New Adsense blend in work.. can you spot the third banner?

[DaStarBuG]

Hi

Today I worked a lot on blending in google adsense banners.

My best work you can view here:

http://www.hiphop-battles.com/forum/...splay.php?f=10

Can you spot the third adsense banner?

Feedback is welcome

StarBuG

ps: I contacted Google about if the implementation is ok with them. If they say no I let you know

[WoodiE55]

DaStarBuG,

I've thought about doing the samething but could never figure out how to do it in the manner you have done - mind sharing?

I'd also be interested in hearing what Google has to say about this kind of placement.


-Michael

[DaStarBuG]

Edit the threadbit template.

At the top add:

<if condition="$GLOBALS[threadcount] == X AND in_array(THIS_SCRIPT, array('forumdisplay')) AND is_member_of($bbuserinfo, 1,2)">
<if condition="$GLOBALS[threadcount]++"></if>
<tr>
    <td class="alt1">
        <img src="$stylevar[imgdir_statusicon]/thread_moved.gif" alt="" border="" />
    </td>
        <td class="alt2">&nbsp;</td>

    <td class="alt1">
        <div>
        INSERT ADSENSE HERE
        </div>        
    </td>
    
    <td class="alt2 smallfont" align="center">Sponsored Link</td>

        <td class="alt1" align="center"></td>
        <td class="alt2" align="center"></td>
         <if condition="$show['inlinemod']"><td class="alt1" align="center"></td></if>

</tr> 
<else />

    <if condition="$GLOBALS[threadcount]++"></if>


</if>

Change X to the numerical value that you want

that was the original hack that places the adsense half banner ad below the Xth thread.

The rest is a modification of the threadbit layout.

As soon as google replies I let you know

[Harry-Inc.com]

Nicely Done

[WoodiE55]

Very nice - thanks so much!




-Michael

[DaStarBuG]

you´r welcome

[briansol]

There shouldn't be a problem from google on this. only thing that MIGHT be an issue is the moved arrow.

[ben51959]

How is it performing so far? Compared to before you had it there...

[DaStarBuG]

So far it's performing good.
I had not that much clicks on the forum and at first I had it as last thread ad.
I got 1-2 clicks a day now it is on for about 1 day and I already have 6 clicks so it tripled even if 6 is not much.

My next idea is to have it positioned randomly but I need someone to make the code for it. I requested it at vb.org. We´ll see

[klik]

Nice site my friend, would you be interested in exchanging links?

[Adverture]

Blending your banners is great on a forum but don't get to "SAVY" google might pull the plug on you.

Nice Job!

[azn_romeo_4u]

nice hack man!!! Very useful! Could be the big money maker for forums...seriously forums have the lowest CTR in the world...because of the frequent visitors and large amount of pageviews.

[DaStarBuG]

I got the answer from Google

Hello Michael,

Thank you for your email. After reviewing
http://www.hiphop-battles.com/forum/...f=10&styleid=1, we've
found that the ad implementation may mislead users to believe that the ad
unit contains a link to a forum thread. Because this may confuse users and
lead to invalid clicks, we ask that you change the placement of your ads.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

For additional questions, we suggest you visit our AdSense Help Center at
https://www.google.com/support/adsense . If you're unable to find an
answer to your question on our site, please feel free to reply to this
email.

Sincerely,

Arlene
The Google AdSense Team

I replied to this email to clarify if the placing in general is not allowed or just the camouflage as thread (icons, thread view numbers, starts, etc).

I changed the look and now we wait to see if google accepts this kind of placement:
http://www.hiphop-battles.com/forum/...f=10&styleid=1

I'll keep you updated

[azn_romeo_4u]

damn that sucks...but maybe you should try to add the word "Sponsors" at the top of the ad. I guess too much blending might get you in trouble then.

[DaStarBuG]

Just got a reply from google that my placing now is acceptable for them

Hello Michael,

Thanks for your follow-up email. As you've noted, we found that the
previous use of thread icons and blending on your page could mislead
users. However, we've now re-reviewed
http://www.hiphop-battles.com/forum/...f=10&styleid=1 and
found that the updated ad implementation is currently acceptable by our
program policies.

For additional questions, we suggest you visit our AdSense Help Center at
https://www.google.com/support/adsense . If you're unable to find an
answer to your question on our site, please feel free to reply to this
email.

Sincerely,

Arlene
The Google AdSense Team

So the next step will be the random placement of the ad between the threads
Does anyone has an idea how to implement a random display of the ad?

StarBuG

[Troutnut]

I emailed Google asking about the same kind of thing a few weeks ago, and they told me no, too.

[Jarodboy]

They didn't ask you to put a border between the image and the ads?
Cool i guess

[DaStarBuG]

No they did not. They accepted the forum as is.

I also asked them once if it would be a problem if I display the ad in the navbar template which would result in the ad beeing displayed on non content pages as well.
They said that this would be "currently acceptable by our
program policies."