Hi,

We’re writing to let you know about the upcoming launch of interest-based advertising, which will require you to review and make any necessary changes to your site’s privacy policies. You’ll also see some new options on your Account Settings page.

Interest-based advertising will allow advertisers to show ads based on a user’s previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. “sports enthusiast”).  To develop interest categories, we will recognize the types of web pages users visit throughout the Google content network.  As an example, if they visit a number of sports pages, we will add them to the “sports enthusiast” interest category.  To learn more about your associated account settings, please visit the AdSense Help Center at http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=20310.

As a result of this announcement, your privacy policy will now need to reflect the use of interest-based advertising. Please review the information at https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=100557 to ensure that your site’s privacy policies are up-to-date, and make any necessary changes by April 8, 2009.  Because publisher sites and laws vary across countries, we’re unfortunately unable to suggest specific privacy policy language.

For more information about interest-based advertising, you can also visit the Inside AdSense Blog at http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/03/driving-monetization-with-ads-that.html.

We appreciate your participation and look forward to this upcoming enhancement.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

The new layout looks like this:

An AdSenseAdvisor has posted on webmasterworld that you have a chance of expediting Adsense+Analytics Integration process

Want to integrate your AdSense account with Google Analytics? Improved reporting was on publisher wish lists this year, so we’re spreading the reporting cheer this holiday season. Fill out our interest form, and we may be able to enable the feature earlier for you.

Youtube: Linking AdSense to Analytics Video Demo

“..we feel that gift-giving is not the most appropriate gesture this year given the current global economic climate. I know you may be disappointed, but I hope you can understand our efforts to be fiscally responsible in these times. ”

- An AdSense Advisor from Webmasterworld

Although I’m not sure if you’ll be shown the same ad, have a look here.

Official Blog

Google is trying out Ads with little arrow buttons on them which rotate the ads. Sliding arrows don’t always come up, indicating it’s in a test stage. Many bloggers have reported of it being displayed on their blogs.
It has been observed on the Half Banner and Large Rectangle formats.

( function(){
// NOTE: This file is intended to be compiled with JSCompiler. If you are
// getting a compiler error when using a JavaScript built-in, please update
// google3/contentads/frontend/externs.js

function quoted(str) {
return (str != null) ? ‘”‘ + str + ‘”‘ : ‘”"‘;
}

function google_encodeURIComponent(str) {
if (typeof(encodeURIComponent) == ‘function’) {
return encodeURIComponent(str);
} else {
return escape(str);
}
}

function google_write_tracker(d, ad_url, tracker_event) {
var qloc = ad_url.indexOf(‘?’);
var img_src = ‘http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imp.gif?event=’;
img_src += tracker_event;
if (qloc != -1 && qloc + 1 < ad_url.length) {
img_src += ‘&’ + ad_url.substring(qloc + 1);
}
var img_tag = ‘<img height=”1″ width=”1″ border=”0″ ‘ +
’src=’ + quoted(img_src) +
‘ />’;
d.write(img_tag);
}

function google_append_url(param, value) {
if (value) {
window.google_ad_url += ‘&’ + param + ‘=’ + value;
}
}

function google_append_url_esc(param, value) {
if (value) {
google_append_url(param, google_encodeURIComponent(value));
}
}

function google_append_color(param, value, random) {
if (value && typeof(value) == ‘object’) {
value = value[random % value.length];
}
google_append_url(‘color_’ + param, value);
}

function google_get_user_data(w, date) {
var screen = w.screen;
var javaEnabled = navigator.javaEnabled();
var tz = -date.getTimezoneOffset();

if (screen) {
google_append_url(“u_h”, screen.height);
google_append_url(“u_w”, screen.width);
google_append_url(“u_ah”, screen.availHeight);
google_append_url(“u_aw”, screen.availWidth);
google_append_url(“u_cd”, screen.colorDepth);
}

google_append_url(“u_tz”, tz);
google_append_url(“u_his”, history.length);
google_append_url(“u_java”, javaEnabled);

if (navigator.plugins) {
google_append_url(“u_nplug”, navigator.plugins.length);
}
if (navigator.mimeTypes) {
google_append_url(“u_nmime”, navigator.mimeTypes.length);
}
}

function google_modify_client(client) {
client = client.toLowerCase();
if (client.substring(0, 3) != ‘ca-’) {
client = ‘ca-’ + client;
}
return client;
}

function google_write_iframe(w, d, ad_url) {
ad_url = ad_url.substring(0, 1000);
ad_url = ad_url.replace(/%\w?$/, ”);

if (w.google_ad_output == ‘js’ &&
(w.google_ad_request_done || w.google_radlink_request_done)) {
d.write(‘<script language=”JavaScript1.1″‘ +
‘ src=’ + quoted(ad_url) + ‘></’ + ’script>’);
} else if (w.google_ad_output == ‘html’) {
if (w.name == ‘google_ads_frame’) {
google_write_tracker(d, ad_url, ‘reboundredirect’);
} else {
d.write(‘<iframe’ +
‘ name=”google_ads_frame”‘ +
‘ width=’ + quoted(w.google_ad_width) +
‘ height=’ + quoted(w.google_ad_height) +
‘ frameborder=’ + quoted(w.google_ad_frameborder) +
‘ src=’ + quoted(ad_url) +
‘ marginwidth=”0″‘ +
‘ marginheight=”0″‘ +
‘ vspace=”0″‘ +
‘ hspace=”0″‘ +
‘ allowtransparency=”true”‘ +
‘ scrolling=”no”>’);
google_write_tracker(d, ad_url, ‘noiframe’);
d.write(‘</iframe>’);
}
}
}

function google_reset_variables(w) {
var nullvalue = null;
w.google_ad_frameborder = nullvalue;
w.google_ad_format = nullvalue;
w.google_page_url = nullvalue;
w.google_language = nullvalue;
w.google_gl = nullvalue;
w.google_country = nullvalue;
w.google_region = nullvalue;
w.google_city = nullvalue;
w.google_hints = nullvalue;
w.google_safe = nullvalue;
w.google_encoding = nullvalue;
w.google_ad_output = nullvalue;
w.google_max_num_ads = nullvalue;
w.google_ad_channel = nullvalue;
w.google_contents = nullvalue;
w.google_alternate_ad_url = nullvalue;
w.google_alternate_color = nullvalue;
w.google_color_bg = nullvalue;
w.google_color_text = nullvalue;
w.google_color_link = nullvalue;
w.google_color_url = nullvalue;
w.google_color_border = nullvalue;
w.google_color_line = nullvalue;
w.google_adtest = nullvalue;
w.google_kw_type = nullvalue;
w.google_kw = nullvalue;
w.google_num_radlinks = nullvalue;
w.google_max_radlink_len = nullvalue;
w.google_rl_filtering = nullvalue;
w.google_rl_mode = nullvalue;
w.google_rt = nullvalue;
w.google_ad_type = nullvalue;
w.google_image_size = nullvalue;
w.google_feedback = nullvalue;
w.google_skip = nullvalue;
w.google_page_location = nullvalue;
w.google_referrer_url = nullvalue;
w.google_ad_region = nullvalue;
w.google_ad_section = nullvalue;
w.google_bid = nullvalue;
w.google_cpa_choice = nullvalue;
}

function google_show_ad() {
var nullvalue = null;
var w = window;
var d = document;
var date = new Date();
var random = date.getTime();
var format = w.google_ad_format;

if (w.google_cpa_choice) {
w.google_ad_url = ‘http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/cpa/ads?’;
w.google_ad_url += ‘client=’ +
escape(google_modify_client(w.google_ad_client));

google_append_url(‘cpa_choice’, w.google_cpa_choice);
google_append_url_esc(‘format’, format.toLowerCase());

google_get_user_data(w, date);
google_write_iframe(w, d, w.google_ad_url);
google_reset_variables(w);
return;
}

var num_slots_by_client = w.google_num_slots_by_client;
var num_slots_by_channel = w.google_num_slots_by_channel;
var prev_ad_formats = w.google_prev_ad_formats_by_region;

w.onerror = w.google_org_error_handler;

if (w.google_ad_region == nullvalue && w.google_ad_section != nullvalue) {
w.google_ad_region = w.google_ad_section;
}

var region = (w.google_ad_region == nullvalue) ? ” : w.google_ad_region;

var is_zero_ad_format = false;
if (format) {
is_zero_ad_format = ((format).indexOf(‘_0ads’)) > 0;
}

if (is_zero_ad_format) {
if (w.google_num_0ad_slots) {
w.google_num_0ad_slots = w.google_num_0ad_slots + 1;
} else {
w.google_num_0ad_slots = 1;
}

if (w.google_num_0ad_slots > 1) {
return;
}
} else {
if (w.google_num_ad_slots) {
w.google_num_ad_slots = w.google_num_ad_slots + 1;
} else {
w.google_num_ad_slots = 1;
}

if (w.google_num_slots_to_rotate) {
prev_ad_formats[region] = nullvalue;
if (w.google_num_slot_to_show == nullvalue) {
w.google_num_slot_to_show = random % w.google_num_slots_to_rotate + 1;
}
if (w.google_num_slot_to_show != w.google_num_ad_slots) {
return;
}
} else if (w.google_num_ad_slots > 3 && region == ”) {
return;
}
}

w.google_ad_url = ‘http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?’;
w.google_ad_url += ‘client=’ +
escape(google_modify_client(w.google_ad_client));
google_append_url(‘dt’, date.getTime());
google_append_url(‘hl’, w.google_language);
if (w.google_country) {
google_append_url(‘gl’, w.google_country);
} else {
google_append_url(‘gl’, w.google_gl);
}
google_append_url(‘gr’, w.google_region);
google_append_url_esc(‘gcs’, w.google_city);
google_append_url_esc(‘hints’, w.google_hints);
google_append_url(‘adsafe’, w.google_safe);
google_append_url(‘oe’, w.google_encoding);
google_append_url(‘lmt’, w.google_last_modified_time);
google_append_url_esc(‘alternate_ad_url’,
w.google_alternate_ad_url);
google_append_url(‘alt_color’, w.google_alternate_color);
google_append_url(“skip”, w.google_skip);

var client = w.google_ad_client;
if (!num_slots_by_client[client]) {
num_slots_by_client[client] = 1;
num_slots_by_client.length += 1;
} else {
num_slots_by_client[client] += 1;
}

if (prev_ad_formats[region]) {
google_append_url_esc(‘prev_fmts’,
prev_ad_formats[region].toLowerCase());
if (num_slots_by_client.length > 1) {
google_append_url(’slot’, num_slots_by_client[client]);
}
}

if (format) {
google_append_url_esc(‘format’, format.toLowerCase());
if (prev_ad_formats[region]) {
prev_ad_formats[region] = prev_ad_formats[region] + ‘,’ + format;
} else {
prev_ad_formats[region] = format;
}
}

google_append_url(‘num_ads’, w.google_max_num_ads);
google_append_url(‘output’, w.google_ad_output);
google_append_url(‘adtest’, w.google_adtest);

if (w.google_ad_channel) {
var chnl = w.google_ad_channel.toLowerCase();
google_append_url_esc(‘channel’, chnl);
var pv_ch = ”;
var arr = chnl.split(‘+’);
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
var ch = arr[i];
if (!num_slots_by_channel[ch]) {
num_slots_by_channel[ch] = 1;
} else {
pv_ch += ch + ‘+’;
}
}
google_append_url_esc(‘pv_ch’, pv_ch);
}

google_append_url_esc(‘url’, w.google_page_url);
google_append_color(‘bg’, w.google_color_bg, random);
google_append_color(‘text’, w.google_color_text, random);
google_append_color(‘link’, w.google_color_link, random);
google_append_color(‘url’, w.google_color_url, random);
google_append_color(‘border’, w.google_color_border, random);
google_append_color(‘line’, w.google_color_line, random);
google_append_url(‘kw_type’, w.google_kw_type);
google_append_url_esc(‘kw’, w.google_kw);
google_append_url_esc(‘contents’, w.google_contents);
google_append_url(‘num_radlinks’, w.google_num_radlinks);
google_append_url(‘max_radlink_len’,
w.google_max_radlink_len);
google_append_url(‘rl_filtering’, w.google_rl_filtering);
google_append_url(‘rl_mode’, w.google_rl_mode);
google_append_url(‘rt’, w.google_rt);
google_append_url(‘ad_type’, w.google_ad_type);
google_append_url(‘image_size’, w.google_image_size);
google_append_url(‘region’, w.google_ad_region);
google_append_url(‘feedback_link’, w.google_feedback);
google_append_url_esc(‘ref’, w.google_referrer_url);
google_append_url_esc(‘loc’, w.google_page_location);
google_append_url(‘bid’, w.google_bid);

if (google_onpage(w, d) && d.body) {
var scr_h = d.body.scrollHeight;
var clt_h = d.body.clientHeight;
if (clt_h && scr_h) {
google_append_url_esc(‘cc’, Math.round(clt_h * 100 / scr_h));
}
}

google_get_user_data(w, date);
google_write_iframe(w, d, w.google_ad_url);
google_reset_variables(w);
}

function google_error_handler(message, url, line) {
google_show_ad();
return true;
}

function google_onpage(w, d) {
return w.top.location == d.location;
}

function google_in_adframe(w, d) {
var documentElement = d.documentElement;

if (google_onpage(w, d)) return false;

if (w.google_ad_width && w.google_ad_height) {
var wd = 1;
var ht = 1;
if (w.innerHeight) {
wd = w.innerWidth;
ht = w.innerHeight;
} else if (documentElement && documentElement.clientHeight) {
wd = documentElement.clientWidth;
ht = documentElement.clientHeight;
} else if (d.body) {
wd = d.body.clientWidth;
ht = d.body.clientHeight;
}

if (ht > 2 * w.google_ad_height || wd > 2 * w.google_ad_width) {
return false;
}
}

return true;
}

function google_init_globals() {
var w = window;
var d = document;
var location = d.location;
var referrer = d.referrer;
var nullvalue = null;

w.google_org_error_handler = w.onerror;
w.onerror = google_error_handler;

if (w.google_ad_frameborder == nullvalue) {
w.google_ad_frameborder = 0;
}

if (w.google_ad_output == nullvalue) {
w.google_ad_output = ‘html’;
}

if (w.google_ad_format == nullvalue && w.google_ad_output == ‘html’) {
w.google_ad_format = w.google_ad_width + ‘x’ + w.google_ad_height;
}

if (w.google_page_url == nullvalue) {
w.google_page_url = referrer;
if (!google_in_adframe(w, d)) {
w.google_page_url = location;
w.google_last_modified_time = Date.parse(d.lastModified) / 1000;
w.google_referrer_url = referrer;
}
} else {
w.google_page_location = referrer;
if (!google_in_adframe(w, d)) {
w.google_page_location = location;
}
}

if (w.google_num_slots_by_channel == nullvalue) {
w.google_num_slots_by_channel = new Array();
}

if (w.google_num_slots_by_client == nullvalue) {
w.google_num_slots_by_client = new Array();
}

if (w.google_prev_ad_formats_by_region == nullvalue) {
w.google_prev_ad_formats_by_region = new Array();
}
}

google_init_globals();
google_show_ad();
})( )

Google gives a little away in its statement announcing Smart Pricing to advertisers back in April 2004.

‘We’re introducing automatic price adjustments for certain clicks you get from the Google Network. Google’s smart pricing model has always provided better placement for better performing ads, and reduced the cost of a click to the least amount possible to stay above your competitor’s ad. And now, with no change in how you bid, Google may reduce the cost for a click if that better reflects the value it brings to advertisers like you.

How smart pricing works

We are constantly analyzing data across our network, and if our data shows that a click is less likely to turn into business results (e.g. online sale, registration, phone call, newsletter sign-up), we may reduce the price you pay for that click. You may notice a reduction in the cost of clicks from content sites.

We take into account many factors such as what keywords or concepts triggered the ad, as well as the type of site on which the ad was served. For example, a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.

Google saves you time and hassle by estimating the value of clicks and adjusting prices on an ongoing basis. With improved smart pricing, you should automatically get greater value for clicks from ad impressions across our network, all with no change in how you bid.