AdSense It!
Contents
AdSense It!
AdSense It! allows you to add as many as 3 AdSense ad blocks to each page automatically.
Simply set up 8 Ad Units in AdSense (we'll tell you which ones to create).
Copy and paste the code onto the AdSense It! tool page, set your "Aggressivity" level, and then "forget it."
You need a Google AdSense account to be able to use AdSense It!. If you have not already created an account, do that here.
If you aren't familiar with how AdSense works, or would like a refresher, the AdSense series in the Monetization HQ has everything you need to know to be successful with Google's ad system.
Important Notes
If you use BlockBuilder 2, and place AdSense code into Sitewide Dots, you'll end up violating Google's terms of service if you also activate AdSense It!.
To avoid this, only use AdSense It! if you hide the content of those dots in the C2 Submissions Pages template, the C2 Standalone Comments Pages template (if you have standalone comments pages), and the C2 Thank You/Comment-Form Pages template.
You can edit all three of them via Page Manager and BB2.
The number of ad blocks that will appear on a page, their location, and their size depend on...
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the length of the submission (the number of words)
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whether comments appear on the same page
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whether there's at least one image, and
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your AdSense aggressivity (the higher the aggressivity you select, the more ad blocks will appear on the submission page, to a maximum of 3. Also, the ad blocks will tend to be larger, and their locations farther up the page).
You have 3 options for placing ad blocks in a submission, once you've activated AdSense It!.
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Global -- the aggressivity setting here in AdSense It! will affect every submission for every invitation.
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Invitation -- you can change the aggressivity setting by invitation, so that all submissions for one invitation can have 3 ad blocks while all the submissions for another invitation can have just 1 block, even if the global setting is 2 ad blocks per submission.
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Submission -- you can change the aggressivity setting by submission as well. This change overrides both the Global and Invitation settings. For example, you can place just 1 ad block (or none) on one particular submission only, even if the Global setting places 3 ad blocks and the Invitation setting places 2.
Important Reminder for UYOH Users
If you built your site using Upload Your Own HTML (UYOH), and then converted your pages to BB2, did you also build the C2 templates?
If not, consider doing that now, so that you have more control over where the ads will display on your submission and other C2 pages.
AdSense Display
- Select the display option you prefer for your submissions and comments.
Decide whether you want to display Ad Units only on your submission pages (the default), on both submission and comment pages/sections, or only on the comment pages/sections.
You'll also see an option to put the first ad just below the main headline, above the first paragraph. (The default is to have the first ad appear just after the first paragraph.)
We highly recommend that you do not check this box.
This could result in the suspension or banning of your account by AdSense, since having ads on the first screen on mobile devices will result in a ranking penalty.
We have included this option for some SBIers who don't want to change how things have been on their site. If you decide to place the first ad below the headline, you do so at your own risk of being banned or suspended by AdSense.
Global Aggressivity
Aggressivity (the number of ad blocks on a page, their size, and their location) depends on several factors. These include...
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the length of the submission...
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If the submission has 200 words or fewer, 1 ad block will display on the page.
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If the word count is 201-500, 2 ad blocks will appear on the page.
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If there are 501-1,000 words, Google's maximum of 3 ad blocks will display on the page.
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If comments appear on the same page, 1 more ad block can be added to the submission page, to a total of 3 (e.g., a 50 word submission can have 2 ad blocks).
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If your contributor included one or more images, or you add one during the approval process, 1 more ad block will appear on the page, to a maximum of 3 (e.g., a 50 word submission with one image can have 2 ad blocks; if it also has comments on the page, it can have 3 ad blocks).
Although the above is listed in "words," we count using characters.
We base each "word" as 10 characters, so a 200 word submission is roughly 2,000 characters. The maximum number of characters allowed in a submission is 10,000, or roughly 1,000 words.
The text box containing the submission's content includes a character counter.
This tells you how many characters the submission has (divide by 10 for the number of words), and thus how many ad blocks the submission can have, based on the word count, presence of images, and whether comments are on the same page.
Select from the drop-down menu your sitewide (all submissions for all invitations) Global Aggressivity level.
Submission Pages
Your options for the submission page (with or without comments on the same page) include...
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Turn Off -- aggressivity is turned off and no ads are displayed on submission pages.
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1 -- A 234x60 (half-banner) centered ad block (regardless of the number of words). It will appear at the end of the submission, just after the "Join in and write your own page!" link.
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2 -- A 468x60 (banner) centered ad block (regardless of the number of words). It will appear at the end of the submission, just after the "Join in and write your own page!" link.
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3 -- A maximum of 2 ad blocks can appear (depending on the number of words, and the other factors noted above)...
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A 125x125 (button) left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph of the submission's text.
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A 468x60 centered ad block just above the comments headline (if comments are on the same page) or just after the "Join in and write your own page!" link.
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4 -- A maximum of 2 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above).
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A 125x125 left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph of the submission's text.
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A 468x60 centered ad block just after the "Join in and write your own page!" link.
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5 -- The Google maximum of 3 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above).
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A 250x250 (square) left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph of the submission content (if there are fewer than 500 words, a 125x125 block will replace the 250x250 here).
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A 250x250 right-aligned ad block, part way into the text, if there are over 500 words; if fewer than 500, a 468x60 centered block will appear just above the comments headline (if comments are on the same page).
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A 468x60 centered ad block just after the "Join in and write your own page!" link.
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6 -- The Google maximum of 3 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above).
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A 336x280 (large rectangle) left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph of the submission content (if there are fewer than 500 words, a 250x250 right-aligned block will replace the 300x250 ad block).
If you used responsive ad code for your ad blocks, Google will always display the best ad size for the device viewing the submission. Or, you can tell Google which ad size to display for each device. See Using AdSense Responsive Ads in Your Responsive Site in the TNT HQ for advice on using the various coding options.
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A 250x250 right-aligned ad block, part way into the text, if there are over 500 words; if fewer than 500, a 300x250 centered block will appear just above the comments headline (if comments are on the same page).
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A 300x250 centered ad block just after the "Join in and write your own page!" link.
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Very Important
Remember that the aggressivity you set here is global, that is, it will affect every submission in every invitation, unless you choose a different aggressivity at the invitation level or individual submission level.
Review the help for setting the AdSense Aggressivity Invitation Preference and for editing new submissions for details on overriding the global setting.
Merged Pages
If you have merged several submissions onto one page, the aggressivity is based on the first submission only. Therefore, if the first one is very short, you may only have one ad on the page.
If you want more ads, edit the merged page to place a long submission first.
You could also make the short submission longer by adding a reply to the submission. Or you can add a photo to that short first submission, which will add another ad to the merged page.
Standalone Comments Pages
Due to Google's Panda algorithm, we recommend that you place all comments on their corresponding submission page, which is the default. You can make this change in the Comments and Ratings Prefs section of C2.
The number of ads that will appear on a standalone comments page are based on ...
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the number of comments on the page...
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If you have one comment, a maximum of 1 ad block will display, regardless of the aggressivity setting.
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If there are 2-4 comments, you can have up to 2 ad blocks (depending on your aggressivity setting and the total word count).
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If there are 5 or more comments, you can have the maximum of 3 ad blocks.
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the total word count. If the word count for all the comments is 500 or more, you can have 1 more ad block, to a total of 3.
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the aggressivity setting.
Your aggressivity options for standalone comments pages include...
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Turn Off -- Aggressivity is turned off and no ads are displayed on comments pages.
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1 -- A 468x60 centered ad block below the "Return to..." link that leads back to the invitation page.
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2 -- A maximum of 2 ad blocks can appear (depending on the number of comments, and the other factors noted above)...
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A 468x60 centered ad block, between 2 of the comments.
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A 468x60 centered ad block below the "Return to..." link that leads back to the invitation page.
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3 -- A maximum of 2 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above)...
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A 125x125 left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph on the page.
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A 468x60 centered ad block below the "Return to..." link that leads back to the invitation page.
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4 -- A maximum of 2 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above)...
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A 125x125 left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph on the page.
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A 468x60 centered ad block below the "Return to..." link that leads back to the invitation page.
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5 -- The Google maximum of 3 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above)...
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A 468x60 centered ad block below the first paragraph on the page.
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A 468x60 centered ad block, between 2 of the comments, if there are at least 2 comments.
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A 468x60 centered ad block below the "Return to..." link that leads back to the invitation page.
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6 -- The Google maximum of 3 ad blocks can appear (depending on the factors noted above)...
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A 250x250 left-aligned ad block below the first paragraph on the page. If there are fewer than 500 words, a 125x125 left-aligned block will replace the 250x250.
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A 468x60 centered ad block, between 2 of the comments, if there are at least 2 comments.
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A 300x250 centered ad block below the "Return to..." link that leads back to the invitation page.
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Merged Page Comments
Even if you have comments set to appear on each submission page, merged pages have a separate comments page for each merged submission. So check that your comments pages have the number of ads you expect to see on them.
AdSense Code
Important Note:
You must paste in the code for each of the ad sizes in the tool page, even if you don't plan on using some of them (based on your aggressivity level).
That means you'll need to create Ad Units for each of the following in AdSense (remember to add a custom channel to each unit).
To ensure that ads always fit the device (mobile, desktop, etc.), select the Responsive ad type when choosing what type of ad unit to build.
AdSense provides the code for specific ad sizes. You also have several options, including going "generic" (using "rectangle," "vertical" and "horizontal" instead of specific ad sizes), using flexible ad sizes, and electing to always hide ads on mobile devices (or mid-size devices).
See this TNT HQ article for details about the various ad options, and how to code them.
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336x280 (large rectangle)
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300x250 (medium rectangle)
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250x250 (square)
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200x200 (small square)
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125x125 (button)
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468x60 (banner)
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234x60 (half banner)
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120x600 (narrow skyscraper)
Before creating any ads (or converting from non-responsive to responsive ads), read Using AdSense Responsive Ads in Your Mobilized/Responsive Site in the TNT HQ for advice on using the various coding options that give you more say, and flexibility, when displaying ads on desktops/laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
- Set up an AdSense account, if necessary.
- Build each Ad Unit. Select the Responsive ad type, then a color scheme and add a custom channel. Give each ad a unique name when saving it.
- Copy the code provided by Google. Paste the code into a text document.
- Copy the code you want to use from the TNT article and paste it into the text document. Following the instructions in the article, create your ad code.
- Copy the code and paste it into the text box provided on the AdSense It! tool page for that particular unit.
To obtain your AdSense code, you need to set up an Ad Unit for each ad size (listed above).
Follow Google's online help to create your first Ad Unit (colors and size) and a custom channel (for tracking purposes). (For more on channels, see the Monetization HQ article AdSense Top Tips.)
Highlight and copy the code that Google provides, then paste it into a text document. In the TNT article you read earlier, copy the code you want to use for your ad unit and paste it into the text doc.
Following the instructions in the TNT article, create your ad unit code. Once done, return to the AdSense It! tool page and paste your code into the correct text box.
Repeat for the remaining seven units. Note that you do not have to use the same optional code (from the TNT article) for each unit. You can select "rectangle" for one, then list specific sizes in another, and flexible ad units in a third.
Tips
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When designing your ads, choose colors that are similar to or complement your site's design.
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In AdSense, create a custom channel for each Ad Unit, so that you can track how well your C2 ads are doing.
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Give each Ad Unit a unique name so that you can immediately distinguish it from other ads in the ad management tool page in AdSense. If you start each name with "C2," those names will all appear together in the management tool page.
Enable AdSense It!/Re-Build Ad Units
- Click on Enable AdSense It! to build your Ad Units across all published submission pages and comments pages/sections, based on the factors discussed above.
- Click on Re-Build Ad Units if you edited your Ad Unit code.
When you use AdSense It! for the first time, you see an Enable AdSense It! button at the bottom of the tool page.
Click the button to put Ad Units on each submission page that you publish (including any that are already published).
Tip
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After you've enabled AdSense It!, any time you return and change the Global Aggressivity level or paste in new AdSense code, the button will say Re-Build Ad Units.
Click on the button to change the number and location of the ad blocks, or to change all applicable ad blocks to your new ad code. It could take 60 minutes or more for the ad changes to appear on all your C2 pages.
Remember, however, that AdSense It! is a "set it and forget it" tool. If you take the time to set your aggressivity correctly, and set channels correctly inside AdSense, you may never need to return to this tool page.