AdSense To Allow Gambling Ads

[Ben42]

Did gambling names just go up in value? This is pretty big news for monetization.

Here is the email announcement.

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Hello,

We're constantly reviewing the categories of ads available to our AdSense publishers in order to provide access to a wide range of possible advertisers. Towards this goal, beginning on September 27, we're expanding the inventory of Google ads eligible to show on the AdSense network to include gambling-related ads from trusted advertisers.

Please note that the AdSense program policies will continue to prohibit the placement of ads on sites that accept money or allow users to place bets in exchange for an opportunity to earn cash or other prizes, directly from the site. In addition, these new ads will only be shown to users in regions where gambling is legal, which is determined by the location of the end-user. A full list of these locations can be found at the following link: . Finally, publishers may not opt in to receiving ads from this new category if their sites are intended for individuals under 18 years of age.

If you're interested in allowing gambling ads to appear on your site and you feel it's a fit with your content and audience, you can opt into this category within your AdSense account. As a reminder, you have control over the categories of ads that can appear on your site.

Again, please keep in mind that by opting into the gambling category, you confirm that the site(s) on which you place your ad code aren't intended for individuals under 18 years old.

If you don't wish to receive gambling ads on your site, no action is required on your part. We recommend checking your category filter on a regular basis to see what new ad categories may become available.

We look forward to continuing to grow the ad inventory available to you to help you maximize your returns from AdSense.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team
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[enlytend]

Yes,but read the fine print.

The Adsense program policies haven't changed - it still says your site cannot have or link to "gambling or casino related content". So unless they change THAT by 9/27...so far, no mention of it. Also, ads won't appear to visitors in countries/locations where what they promote is illegal.

The link in the announcement is to the Adwords-related information. Only very specific advertising is allowed and Adwords advertisers have to be approved by Google to run gambling-related ads. Adwords for SEARCH has been permitted under those conditions for certain countries for some time, sounds like they're now giving these same advertisers the ability to run ads on the content network (Adsense.)

Unless they modify the Adsense program policies, most of this content network advertising will probably occur as managed placements (the advertiser manually chooses a site or even a section of a site where they want their ads to run) on sites targeting gambling-friendly countries, not automatic contextual placements. Advertisers generally bid for managed placements on big, high-traffic sites, not minisites. May show as interest-based ads too.

But yeah - you can opt into the category and these ads might (or might not) appear on your sites.

 

[johname]

Has anyone put up AdSense Gambling Ads yet? Would like to know feedback on this when people get a feel for it, how well the ads match the specific type of gambling, quality of the ads, etc.

I am wondering if its not worth say having one gambling site on adsense if it will effect the your others sites in some way, even if its just some concept like the google algorithm saying "Oh so this person builds gambling sites, hmm maybe we should turn down his quality score"

Thanks

 

[enlytend]

FYI, I re-checked the Adsense Program Policy - it still says that sites running adsense cannot include:

Gambling or casino-related content

I would be VERY careful about putting adsense on a site in an effort to pick up these ads! Violate the content policies and you could lose your account.

Because of that content restriction, I suspect most of the ads in this category that get displayed will be placement-targeted or interest-based ads, not contextual.

Opting in won't "smart price" or otherwise harm your account though. You could pick up interest-based gambling-related ads on any site, regardless of content.