Is it a ranking factor for Google Search?

AdSense is a Google ads product that allows publishers to monetize their content by serving targeted advertisements on their site. Publishers make money when people see or click on these ads.

Why do some people think AdSense is a ranking factor? Ads have nothing to do with organic ranking, right?

Driving traffic to pages with Google-served ads is believed to also serve the interests of Google as a business.

When a website is monetized with AdSense, it becomes another platform for Google’s advertisers to place ads on.

Ethics aside, there is an incentive for Google to drive traffic to pages that display AdSense ads.

More traffic means more ad clicks and views, which means Google’s advertisers are happy to pay for more ads.

But would Google allow its interests as a company to get in the way of providing unbiased organic search results?

That’s the theory shared by those who wonder if AdSense is a ranking factor.

Conversely, there are concerns that AdSense ads could negatively impact rankings, as Google has specific guidelines for proper ad placement.

Let’s dig deeper into these claims, and then look at what the evidence says about AdSense’s impact on search rankings.

The claim: AdSense is a ranking factor

There are various claims related to AdSense as a ranking factor.

AdSense is a positive signal

One theory is that placing AdSense ads on a page has a positive impact on rankings because these ads generate revenue for Google and its advertisers.

Because many of Google’s services are intertwined — like organic search, Google Ads, and AdSense — there’s bound to be speculation that they’re sharing signals with each other.

Just as theories circulate that Google Ads is a ranking factor, which we disprove in another chapter, the same thinking applies to AdSense as well.

Lack of trust in Google?

One element that ties all of these theories together seems to be distrust of Google.

People believe these claims because trusting Google is not enough to keep search results fair and objective.

Google’s reputation as a trustworthy company has been damaged by lawsuits and investigations into alleged anti-competitive business practices.

Government officials have accused Google of favoring its own apps on Android and favoring its own products in search results, among other things.

antitrust allegations have been filed against Google in the past in Europe and the United States. Google is often Under the microscope by the US Department of Justice for claims related to anticompetitive conduct.

Although Google was ordered to pay fines maintains It did nothing to stifle competition.

Ongoing investigations into Google’s practices severely damage Google’s image as a company that people can trust.

Because of this, AdSense keeps popping up in discussions about ranking factors.

AdSense is a negative signal

Another claim suggests that site owners should be careful when participating in AdSense.

It is believed that using too many ads or using them in the wrong places will negatively impact ranking.

This theory is based on the fact that Google is gradually putting more emphasis on pages that offer a good user experience.

Overcrowding a page with ads creates a poor user experience in many ways, which Google considers important.

An abundance of ads can make it difficult to identify the main content, cause the page to load more slowly, and cause the page to stutter as it loads.

Any one of these factors could decrease a website’s Page Experience Score. Because of this, AdSense can appear as a negative ranking factor.

According to the claims, AdSense either increases or decreases the ranking. Which is it?

Here’s the evidence.

The proof: AdSense as a ranking factor

This section is divided into two parts for each of the adjacent claims.

AdSense is a positive signal

The question of whether AdSense affects a website’s search ranking is asked so often that Google officially answers it AdSense Help Guide.

Google confirms that AdSense not Effects on a website’s position in the SERPs:

“Participating in Google AdSense does not affect the rank of your website in Google search results and does not affect the search results we deliver.

Google is a strong believer in freedom of expression, which is why it offers broad access to content across the web.

Our search results are unbiased through our relationships with paying advertisers and publishers. We will continue to display search results according to our PageRank technology.”

Website owners shouldn’t use AdSense on the assumption that it will have a positive effect on search rankings, as it turns out it won’t.

It’s worth keeping this in mind when doing competitive SERP analysis. If a competitor uses AdSense and your site doesn’t, don’t worry that it’s a contributing factor to better rankings.

Will it lead to lower rankings? Here is the evidence for the other claim.

AdSense is a negative ranking factor

As we learned in the section above, AdSense has no positive or negative impact on rankings.

However, in the eyes of Google, advertising in general can degrade the user experience and lead to poorer rankings.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with showing ads on a website. But the way they are used can cause SEO problems.

When it comes to ad placement, Google asks site owners to follow the guidelines below: Better advertising standards listing unacceptable ad placements on mobile and desktop.

There is also a section on the subject in AdSense Help Ad placement best practicesthat site owners should follow.

Finally, Google’s Page Experience update takes into account how a website uses ads.

In the notice to site owners regarding the site experience update, Google says:

“A website must not use advertising techniques that distract, interrupt, or otherwise do not promote a good user experience.”

There are several ways websites can use ads that negatively impact rankings. However, this does not only apply to AdSense.

To this end, Google has put on record that this is the case AdSense is no exception from the negative signals that ads could potentially generate.

Invasive AdSense ads are treated the same as any other type of invasive ad.

Google AdSense as a ranking factor: Our verdict

Google confirms that AdSense is present no ranking factor.

The way AdSense ads are used on a page could lead to lower rankings, but this applies to all ads. Therefore, it is also incorrect to say that AdSense is a potentially negative ranking factor.

Featured image: Paolo Bobita/Search Engine Journal