go back to the terms:

Competitive Ads and Services
We do not permit Google ads or search boxes accessing Google search services to be published on web pages that also contain what could be considered competing ads or services.

Chalk up another strike! Let's take a look at these offenses all in one nice screenshot:

Note: The ad on the left does say "Ads by Yahoo!" - the site is just using a light colors to almost hide that. I'm sure that breaks a rule as well.

If you'd like, give this site a look. I am not responsible for anything that happens to you or your computer while on this site, and I don't recommend going there too often. Furthermore, they do rotate the ads so you won't always see Google and Yahoo ads on the same page. But feel free to check it out.

BadSense UPDATE! Page changed due to BadSense post

2005-12-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

We previously posted a site that told users to blatantly click the ads every three or four visits - check the screenshot here:

It looks like they've changed their page a bit to comply with AdSense TOS - think they were tipped off by the BadSense referrals? You bet. ;-)

Check out their new page:

AdSense TOS compliant? Doubtful. Will they change their page again? We'll keep watching and let you know!

Thanks to IncrediBILL for noticing the change, and for the dig in his blog. Check out his blog for some humorous and informative AdSense rants.

AdSense DOWN!

2005-12-17T00:34:00.000-05:00

Since about 11:30 pm ET, the Google AdSense website has been down. Obviously, this isn't an example of poor AdSense placement, but this is pretty rare. When going to the AdSense page, an apology comes up in several different languages. What could be wrong?

Try checking your AdSense here.

UPDATE: As of 1:00 am ET, AdSense is back. No new features added, so what was up? Maybe we'll find out - maybe not. ;-)

Just do us a favor...

2005-12-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

A search in Google for "please click the ads" always yields tons of fun...here's the founder of seemingly respectable site asking visitors to click his ads. And, to no surprise, he has AdSense on the top of his page.

This has to be one of the easiest ways to lose your ads. As you can from the Google search, many of the sites asking users to click the ads are now using BidVertiser and other PPC programs - obviously booted from AdSense. Tsk tsk...here's the original offender.

Content? Who needs it?!

2005-12-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

What you're looking at is an entire website.
No content? Yep.

A question luring visitors to click on ads? You bet.

Using mesothelioma, the most well-know high-paying keyword to create perhaps the most blatant Made-for-AdSense site ever? Bingo!

This one can't last long...can it?

See it for yourself here.

The good ol' frame + AdSense routine

2005-12-08T17:56:00.000-05:00

Our first beauty comes courtesy of Incredibill's blog. This photo site oh-so-politely allows the viewer to go through art sites while staying in the luxury of their own site. First, they're framing other sites and putting their own AdSense ads on it (1). Next, every 30 seconds, they reload a new site in the frame below (3), in addition to refreshing a new AdSense unit (2).

Check out the full site here for some laughs.

Welcome to BadSense!

2005-12-08T17:48:00.000-05:00

Hello, and thanks for checking out my new blog.

As a long-time member of several SEO forums, I've seen my fair share of terrible/illegal AdSense placements. I decided to create this blog to showcase some of the best (or would that be worst?)

If you think you have a gem, send it to ChiefBS@gmail.com and I'll check it out.

Thanks!

-Chief Badsense