AdSense is important to most bloggers and heres where Im going to save you some heartache in your blogging career!
You know how when you do something stupid and you really didnt even know it was a stupid thing to do but it hurt someone you love and they went away hopefully for just a little while to cool off? Yeah thats what I did.
The stupid part not the cooling off part.
And Im sorry. And I hope youll come back soon, AdSense.
All these big old blank spaces on my blog are where youre supposed to be. Its where you live and Im missing you.
Every Game Has Its Rules
If youve been around A Healthy Kitchen for very long, you know Im in the midst of a major redesigning overhaul and taking on a fresh new look. One of the things I decided to do is start a Blogging 101 category for all you newbie bloggers a place where I can hopefully help you step out into the blogging world as a publisher.
I never in a million years thought my first Blogging 101 post would be about how to get your AdSense privileges shut down but it is!
Every game has its rules and I broke em. Apparently I had pornography/gore on A Healthy Kitchen.
Say What? Not You! Not Pornography or Gore!
Yeah! Thats what I thought when I first got the notice and my Google AdSense ads were missing. Turns out I broke the Google AdSense Program Policies.
So heres what happened
AdSense, Im Innocent I Tell Ya And Yet Not!
I was innocent in my heart but not technically speaking. I have a little old blog post called Boobies, Bleach and Breast Cancer. As of the time I posted it three years ago, it was about the fairly recent studies that showed a significant correlation between breast cancer and cleaning products, particularly bleach.
My friends, we all got em and we all want to keep em right? So I showed you two images of breast cancer on the breast. It certainly wasnt pornographic at least I hope no one would view it that way but it was gory because cancer is gory. And I wanted you to take it seriously so youll never have to go through it.
And I crossed the line without even realizing it. My bad, to be sure!!!
Obviously, as soon as I realized it was offensive to AdSense and that Id broken the rules of the game, I did a quick ctrl + z and removed the images immediately!
And Im sorry. And I hope AdSense will forgive me and know how much I love them. And I hope theyll quickly come back to A Healthy Kitchen.
Ill never let it happen again because any time an organization trusts you enough to want to work with you, its a privilege and it should be treated as such.
Blogging 101 Lesson #1
Read the Terms of Use or Program Policies for ANY and ALL programs you participate in and understand them. Actually, Ive been an AdSense publisher for about six years and I did read the Program Policies six years ago and Ive tried to be careful to follow through on what I understood the rules of the game to be.
Though I thought I read every single word of the Program Policy, its possible I skimmed over the Pornography/Gore section because if you know me at all, thats just not something Im into and I certainly didnt think it would ever apply to me or A Healthy Kitchen.
Blogging 101 Take-Away
When youre playing someone elses game and you are follow the rules. ALL the rules!
Theyre there for a reason. They like them. They make them feel comfortable and in this case they keep us all safe from having unexpected pornography/gore on a blog post near you. And if I offended any of you, my friends, Im equally sorry!
Lesson learned the hard way.
What about you, my newbie blogging buddies? Do you have any TOUs or Program Policies you need to go back and read with a fine tooth comb? Remember, every game has its rules! Leave a comment and lets get the conversation started!
Awesome information. Im just starting a blog and I want to put ads on it. Ill definitely be sure to read all their rules. Thanks for sharing. Im sure its embarrassing. I hope you get your adsense back right away. Beautiful blog, by the way.
Hi Jim, welcome to AHK and congrats on your new blog. Be sure to let me know where you can be found when you get it up and running. So far as AdSense I dont know if Id call it embarrassing mistakes happen. I think Id have to call it DEVASTATING! Ive been with them for six years and this was my first error, so Im hoping this will be resolved quickly and in my favor. Lesson learned! Thanks for stopping by AHK. I hope to see you around here again real soon and hopefully youll see my lovely AdSense… Read more »