For those who work as publishers, having a site banned by Google can be a huge problem. Imagine losing overnight a site that generates tens of dollars per month. For many, this doesn’t just mean a drop in revenue, but the failure of the business as a whole, so it’s principal to take all necessary precautions to avoid restrictions.
All you need to do is be aware of Google’s Policies and comply with them. That way, your website, and your business will be safe and able to monetize more and more. Keep in mind that complying with Google’s rules also opens doors to numerous ad networks and monetization partners, as these guidelines are used by most of the programmatic media market.
Google is committed to improving the digital advertising ecosystem. As such, several updates to its policies are periodically made to contribute to a healthier, more reliable, and transparent marketplace in a way that works for users, advertisers, and publishers.
Keep in mind that some updates are minor, but others can be quite significant and even cause definitive penalties. This is what happened to many sites that had already been approved and, with the 2022 policy updates, were reviewed and suffered retention, clawback, or even banning.
The tip, therefore, is to always keep an eye on the Google Help Center, where all changes are announced in advance. The good news is that we have gathered, below, the points that most need attention when it comes to avoiding a banned site. Check them out!
Also read: From DJ to publisher with 6-figure monthly income: Henrick’s story with MonetizeMore
As one of the most important advertising companies in the world, Google is concerned with ensuring a pleasant and safe environment for all users and advertisers, so its policies involve several different points, which include, for example:
We will talk more about the precautions needed to have a perfect site for monetization and avoid banning in the next lines:
The care you need to take in order not to have your site banned should begin at the domain selection stage. It is not possible to monetize sites with subdomains or free hosting. Moreover, those sites that are widely known, such as Google or Facebook, for example, are also banned.
Another point of attention is to make sure that your pages are being indexed by Google. This can take a few days, depending on the relevance of your business. Use the command “site:nameofyoursite.com.acronymofyourcountry” to do the indexation check.
Another detail that may seem small, but it is essential not to have a banned site, is the Privacy Policy of your website, which should be visible and with the technical specifications required by Google.
When the topic is content, the list of precautions is a little longer. The first tip is to invest in quality content, with posting frequency and, in the case of blogs, always with publication date and author’s signature.
Another crucial point is to produce original content. Duplicate content or content with copyright restrictions are easily detected by Google bots and can generate undesirable bans for your site.
For Google, everything that is inside your site is your responsibility, even those contents generated automatically or by users, such as comments, chats, and instant messages. It is therefore vital to monitor these types of material to ensure they do not violate any policies either.
Google and all serious ad networks are concerned with only serving ads on sites that provide a good user experience and security for advertisers. So it is paramount to avoid any action that could be construed as an abusive experience, that means that one designed to mislead site visitors, such as:
Also, don’t forget to protect your site visitors from possible viruses or malware. Google bots scan pages and detect and penalize software or downloadable executables that negatively affect the user experience.
Did you know that talking about certain topics can get your site banned? Illegal content, for example, that promotes illegal activities or violates the rights of others, should not be used. Also, content that promotes any form of hacking or cracking is considered a violation of Google’s Policies and makes it impossible to monetize with ads. See other examples of prohibited topics:
Investing in website monetization is a very lucrative business that can quickly yield thousands of dollars per month. To make things better, the programmatic media market only has to grow. By 2023, it is estimated that 83% of the amounts invested in digital media in the country – something around 10 billion dollars – will be negotiated via programmatic means; it means, in an automated way, without human interference.
However, it is up to the publishers to avoid having their sites banned so that their income is not threatened. Unfortunately, losing a site is something very recurrent in the career of beginning publishers, but you don’t have to go through this. Or, if you already have, know that it is possible to start over correctly and safely.
To help you, we have prepared an e-book (in Portuguese) that gathers in detail all the above guidelines, as well as links to the Help Center and videos that thoroughly explain each guideline. Read it for free!
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