AdSense sent an email to publishers alerting them to a new policy related to Russia’s war on Ukraine that could result in lower revenue. This update is intended to expand and clarify existing policies regarding where display advertising is not acceptable.
Google suspends monetization of certain content
Email to publishers alerts to new policy on Ukrainian war content and expands on current policy against monetizing content
Google framed updates in email subject lines as “Important Notice: Update on Ukraine. “
The notice states:
“Because of the war in Ukraine, we will suspend the monetization of content that exploits, refutes or condones the war.
…Such pauses include, but are not limited to, assertions that suggest victims are responsible for their own tragedies or similar incidents of victim-blaming, such as claims that Ukraine is committing genocide or deliberately attacking its own citizens. “
The above email notification extends the recently updated Official Google Publisher Policy.
The current policy update posted online only states:
“Because of the war in Ukraine, we will suspend the monetization of content that exploits, refutes or condones the war.”
AdSense policy is an agreement
Participating in the AdSense program means that publishers agree to abide by the policies set forth in the program.
Publishers that feature user-generated content, such as reviews or online forums, should pay special attention to this new policy.
Publishers who insist on hosting content that violates Google’s policies need to remove Google AdSense from pages hosting content that violates AdSense’s policies.
The policy does not dictate what kind of content publishers can publish.
It only informs publishers on what content AdSense is allowed to appear on.
The policy itself states:
“Google helps enable a free and open web by helping publishers monetize their content and helping advertisers reach potential customers with useful, relevant products and services. Maintaining trust in the advertising ecosystem requires a sense of what we will gain through set limits.”
So, if your content doesn’t comply with those rules on what content can be monetized, publishers may want to consider removing ads from those pages, because while Google may stop monetizing ads, Google may also do so entirely AdSense account.
The policy states:
“Failure to comply with these policies may result in Google blocking ads from appearing on your content, or suspending or terminating your account.”
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