June 16th, 2006
“Hidden” AdSense Link Unit
While randomly surfing the web recently, I came across an AdSense vertical link unit blended in a way I’ve never seen before. I’m not sure how unique it is to you since you could have either seen it (the site I found it on, Blogger Templates, is very popular) or done it before, but here’s a screenshot:
IMO, this method of blending is particularly ingenious because the Ads by Google on the link unit ends up being a header (or rather, title) for the Firefox referral unit below it - leaving the ad links looking very much like conventional navigation links. The blending is further “enhanced” by placing clear separators between the links in the link unit through an image background - making the link unit look even more like site navigation.
Of course, a key question must be asked: Is this method of blending legal according to the AdSense Terms of Service? I’m not sure, but given the lack of distinction between ad and content that results from the use of this method, I’d stay away from doing something like this, even though the obscenely high CTR that could emerge from such a well-blended link unit is definitely very tempting.
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2 Comments
June 25th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
[…] Blogger TemplatesProvides 26 templates ported from a variety of quality open source themes. Featured this site earlier when I talked about its hidden AdSense link unit - which contrary to what I said earlier, is actually perfectly compatible with the AdSense TOS. […]
July 30th, 2006 at 11:56 am
[…] Sneaky, or rather, creative means of blending AdSense adverts are commonplace. We’ve seen our fair share of them here, with this hidden link unit (or rather, used to be) being one example. […]
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