AdSense on HubPages - Whose Ads Are They

Chances are unless you are on HubPages writing just for fun, you have added your Google AdSense publisher number to your HubPage account. If not, you add your AdSense publisher number by clicking My Account and then clicking on the Affiliate Settings link.

Keep in mind that the number you enter in the field isn't the standard publisher number that you may have used in other places like WordPress plugins. You need the one that starts with CA-PUB (if you are in the U.S. at least), not just the one that shows up in the top right corner of your AdSense Manager screen.

Of course, HubPages isn't a charity either. They make money the same way you do, by displaying ads on Hubs. Instead of processing some sort of split or revenue sharing, HubPages splits the impressions with you. Each Hub on HubPages will show the author's AdSense ads 60% of the time, and it will show HubPage's ads 40% of the time.

So, how do you know if the ads you are seeing on your hub are "your" ads, or "HubPage's" ads?

For the most part, it really doesn't matter whether the ads displayed on any given impression are your ads or HubPage's ads. Over the long run, displaying the ads in a 60/40 split will eventually average out so that 60% of the ad clicks are yours, and 40% of the ad clicks are theirs. However, there may be reasons you need, or just want, to know whose ads are whose.

For example, if you are banning low-paying ads in the Competitive Ad Filter, you will want to know whether or not those ads are actually displaying (and counting against) your AdSense account or not. If unrelated one-cent per click ads are dragging your account into smart pricing territory, its better to ban than display.

Remember, you are never allowed to click on your own ads, on HubPages or anywhere else, for any reason.

Right click on the ad link you are interested in finding out about. From the drop down menu, choose "Copy Link Location" or its equivalent, depending upon which browser you are using. Then, open your text editor, like Notepad or Notepad++, and paste the link so that you can examine it.

Don't worry about trying to figure out everything you see. As a publisher, you only care about two things:

1. Is This Ad Displaying on My AdSense Account?
2. If so, what domain should I add to the competitive ad filter to block these ads?

Just scan through the huge line of text looking for distinguishable domain names and words. Also, look for the publisher number embedded in the link. Here is an example.

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-2009646521200496&format=fp_al_lp&output=html&h=15&w=468&channel=7017734488&host=pub-69587555...<cut for space>...&okw=Desi+Girl

That first domain name you see is NOT what you are looking for. That directs the clicking user's browser to the ad site, in this case doubleclick.com which is owned by Google. After that, you'll notice ca-pub and then a number. If this is your AdSense publisher number, then this is your ad.

After looking at a few ad links, you won't even have to examine them that closely. It turns out that HubPages ad links are much bigger than standard ad links, likely because they include some tracking information in their links.

Also, notice that in this case, there is no domain name for who placed the ad. It is moot since this isn't your account anyway, so any additions you made to your AdSense filter would not affect these ads. When the ad is from your account, there will be a domain name in the last half of the link that is where the ad goes / comes from.

Keep in mind that most of the time, it will not be necessary to add many domains that appear as advertisers on your Hubs. However, if your particular topic, or your AdSense account, have been singled out as targets for unrelated ads, then adding their domains to the Competitive Ad Filter is your only defense.

Good luck. I hope you all make tons of money.