Google Adsense FAQ

What Counts As a Click?

AdSense users can sign up for either cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM) advertisements. CPC ads pay whenever a user clicks on them, passing through to the advertiser's webpage. CPM ads pay when shown on your site, whether or not the user clicks through. In general, CPM ads pay significantly less per thousand impressions than CPC ads. Some users prefer them because they don't require visitors to engage in an action, however.

Where Are Ads Displayed?

Members of AdSense choose the location for ad display, enabling them to integrate the service with their site design. According to Google, some locations are more common, since users spend more time looking at that area of the site. However, placing an ad in these areas, where users normally expect to see content, can cause navigation problems or irritate visitors. Most ads are placed on the left or right hand side of the page, above or below the navigation bar, or directly above the page footer. Unobtrusive ads usually receive better visitor approval, but tend to get fewer clicks. Advertisers often pay more for better positioning on a page.

Can Site Owners Filter Ads?

Not all advertisements shown through AdSense are appropriate for all websites. For instance, ads offering diet plans may be offensive on an eating disorder support site. Users can use the competitive ad filter tool and the ad review center to keep offensive or inappropriate ads off their websites. The competitive ad filter helps AdSense users manage a list of advertisers whose ads aren't permitted on their site, while the ad review center allows users to prevent placement-targeted ads from appearing, either by advertiser or by group.

How Does Google Choose Which Ads to Display?

Google AdSense is meant to display ads relevant to the site content and the interests of site visitors. It uses contextual and placement targeting to accomplish this, as well as advertising to visitors based on their interests. Contextual targeting is based on the keywords, structure and link style of a given page. This technique does produce some false positives, however, such as advertisements for credit cards on debt reduction pages. Placement targeting allows advertisers to choose specific sites and locations for their ads, introducing a human element, while interest-based advertising uses information from visitors' computers and previous behaviors to determine what ads to show them.