Can I add google's Adsense to my free forum???

[Jimmyz-25]

Can I add google's Adsense to my free forum? If yes, how??
likeabossz.net84.net
This is my forum

[Arantor]

You could add it but it won't make you any money at all. You actually need some real content there that people would want to pay for ads.

[Jimmyz-25]

hi there I just created the forum, my idea was if I manage my forum nicely and get more visitors throughout time. And while Google's Adsense is on my forum's website. I might be able to get a few clicks from the visitors and earn some money???

[Arantor]

Even if you get clicks, you're not going to earn any money out of them until you have a decent amount of content, that advertisers are willing to pay for.

I find forums generally aren't going to make any money until they have a good couple of thousand posts.

[Jimmyz-25]

I see... so that means I must get a bunch of visitors before I can earn money using Google Adsense.. Once there are lots of visitors, the content should then be increasing at a good speed! Or "content" doesn't include visitors's posts/threads? I always thought Forums are the best place to add Google Adsense...since people come visit often... sigh :-(

[Arantor]

Yes, content includes all posts and threads.

Here's the thing: the amount advertisers are going to pay (and how much you get out of that) depends on the content. Good content means you're going to get people willing to pay more, simple as that.

Running a forum successfully is hard work - I guarantee you, you will not magically be able to start a forum and then sit back and make a profit, you have to keep putting work in.

Most forums, even those that actively try and monetise, never make their hosting costs back, let alone a profit.

[Jimmyz-25]

that's true... perhaps forum isn't the right place to add Google Adsense..
I wonder if there's a better place for Google Adsense...

[Arantor]

It wouldn't matter.

You STILL have to have good content to generate payment for ads. Whether that's a forum or a blog, or whatever, you have to still put in a decent amount of work to have content good enough to actually make money.

[Orangine]

not to mention Google will never accept your site for Adsense if it won't offer the visitors anything

[Texan78]

I think you might be misunderstanding what others are saying. A forum is a great place for AdSense, it will just take some time to get your forum started and generating content and visitors. To do that it will take some work. With great SEO and advertising on your part to get the word out of your forum is all you need to drive traffic to your site. Depending on the kind of forum you're running it could take a year, maybe less, maybe more to get it running efficiently. Not every forum is successful or has a lot of content and visitors but if it does it can make and good chunk of change if it is run right and with a lot of hard work. I am not sure what the last comment meant about Google will never accept your site. You can put AdSense on your site now with zero traffic or content. Doesn't mean you will make anything right away but it doesn't hurt to have it anyways for when the visitors and content does come. On all the forums I have ran in the past and currently I've never made less then $500 a month on them but you have to work hard and get a solid member base and content. Now it just runs itself because it is established and it will generate on its own.

So go ahead and put it in place so it's there and it's not something new and then work on your SEO and advertising of your site. Over time it will build and generate some funds.

[Orangine]

again:

not to mention Google will never accept your site for Adsense if it won't offer the visitors anything

[Texan78]

again:

not to mention Google will never accept your site for Adsense if it won't offer the visitors anything

Would you care to elaborate on that?

[Orangine]

the times when google accepted all websites all long gone, if you apply for adsense and have little or no content, the google will simply refuse you to be adsense partner

[mrintech]

Even if you get clicks, you're not going to earn any money out of them until you have a decent amount of content, that advertisers are willing to pay for.

This is the case when Ad slots are made target table to advertisers (Placement targeting)

Google AdSense will still show ads based on keywords present on the page (Contextual targeting), but the CPC may vary a lot.

http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=9713

@OP for earning good bucks with your forum, you need to generate good content as well as traffic

[Texan78]

I think you may have a misunderstanding of how that works. They have only just cracked down on the requirements to limit and get rid of link farms. You can have very little content and still have AdSense. Google asks that your site be TLD (Top Level Domain) not a site in the subdomain, www.yoursite.com/forum for example. Proper SEO with search engines visiting your site regularly will validate it as traffic. They are also looking for age of site and domain. Longer your site has been online and the longer you're domain is registered the better. Generally 6 months or longer is sufficient. Spammers generally only register domains for one year. Link backs to your site or forum is good for validation if from valid sources. Social Network will also validate your site, so get your forum involved with Social sites. They just want to confirm your site is not a link farm and you're not a spammer. Content does help but it's not going to deny you from using AdSense. Google will not turn away business from a valid site period. Especially if the content has the potential to grow over time.

[Arantor]

It doesn't matter. Advertisers are still paying, and they're still paying to be placed on relevant sites if at all possible - they pay more for relevant sites. Consequently you also have to have that relevant content if you actually want to see any of the money Google takes.

Remember, Google is a multi-billion dollar company and they make that from selling ads. They don't make that by paying out ad revenue...


And yes, Google can and does bar sites from using AdSense. More than one site has been mentioned here for being forbidden from AdSense for content-related issues, not fraud-related issues.

[Texan78]

And yes, Google can and does bar sites from using AdSense. More than one site has been mentioned here for being forbidden from AdSense for content-related issues, not fraud-related issues.

Not from having limited content, I can assure you that and I am 210% positive it had to do with something breaking other TOS agreements and not from limited content.

One thing everyone is forgetting is they play for clicks, not for impressions. So if a Ad is displaying on a site with no content or limited visitors the advertiser is not being charged. So no harm, no foul. As a Advertiser I would want my ads showing up as many times as possible regardless of the traffic a site may or may not receive. The more impressions, the better the chances of my site or product being seen. That's from a Advertisers POV, and if I was a Advertiser I would be pissed if Google was limiting my impressions. So therefor it doesn't happen that way.

[Arantor]

Not from having limited content, I can assure you that and I am 210% positive it had to do with something breaking other TOS agreements and not from limited content.

And I'm 210% positive you weren't reading my posts properly. They review sites before accepting them and if the site falls foul of their rules, it won't be accepted. There HAVE been sites blocked for not having enough acceptable content. Not enough *ACCEPTABLE* content is NOT THE SAME as limited content. Limited content is fine, just that it's a waste of effort.

[Texan78]

There HAVE been sites blocked for not having enough acceptable content. Not enough *ACCEPTABLE* content is NOT THE SAME as limited content. Limited content is fine, just that it's a waste of effort.

Other was saying "little or no content" which is not true. You personally just stated others were rejected for content-related issues, not that they didn't have acceptable content. That has already been established as I stated they want to make sure you're NOT a SPAMMER. Read the brief guidelines I state a few posts back. What I am saying is YOU WON'T BE REJECTED for little or no content. Just has long as you meet their standard requirements to validate your site that it's not a spammer.

I have another forum I am launching next month that has ZERO content on it right now and I've had AdSense on it since January and had ZERO problems adding it. If a sit is getting rejected it is because of other reasons NOT because of content.

Don't confuse this as I am saying you don't need content for it to be successfully because as I already stated earlier, you do. You just won't be penalized from Google as others are stating if you do not have content. The more content, the better.

[Arantor]

*shrug* The very first - and last - time I ever set up AdSense, I was initially rejected for not enough content, though that was some years ago.

[Chalky]

Surely advertising on an under-established forum is only going to frighten off new members?  I'd think you need to build up the content and member-loyalty before you subject members to ads.  I wouldn't tolerate being overloaded with ads just to spend time on a forum that may or may not have what I'm looking for.

[Texan78]

Surely advertising on an under-established forum is only going to frighten off new members?

Nope, not if it is done right... Scare them off more if you didn't have Ads then one day there is ads. You want people to join your site for your content, not for the Ads. With that said you need to carefully place them where they streamline with the rest of the site and are not overbearing. It just has to fit your site. I see so many sites and forums that have Ads and they are just so overbearing that it takes away from the content and makes things way to busy for the guest.

Going back to the content, if you're getting rejected from AdSense it's because you're violating one of their terms. I can promise you in the many years of web development I have been in I've never had or heard of Google rejecting a site due to lack of content. As you can see from my newest forum I am launching in Sept. I have pretty much zero content and have been running it for months. I also have it streamlined into my site where it is not overbearing and flows with the rest of the design.

[Arantor]

You know, you could always do a search on 'adsense rejected insufficient content' and see how many hits you find. It's more than a few, and just because you've never been rejected before doesn't mean you won't be in future. That said, the fact that you've run an account for some time implies that you're not a spammer anyway. Their algorithms are complicated and scary and more than a touch invasive. I wouldn't give AdSense house room these days.

As I said, it was the first time I set it up, some years ago, and the reason I got was insufficient content, I ended up writing a lot of content I never intended to just to satisfy that requirement. Maybe things are different now.

(Oh, and by the way, I don't know how long you've been doing web design, seeing how you're throwing that around as justification for how you couldn't possibly be wrong. I was designing websites before Google even existed publicly.)

[Texan78]

Like I said, if done properly you will have no problems. I know why people have problems, you should too if you have those qualifications... 

[Arantor]

Yes, yes, I do know why people have those problems, mostly it is content itself that is the problem. However, some of them are related to Google having rules and barring people with insufficient content as a quick Google search will attest...

[Texan78]

Has NOTHING to do with NOT having enough content. Please show me something FROM Google stating that sites will be rejected from using Google AdSense for NOT having enough content.

Are you sure you're not confused with Google DFP?

[Arantor]

Just because there may not be anything in the actual rules, it does not mean they don't penalise it.

Seriously, go to Google and search for

Code Select Expand

adsense insufficient content site:google.com

See how many discussions there are about it there, how many people are reporting that. It can't be coincidental that all of them are misinterpreting what Google is saying, now, can it?

[Texan78]

Just because there may not be anything in the actual rules, it does not mean they don't penalise it.

Because it doesn't exist. The problem isn't with content.

See how many discussions there are about it there, how many people are reporting that. It can't be coincidental that all of them are misinterpreting what Google is saying, now, can it?

I have an it's because they are breaking other Google TOS agreements and not reading the fine print of other procedures that must be done before using AdSense and setting it up right. NOTHING by Google says you can't use it if you don't have enough content. I have proved this already and I've done this for years for many, many, many sites for my personal and for clients and not once have I had problems.

The problems reported are from our average Joe newbies and every Tom, Dick, and Harry and maybe Sally too who wants to set up a small web site and think they can make a quick buck for doing nothing and not taking the time to set it up properly and reading all of Googles requirements. There are several reasons why you will get it but it has NOTHING to do with limited content.

Just because there is tons of topics on it doesn't prove anything nor does it state it has anything to do with not enough content. If you read them it's because they have other problems with there site Google doesn't like that is preventing the crawlers from indexing the site properly to generate the content for the keywords that AdSense needs.

[Arantor]

Here's the thing: if you carry out the search I mentioned - which you seem way too arrogant to have done so - you will notice many people actually reporting that is the error they're getting. Google may well be penalising for other things but that is the message users are getting - and too many of them are getting it for them all to be incapable of reading the terms and conditions.

Some of them, yes, are because of crawlers and interstitial ads (though I noted with interest the site owner who put those up only because Google kept telling him that there wasn't enough content), but there are simply too many for that to be the case in all of them.

It is simply not in Google's interest to serve ads on sites with no real content - it hikes their costs for a deal that won't make them so much money.

But of course I must also be lying or wrong because it can't possibly have been the fact that I had insufficient content several years ago. I am one of these people! But of course, I couldn't possibly be right and of course defer to your superior knowledge on all matters SEO because I couldn't possibly argue with someone who knows so much but is apparently incapable of actually making sense of what is put in front of them

[Texan78]

Here's the thing: if you carry out the search I mentioned - which you seem way too arrogant to have done so - you will notice many people actually reporting that is the error they're getting.

Yes I have, all are reporting the issue that I read for other reasons and NOT because they don't have enough content.

and too many of them are getting it for them all to be incapable of reading the terms and conditions.

Have you read the issues people are having? The problem goes deeper then just insufficient content.

Some of them, yes, are because of crawlers and interstitial ads (though I noted with interest the site owner who put those up only because Google kept telling him that there wasn't enough content), but there are simply too many for that to be the case in all of them.

Really, do you know how many fly by night web developers or "so called" web designers out there who are just kids who think they know what they are doing and don't? Has that every crossed your mind?

It is simply not in Google's interest to serve ads on sites with no real content - it hikes their costs for a deal that won't make them so much money.

You're joking right? Google has NO overhead in the investment of this ads. It's all paid by the advertisers. They don't lose anything!

But of course I must also be lying or wrong because it can't possibly have been the fact that I had insufficient content several years ago. I am one of these people! But of course, I couldn't possibly be right and of course defer to your superior knowledge on all matters SEO because I couldn't possibly argue with someone who knows so much but is apparently incapable of actually making sense of what is put in front of them

I have made perfectly good sense, you my friend are not making any sense and simply are confused. Just because that is what the error states DOESN'T mean that is because it DOESN'T have enough content.

1. You have failed to show me where Google lists ANYWHERE AdSense cannot be used if there is limited content.

2. I have showed you example that it is not a content issue.

Which leaves only one conclusion. It doesn't exist and Google's system is busted, or the error they are getting is because there are problems with their site that is keeping the crawlers from accessing the content to make the KEYWORD generated Ads for the site. Do you really understand the concept of how AdSense works or even SEO for that matter? Have you ever used AdWords before? If the crawler isn't able to crawl the site and/or they don't have AdSense set up properly to the proper keywords for the content of their page then YES, they will get those errors. How do you explain how sites rich in content are being rejected? Because they have other problems. Just because the error says what it does, doesn't mean that is the end all be all root of the problem. You have to investigate as to why those errors are happening and it's not because of limited content. It's because the crawlers are not able to do their job and/or they don't have AdSense set up properly. You my friend are the one not making any sense and are confused. The proof is in the pudding, so please show me some facts to support your argument other then go Google others peoples errors. That proves nothing other then the fact people no nothing about the error.

[Arantor]

Really, do you know how many fly by night web developers or "so called" web designers out there who are just kids who think they know what they are doing and don't? Has that every crossed your mind?

Sure I do. A number of them weren't even born when I started making web pages.

Have you read the issues people are having? The problem goes deeper then just insufficient content.

Yes, I did. But in every case the reason that Google gave them at the front line was insufficient content - even if the actual problem was more detailed or something slightly different.

And again, I MYSELF ONCE RECEIVED AN INSUFFICIENT CONTENT NOTICE.

You're joking right? Google has NO overhead in the investment of this ads. It's all paid by the advertisers. They don't lose anything!

Wait, are you for real?

Sure they do, they lose profit. There is a cost to Google for physically serving an ad. Bandwidth, processing, etc. Every single request that goes to the Google adsyndication domain is a hit they have to serve. There is a physical cost attached to that.

Advertisers pay for ads, sure. But Google isn't stupid enough to blast ads out everywhere, because what they would rather be doing is targeting ads at sites. They can then charge more per ad, simple as that. They're not losing (in aggregate) but they're not making the best of it.

I have made perfectly good sense, you my friend are not making any sense and simple are confused. Just because that is what the error states DOESN'T mean that is because it DOESN'T have enough content.

I think you're the one confused. The users are listing that Google told them there was a lack of content - even if there was something else fundamentally wrong, that's still the front line message. And for the umpteenth time, I myself received a notification from Google the first time I set up Google AdSense on one of my sites, that I didn't have enough content to be accepted. The content type and navigation etc. was absolutely fine because that didn't change much when I was later accepted!

1. You have failed to show me where Google lists ANYWHERE AdSense cannot be used if there is limited content.

2. I have showed you example that it is not a content issue.

1. So what? I have given you examples that Google reports insufficient content - even if that isn't the underlying problem. I owe you no burden of proof. I would quite like the minutes of my life back wasted arguing with your arrogance.

2. So what? That's not conclusive proof that Google doesn't limit it, merely that they haven't made a rule on it. We agree there are some cases that aren't actually content issues - but yet users are reporting insufficient content reasons for refusal, that AREN'T related to navigation or other similar issues.

I could waste more time arguing but it doesn't matter, even my own experiences don't count as argument. Nothing is going to convince you, not even the message I got from Google all those years ago (the site is no longer online in any case, and at the time it had PR3, so it wasn't navigation related or any nonsense like that)

[Texan78]

Please provide me with documentation from Google that says AdSense will be rejected for insufficient content? How hard is that? Not pages and pages of people who have HAD the problem. All that proves is they are clueless to the error.

[mashby]

Maybe instead of googling as Arantor suggests (even though it certainly brings up great examples of users being turned down for insufficient content), we see how this case study here turns out. And let's apply some logic here, too. Have a look at the site where the OP wants to have AdSense appear (right now at this moment). There's one topic and it's the one that appears after installing SMF. Not exactly enough for Ads to sense enough to even appear, is it?

I doubt that Arantor will provide you the documentation you are requesting either.

[ApplianceJunk]

Google asks that your site be TLD (Top Level Domain) not a site in the subdomain, www.yoursite.com/forum for example.

I have been using google adsense with appliancejunk.com/forums for about 4.5 years now.

[nend]

I don't think Google cares about sub-folders but maybe sub-domains. I got in a long time ago when the program first started. My site was a sub-domain off from a free host domain. I didn't have much content at the time, but times could have been different back then.

Also I even got in with DoubleClick For Publishers, also known as DFP when it first came out. I use it from time to time on some of my big projects, but for the small stuff I just use plain AdSense. Only difference with DFP is that advertisers compete for the ad space and it is a more flexible system.

Another program I am with is AdMob but that is for my mobile development.

However lately I haven't been making too much on web but I do pretty well on other platforms.

You can always try though and see what happens. I have a friend though that recently got denied for AdSense and AdMob and Google hasn't gave any reason as to why. His forum usually has around 3,000 new members and around 5,000 post a month. I am a moderator at that forum and we still haven't figured out what is Google's problem with his site.

So even the top forums get denied, like I mention in this post you can always give it a try. 

[Texan78]

Maybe instead of googling as Arantor suggests (even though it certainly brings up great examples of users being turned down for insufficient content),

As I've given great reasoning as to why it is happening.

we see how this case study here turns out. And let's apply some logic here, too. Have a look at the site where the OP wants to have AdSense appear (right now at this moment). There's one topic and it's the one that appears after installing SMF. Not exactly enough for Ads to sense enough to even appear, is it?

Maybe not, but it also is not enough to reject it all together as he is stating. Where just about half of his examples are of sites with plenty of content and they are complaining of the same issue, why? I've also supplied screen shots to one of my forums that is not launched that has no relative content but AdSense still works. Why is that?

Just because he has 40K+ posts doesn't mean he knows all what he is talking about. I have 34+ yrs experience in web development and have many close contacts with SEO engineers at Google. Instead of maybe learning a trick or two he would rather argue the fact with no supporting documentation. This kind of behavior is rather misleading to the community as he states the general error is just because it's due to not enough content when that is a complete fallacy. No where does Google state they will reject sites due to limited content. It is due to other issues and I have MANY MANY sites that have little to zero content when they are set up and delivered to clients with AdSense installed by request and I have encountered zero issues. You would think in the 100+ sites I have done I would have at least encountered this issue once. Does that not tell you anything?

Let me break this down for you on just some small points of how it gets rejected. The content is a very vague error and Google does not really give much information in this regards. It's not so much as not enough content but the type of content. If you have SEO measures in place along with the following you are certain to not get rejected. There may be many many reasons that you are not getting approval from Google Adsense account on your blog or website. I have shared most of the reasons of not getting approval from Google Adsense already. If you are working on all the reasons before submitting a Google Adsense application again then I am 90% sure that you will get the approval from Google Adsense next time.

1. Type of website: The very first reason of not getting approval from Google Adsense is that you are not using right website URL before sending the Google Adsense application. Google is not accepting any new application with the following URLs:
- URL of a free hosted website
- URL of Blogs
- URL of website containing Non-legal contents.

If you have your own website then only you can fill a Google Adsense application form to get approval from Google Adsense. Otherwise, your Google Adsense application will be rejected after seeing your website URL only.

2. Age of website: Earlier domain age was not a problem but now if your domain age is not more than 6 months before applying for google Adsense account then your Google Adsense application will be rejected immediately without seeing other information of your application. So, Make sure that the age of your domain is at least 6 months old.

3. Contents of Your Website: If you have your own website and the age of the domain is also greater than 6 months then content of your website may cause disapproval of your Google Adsense application. Google always prefers Original and rich contents. If your content is rich but not original that means copied from other websites or source then your Google Adsense application will not be approved. So, Make sure that you have original contents posted on your website before applying for Google Adsense. If you do not have original contents then you should delete all the copied content and start from fresh and once you have better self written contents on your website then apply for Google Adsense account. It is better to get Google Adsense account after some time rather than getting disapproval every time.

4. Website Update: If you have top level domain, 6 months old website and content of your website is also genuine then this may affect the Google Adsense approval. If you have not updated your website from long time, suppose you are working on your 1-2 years old website and have not updated your website from last few months, then your Google Adsense application will be rejected. Make sure you are updating your website in a regular interval of time.

5. Google Adsense application from same IP Address: If you have got one or more time rejection on your Google Adsense application then make sure that you are not applying for Google Adsense account from same IP Address again and again. If Google Adsense have denied your application in the past then keep in the mind that it will not approve your application from same IP Address from next time. So, Make sure that you are applying from different IP Address if you have got rejected in the past.

6. Your Postal Address may affect Google adsense approval: I hope you read the point 5 so make sure that you are not using same IP address while applying for Google Adsense account. Now, If you are applying from different IP Address then make sure that you are not using the same postal address and personal details which you have submitted in your previously rejected application. If Google will know that you are the same person who have applied earlier and got rejected with any reason then it will become very hard to get approval from Adsense again. Because this is not good if you are applying again and again after getting disapproval. According to Google Adsense team, If you Adsense application is rejected then you should wait for 5 months or more for applying again.

Now with that said, go look at all the pages of problems people are having and look at what kind of web site it may be as well as underlying issues with their SEO. That is why the error is created, not because of lack of content. I have proved this over and over and until someone can provide documentation otherwise then you can keep believing it's for lack of content or maybe learn a little something that will ether fix or prevent it. Then when you are wondering why you're not getting indexed properly or getting keyword rich ads you can think back. I have 4 Forums, 3 launched that generate me $1500 a month now without any effort. Why? Because I know what I am doing and have taken the extra steps and hard work to make sure everything is legit and the way it is suppose to be up and down the board.

So if people want to profile me because I only have 200+ posts verses someone that has 40K+ that's suppose to justify that I have no clue what I am talking about. Then so be it.... My life still goes on regardless.

I have been using google adsense with appliancejunk.com/forums for about 4.5 years now.

Never said it was a requirement, just that they ask for it to be TLD. More targeting against sites with sub-domains, not so much in folders. It is a deciding factor, but doesn't play a big part if all the other requirements check out. Also since you have been up and running for 4.5 yrs now. I am pretty sure you are grandfathered in from the new TOS agreements that were implemented in 2010.