This morning I reported that Google is changing what constitutes a click on an AdSense ad. In the past, a click on the URL, title, or background of the ad would trigger a click and earn an AdSense publisher money. In the future, a click on the background of the ad will no longer trigger a click event and an AdSense publisher will not make money.

In short, a click occurs only if a user clicks on the title or URL of the AdSense ad.

Google has implemented this click behavior requirement for their paid search ads on Google.com back April. Google has now decided to use the same criteria for their contextual ads.

The reason Google is implementing this change for their contextual ads are to “reduce accidental clicks and increase value for advertisers.”

Here is the email my Google AdSense representative sent to me about this news:

I’m writing to let you know about a change to our text ad formats that may cause fluctuations in your AdSense revenue. I realize that any unexplained changes in revenue can cause concern, so I’m sending you background information to help you understand the possible impact on your account.

We’re rolling out a change to our text ad formats to help reduce accidental clicks and increase value for advertisers. Previously, users could click on the background and full text of an ad, but now users can click only on the title and URL of a text ad. This new format will match the changes we’ve implemented on Google.com to help decrease the number of accidental clicks and increase the number of ad conversions. A reduction in accidental clicks will keep users on your pages, interacting with your content until they choose to click on an ad. This change will enhance the users’ overall experience with your websites and improve advertiser campaign value, but it’s likely that your click-through rate will decrease.

I want to assure you that we approach these changes carefully, with a view to the impact on all parties involved. Although we recognize these changes may result in a RPM decrease for some publishers in the short term, we expect these improvements will lead to increased advertiser spend in the long term. By investing in the long-run health of the relationship between AdSense publishers, AdWords advertisers and your sites’ visitors, we’re ensuring your continued success as an AdSense partner.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us by choosing AdSense to monetize your pages, and I will keep you apprised of additional improvements we’re planning in the months ahead. Thank you again for your continued partnership as an AdSense publisher.

Postscript: Google told me today, the same day I posted this, that it is now live.

Related Topics: Google: AdSense | Google: AdWords

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz

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