Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

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Theonardo
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Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by Theonardo »

Hi guys,

Like most people, I'm totally sick of reading phpbb Adsense advice threads from 2011. I'm starting this thread to get a refreshed 2017 answer on two fundamental questions that I think are confusing a lot of people:

What is the most recommended method through which to put Adsense on a phpbb 3.2 website?

Where exactly can ads be placed in phpbb while remaining loyal to Google's Terms of Service?


Those of us that have searched for advice regarding the above have likely come across the following three methods and the confused and very dated conversations that bubble around them:

1. Ashus's Adsense extension - viewtopic.php?f=536&t=2318556&hilit=adsense

2. Stoker's Adsense & Ads for phpBB extension - viewtopic.php?f=456&t=2356806

3. This random dude's tutorial on putting Adsense directly into phpbb style files: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k2EkRRohEM

Just a quick comment on each method:

My problem with number 1 is that it is an extension designed for 3.1, so this involves tailoring it for 3.2 and hoping everything goes OK, even in future when updating to new versions of phpbb. Thus, the method has an uncertainty to it, and that makes me (and I imagine others) nervous about using this extension. In this thread, for example, viewtopic.php?f=556&t=2407796, you can see that even phpbb's official support team aren't sure if the extension is 3.2 compliant.

Number 2 (Stoker's) looks like a very solid extension, but two issues come up. For one, community and tech admins here in phpbb forums seem to avoid threads discussing Stoker's extension, which makes me uncertain about the its legitimacy and phpbb support team approval. Secondly, the extension is not designed exclusively for use with Adsense, so again we're back to the question of where exactly can ads be placed without upsetting Google's TOS.

Number 3 (YouTube guy) seems simple enough, and has the advantage of not requiring a third party extension on your forum, but posting ads to overall_header and overall_footer -- basically ads that appear on every page on your forum -- seems to be asking for trouble with regards to Google's Terms of Service, as argued by Lumpy here: viewtopic.php?f=456&t=2356806&start=60#p14413866

These methods need to be balanced with what is stipulated by Google's TOS, so let's take a look at that.

Google's Ad Placement Policies at first appear surprisingly lax when it comes to placement within a platform like phpbb, but this is a bit misleading, as I'll explain. Have a review of the policies here: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1346295

This document stipulates clearly that ads can appear behind login protected pages (i.e. ads can be shown to users after they've logged in to phpbb). Ads are not to be put on 'dynamic content', which, as I understand it, does not apply to the phpbb experience unless you've got a comment autoloader running. Ads can appear on non-Google search results pages. All good.

The game changing line as far as phpbb goes is this one:

'Publishers are not permitted to place ads on any non-content based pages like thank you, error, log in, or exit pages.'

So basically you cannot put ads in a generic spot on the site where they are always visible (like at the very top, very bottom or in a sidebar) because when a user goes to register on your site, log in, log out, or experiences any kind of error page or page otherwise without content, the display of an ad puts the website outside the TOS. The first two methods suggested by the YouTube tutorial -- at the top or bottom of the page by editing overall_header / overall_footer -- can therefore be considered debunked.

It sounds to me like the only consistently safe place where Google Adsense ads can appear in phpbb is among the forum thread categories or within the conversation threads themselves, i.e. after the opening post. If your ads appear here, you are in the clear, and according to the YouTube tutorial above this can be done without extension by editing viewtopic_boy.html like this:

Image

Very interested to hear what others think/recommend/have experienced.
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stevemaury
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by stevemaury »

Theonardo wrote: Sat May 13, 2017 4:41 am
My problem with number 1 is that it is an extension designed for 3.1, so this involves tailoring it for 3.2 and hoping everything goes OK, even in future when updating to new versions of phpbb. Thus, the method has an uncertainty to it, and that makes me (and I imagine others) nervous about using this extension. In this thread, for example, viewtopic.php?f=556&t=2407796, you can see that even phpbb's official support team aren't sure if the extension is 3.2 compliant.
According to the topic you linked, this extension works in 3.2. Have you tried it?
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Theonardo
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by Theonardo »

stevemaury wrote: Sat May 13, 2017 3:04 pm
Theonardo wrote: Sat May 13, 2017 4:41 am
My problem with number 1 is that it is an extension designed for 3.1, so this involves tailoring it for 3.2 and hoping everything goes OK, even in future when updating to new versions of phpbb. Thus, the method has an uncertainty to it, and that makes me (and I imagine others) nervous about using this extension. In this thread, for example, viewtopic.php?f=556&t=2407796, you can see that even phpbb's official support team aren't sure if the extension is 3.2 compliant.
According to the topic you linked, this extension works in 3.2. Have you tried it?
No, I haven't. Have you?
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by RMcGirr83 »

He probably hasn't as he probably doesn't care about adsense ads. I would think that only those that want adsense ads, such as yourself, would try it.
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wrkalot
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by wrkalot »

See the link in my signature.

This method has worked very well for me on the six sites I own. It gives you near full control of where, when, what, and to whom the ads show.

If you spend some time examining my tutorial, and testing the variety of methods described, I think you'll find it an excellent option for adding ads, and controlling their placement and visibility.

EDIT: This can all be done without editing the core OR your theme.
Tutorial: How to add ads to your forum viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2417316
rec9140
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by rec9140 »

wrkalot wrote: Sun May 14, 2017 12:26 pm See the link in my signature.

This method has worked very well for me on the six sites I own. It gives you near full control of where, when, what, and to whom the ads show.

If you spend some time examining my tutorial, and testing the variety of methods described, I think you'll find it an excellent option for adding ads, and controlling their placement and visibility.

EDIT: This can all be done without editing the core OR your theme.
Thanks for the info, and the tut... I see you are specifically using 3.1...

I see one of the listed extensions was updated for the 3.2 events... BUT specifically the 2nd critical extension looks to 2 years + old...

So is any one following this tut for 3.2 and the results????

Looking to use this... but I vett things to be 3.2 compliant first...


Thanks.
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by Mick »

Theonardo wrote: Sat May 13, 2017 4:41 amreading phpbb Adsense advice threads
Be aware there are no threads with phpBB they're topics.
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by stevemaury »

Why not try the extension that people who have tried, say works?
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wrkalot
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by wrkalot »

rec9140 wrote: Wed May 17, 2017 5:28 pm
wrkalot wrote: Sun May 14, 2017 12:26 pm See the link in my signature.

This method has worked very well for me on the six sites I own. It gives you near full control of where, when, what, and to whom the ads show.

If you spend some time examining my tutorial, and testing the variety of methods described, I think you'll find it an excellent option for adding ads, and controlling their placement and visibility.

EDIT: This can all be done without editing the core OR your theme.
Thanks for the info, and the tut... I see you are specifically using 3.1...

I see one of the listed extensions was updated for the 3.2 events... BUT specifically the 2nd critical extension looks to 2 years + old...

So is any one following this tut for 3.2 and the results????

Looking to use this... but I vett things to be 3.2 compliant first...


Thanks.
There is no reason that this won't work in 3.2. I will be upgrading one of my sites in the near future and will update that topic when I do.
Tutorial: How to add ads to your forum viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2417316
rec9140
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by rec9140 »

wrkalot wrote: Thu May 18, 2017 11:23 am There is no reason that this won't work in 3.2. I will be upgrading one of my sites in the near future and will update that topic when I do.
Due to the nature of my job... measure, measure, measure, remeasure, remeasure, remeasure, then cut... is the mantra.. regardless of subject... Lets just say these are mission critical things... ie: HUMAN LIFE is involved so there is no room for errors... and that carries over into what I do in non main job projects too..

I'll have to whip up a testing testing forum to check this out in.. as my development/testing forum has sort of become some what a production entitiy in that having it down or fubar'd right now is not an option.
wrkalot
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by wrkalot »

I set up a test forum with 3.2.0 this morning. The methods described in my tut works perfectly. I haven't been able to find any issues at all.
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Tutorial: How to add ads to your forum viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2417316
rec9140
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Re: Straight talk about 3.2 and Adsense - A renewed conversation for 2017

Post by rec9140 »

wrkalot wrote: Sat May 20, 2017 4:08 pm I set up a test forum with 3.2.0 this morning. The methods described in my tut works perfectly. I haven't been able to find any issues at all.
You beat me to it... I will try it on a separate install I am working on Thanks... good to know there are no issues...

Thanks again.
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