Monday, February 14, 2011

VERY Important for Fellow Bloggers Using Adsense!

Alright guys, I recently found something that had me a bit concerned, and realized that it was putting my adsense account at risk. That something is a privacy policy. I hadn't realized I needed to make one of these, but it's listed clearly in the program policies.

Knowing this, I searched around, and got to finding some instructions and making a privacy policy, which you can all now see linked in the upper right corner of my blog. If you're using adsense, you *must* also have a privacy policy on your site, or risk getting a nice lifetime ban from the program. So, without further ado, here are those instructions:

1. Open my adsense policy from here.
2. Copy and paste it into notepad.
3. Search and replce my url and replace it with yours.
4. Create a new post on your blog and paste it in.
5. Go to the post options at the bottom of the post window.
6. Set the date and time to before your first post date - i went for 01/01/01 00:00.
7. Add a tag(label) called Privacy Policy (if you'd like...not 100% necessary)
8. Submit the post.
9. Navigate to your Privacy Policy and copy the URL

Now, you need to add a gadget on your blog, like you can see I did.

1. Go to the design tab on your dashboard
2. Edit Layout
3. Click "Add a Gadget" where you would like to place the box
4. Scroll down and select the "HTML/Javascript" Gadget
5. Give it an appropriate title
6. Link your privacy policy using the URL you copied earlier

Add the gadget, and you're done!

Hopefully this post will be helpful to many of you guys, as I can't imagine the frustration I'd feel if I got banned for not doing something as simple as this. The reason Google requires us to post this is because it actually violates US law if we don't, and that can turn around and bite them in the ass. They aren't willing to risk problems with the law just because us small fish don't bother posting a privacy policy. I hadn't known I needed one, but as should be apparent by now, I've added one. Adsense is a great program, that allows us bloggers to receive compensation for doing the writing we all enjoy. The least we can do is abide by the rules, and at the same time, insure our continued use of the program.

I hope this post helped you guys out. If you have any questions/comments, as always, let me know in the comments.
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43 comments:

  1. Derrick OFebruary 14, 2011 at 7:38 AM

    what exactly does this do?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ErasmusFebruary 14, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    Hi Derrick,

    Essentially, what this does, is cover your ass legally. I forget the law, but sites in the US that use certain cookies are required to inform their visitors of them. That's where the privacy policy comes in. This is basically a "told you so" page. It lets you tell anyone raging about their privacy being violated that you told them, and it was their own fault for not looking.

    Google requires this, because they have their own cookies associated with Adsense, and by being on your site, you are in a way representing them, and therefore affecting their corporate image. It also lets them avoid legal issues, which is the biggest reason.

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  3. D4February 14, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    Thanks for this! Many many many thanks!

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  4. D4February 14, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    Though, omensblog?

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  5. ErasmusFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    Ah, nice catch. That was the site I got the privacy policy from, then copied it over. (which he recommended) I'll fix it when I'm onto an actual computer. Thanks for pointing that out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    You sure about this, isnt this handled by blogger as they are hosting the site?

    ReplyDelete
  7. ErasmusFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:28 AM

    That's what I wondered, then I did a bunch of poking around the adsense help forums and things. Everyone seemed to agree that you needed it, even on blogger. I figure better safe than sorry. If you can find anything official saying it isn't needed, I'd love to see it.

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  8. John McGoughFebruary 14, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    Yeah, better safe then sorry, even you arent in the US. Damn leagalese BS if you ask me, but hey ho.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ErasmusFebruary 14, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    I hate jumping through legal hoops as much as the next guy, believe me. But I figure it's worth doing.

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  10. JimFebruary 14, 2011 at 9:41 AM

    Very good, unfortunately I no longer use adsense.

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  11. ErasmusFebruary 14, 2011 at 9:51 AM

    Removed from the program? Or were you seeing higher returns from another ad network?

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  12. MikasFebruary 14, 2011 at 10:25 AM

    Thank you, will do this in my blogs!

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  13. Stuff that matters, stuff that don'tFebruary 14, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    Thanks a lot for the tip and the privacy policy!

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  14. BrendanFebruary 14, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    thanks for sharing

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  15. Allen_104February 14, 2011 at 1:01 PM

    Will keep that in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Body1February 14, 2011 at 1:06 PM

    happy valentines day!!!

    I wait on my blog!!

    $upporting BRO

    ReplyDelete
  17. loveblogginFebruary 14, 2011 at 1:15 PM

    great stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  18. LeviuqseFebruary 14, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    thanks for the stuff!!!
    now on my way to put the privacy policy crap in my blog

    ReplyDelete
  19. Double CFebruary 14, 2011 at 1:58 PM

    I had no idea, either! Thank you so much for posting this information.

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  20. KugyFebruary 14, 2011 at 2:52 PM

    Thank you so much! just want to let you know i love you haha

    following!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. AdamFebruary 14, 2011 at 3:31 PM

    Thanks for this great info

    followed

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    Thanks for the heads up :D

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ainsley C.February 14, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    I think this only applies to if you have a website on a third party or your own domain and server.

    In the case of blogger, this is already taken care of when you agree to the Terms and Conditions when signing up.

    ReplyDelete
  24. ErasmusFebruary 14, 2011 at 5:29 PM

    That was my initial thoughts, but I wanted to be sure. And as I said above, better safe than sorry. But as you're the second person to question, here's a few links dug up quick saying that it's needed:

    http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=3b99af0723768bf6&hl=en

    http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=44cc2ef256a6dbbf&hl=en

    http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=44cc2ef256a6dbbf&hl=en


    As you can see if you look at the more experienced posts there. (from higher level, more active participants and not random tards), there is a fairly consistent pattern of needing it. They could all be wrong, but without an official Google comment, I'm playing it safe, and I recommend others do as well.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AFebruary 14, 2011 at 5:50 PM

    Hey, wow thanks a lot, I probably would've gone without one till I got banned.

    Again, thanks a lot I'll be posting one as soon as possible!

    ReplyDelete
  26. NemesisFebruary 14, 2011 at 6:55 PM

    great info thx for the heads up!

    ReplyDelete
  27. NoMoreTroubleFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:33 PM

    Thanks for the info, might be a way to enforce bans arbitrarily... (though they have that option anyways). Will be sure to put this on my site.

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  28. NoMoreTroubleFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:48 PM

    Also, how did you hide the privacy post from your blog with it still being linkable? If I save a post as a draft I no longer can link it...?

    ReplyDelete
  29. ThuganomicsFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    good catch. i had no idea about this

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  30. 'AuanaFebruary 14, 2011 at 10:42 PM

    wow, nice find... saved my ass

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  31. WolfdogFebruary 14, 2011 at 11:12 PM

    Nice find thank you so much for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete
  32. ErasmusFebruary 15, 2011 at 5:57 AM

    @NoMoreTrouble

    I'm not sure how you would keep it out of your post listings, but what we can do is make them the first post, which I see you've done. I'm not sure how we would hide it entirely, bloger may not have the functionality.

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  33. marcoandredinisFebruary 15, 2011 at 7:20 AM

    Thanks, i didn't know that

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  34. D.February 15, 2011 at 7:21 AM

    thanks, applied

    ReplyDelete
  35. WitteusFebruary 15, 2011 at 7:30 AM

    Indeed nice find thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  36. KazonFebruary 15, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    Thanks for that. I'm in Australia but did it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  37. GamerGanzFebruary 15, 2011 at 7:32 AM

    Thank you for this.
    Better safe then sorry indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  38. WobblesFebruary 15, 2011 at 7:33 AM

    VERY much appreciated, Eramus.

    ReplyDelete
  39. BlowingInTheWindFebruary 15, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    Thanks gonna do this soon!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Brendan McCartyFebruary 15, 2011 at 8:58 AM

    great stuff, just added this myself. thanks!

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  41. CYFebruary 15, 2011 at 9:31 AM

    Added this, thanks for the information.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Yuki OokamiFebruary 15, 2011 at 10:13 AM

    Thanks for all the good info I added you why dont you come check me out some time!

    ReplyDelete
  43. helelsjsFebruary 15, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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