Sneaky Adsense in Free Wordpress theme - WickedFire - Affiliate Marketing Forum

JerseyGirl · 07-05-2008, 10:05 AM

So... I downloaded what I thought was a pretty sweet magazine-style theme, for free, and was beginning to customize it. When I switched over to "view" to see how everything was looking I noticed a line of adsense ads in the top. I didn't recall uploading the adsense plugin with this one so I investigated some more and, after viewing the source, realized it was the designers pub #!

Is this standard practice? Offering a free theme and then sneakily including your adsense publisher code?

FYI to other newbs- make sure to check your code out thoroughly before publishing, esp. on "free" themes.

interwebmarketr · 07-05-2008, 10:13 AM

Out of the few dozen themes I've looked at, one had an Adsense Google Search box. It seems pretty rare but I guess people occasionally do it.

abhorrent · 07-05-2008, 11:40 AM

A lot of the "adsense ready" themes have the designers ads in them.
Usually the read me file will say "replace my pub ID with yours" or something similar.

They do it so you can see how it looks in the demo (if they have one) and leave it there because it makes it easier for people who don't know how to code. They just change the ID and they're set. Otherwise they get a million emails ("How do I get my ads in the theme like in your demo?")..

I'm sure they hope that some people will forget to remove or change the ID but I don't think there's anything too sneaky going on.

spyderman4g63 · 07-06-2008, 09:45 PM

I haven't ran into this yet. My opinion is if you are giving away your work for free why not try to monetize it? I was actually thinking of creating some free themes just for the back links. I never though of replacing replacing the search box in one of those with adsense or even adding ad sense units and creating an "adsense ready template". Noting sneaky about any of that. It's easy enough for us to remove or replace with our own ads.

1nspire · 07-07-2008, 01:06 AM

Its no bid deal really. Just delete or add your pub#. If you really like the theme just leave it for a month then switch to your pub# later if you want to tip the designer.

Anarkist · 07-07-2008, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhorrent

A lot of the "adsense ready" themes have the designers ads in them.
Usually the read me file will say "replace my pub ID with yours" or something similar.

They do it so you can see how it looks in the demo (if they have one) and leave it there because it makes it easier for people who don't know how to code. They just change the ID and they're set. Otherwise they get a million emails ("How do I get my ads in the theme like in your demo?")..

I'm sure they hope that some people will forget to remove or change the ID but I don't think there's anything too sneaky going on.

Perfectly summed up. +rep!

07-05-2008, 10:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
JerseyGirl Banned Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 62 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Sneaky Adsense in Free Wordpress theme So... I downloaded what I thought was a pretty sweet magazine-style theme, for free, and was beginning to customize it. When I switched over to "view" to see how everything was looking I noticed a line of adsense ads in the top. I didn't recall uploading the adsense plugin with this one so I investigated some more and, after viewing the source, realized it was the designers pub #! Is this standard practice? Offering a free theme and then sneakily including your adsense publisher code? FYI to other newbs- make sure to check your code out thoroughly before publishing, esp. on "free" themes.

07-05-2008, 10:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
interwebmarketr Quality Score: Poor(2/10) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: The Interbutt Posts: 78 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Out of the few dozen themes I've looked at, one had an Adsense Google Search box. It seems pretty rare but I guess people occasionally do it. __________________

07-07-2008, 01:06 AM	#5 (permalink)
1nspire ThemeCreate.com Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 195 iTrader: 3 / 100%	Its no bid deal really. Just delete or add your pub#. If you really like the theme just leave it for a month then switch to your pub# later if you want to tip the designer. __________________ Premium Wordpress Themes Easy Directory Submissions Find Available Domain Names with Stats

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Private Label Right Wordpress Themes with MRR- Stop buying single WP theme for $200+	blackhat	Sell, Buy & Trade	0	03-25-2008 07:34 AM
A Custom Made "make money online" Wordpress Theme for FREE	feverinlove	Design, Development & Programming	0	11-26-2007 08:49 AM
AdSense and WordPress - Great Combination, BUT...	TruthsAreUs	Newbie Questions	9	08-11-2007 03:04 PM
Channels in Adsense	z00pedup	Affiliate Marketing	11	09-05-2006 05:53 PM
Free AdSense Layouts/Templates	katoved	Design, Development & Programming	26	08-08-2006 03:14 PM

07-05-2008, 11:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
abhorrent Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Illinois Posts: 789 iTrader: 4 / 100%	A lot of the "adsense ready" themes have the designers ads in them. Usually the read me file will say "replace my pub ID with yours" or something similar. They do it so you can see how it looks in the demo (if they have one) and leave it there because it makes it easier for people who don't know how to code. They just change the ID and they're set. Otherwise they get a million emails ("How do I get my ads in the theme like in your demo?").. I'm sure they hope that some people will forget to remove or change the ID but I don't think there's anything too sneaky going on.

07-06-2008, 09:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
spyderman4g63 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Wheeling, WV Posts: 272 iTrader: 0 / 0%	I haven't ran into this yet. My opinion is if you are giving away your work for free why not try to monetize it? I was actually thinking of creating some free themes just for the back links. I never though of replacing replacing the search box in one of those with adsense or even adding ad sense units and creating an "adsense ready template". Noting sneaky about any of that. It's easy enough for us to remove or replace with our own ads.