Google Hints

**Chris** · 01-12-2005, 03:06 PM

You know you can add this to your adsense code:

google_hints = "your keywords here";

It is a way to tell Google what kind of ads you want to display. For instance on my literature site I feed it "essays" keywords.

I've been using this for maybe 4 months now and its very profitable.

I had to get permission to use it though, you're not allowed to just add it willy nilly.

**ozgression** · 01-12-2005, 03:19 PM

Doesn't that kind of delete the purpose of contextual advertising, though?

**Chris** · 01-12-2005, 03:37 PM

Well Google isn't perfect, sometimes it needs help deciding which ads will perform the best.

**Shawn** · 01-12-2005, 04:13 PM

Chris said willy-nilly. I haven't seen that word in years.

It's a good addition to AdSense, they realize that sometimes the ads aren't always 100% relevant.

Willy-nilly.

**James** · 01-12-2005, 06:44 PM

With how Chris said it, I apparently already knew that.

"You know you can add this to your adsense code:"

This is very cool and useful. Thanks Chris, I didn't know it existed.

**Cutter** · 01-13-2005, 01:54 AM

Very useful! Thanks for the pointer.

Did you just e-mail them for permission? I can see lots of potential for abuse here.

**Chris** · 01-13-2005, 07:40 AM

Actually they emailed me.

**Westech** · 01-13-2005, 07:54 AM

Thanks, Chris!

google_hints = "mesothelioma, viagra, hosting, willy-nilly";

**Mike** · 01-13-2005, 09:13 AM

Heh, cool method that. Will be good for those sites that struggle with getting targetted ads.

**davesplace1** · 01-13-2005, 11:26 AM

It is always good to learn something new about AdSense, they keep getting better and better IMHO.

**Percept** · 01-13-2005, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Westech

Thanks, Chris!

google_hints = "mesothelioma, viagra, hosting, willy-nilly";

10 years ago you were a meta tag spammer wern't you ?

**James** · 01-14-2005, 08:41 AM

Heheheh I remember those guys, back in the day. God did I see too many things that I shouldn't have seen at that age because of search engines being taken advantage of. Who'da thought that "SNES Mario Kart cheats" was also the name of an R-rated site?

**Cutter** · 01-14-2005, 01:54 PM

Heheh ya, I remember going to a page and thinking "what the hell does this have to do with ___." Then I'd highlight the whole page and see an enormous list of keywords.

**Westech** · 01-14-2005, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by Percept

10 years ago you were a meta tag spammer wern't you ?

Nah, 10 years ago I had no idea what a meta tag was. I was 16 years old, and thoroughly convinced that anyone wasting time learning about "this internet thing" instead of learning C++ would never make anywhere near as much money as I was going to!