We have talked about contextual ad publishers such as Google's AdSense and Yahoo's Publisher Network suffering from Click-O-Phobia. It is a common illness of publishers that are in constant fear that they will accidently click on their own ads and be banned from Google and/or Yahoo!'s contextual network program.
But we have found some relief for some Google AdSense publishers. You are are now allowed to click on some of your ads!
If you spot a Google AdSense video ad and there is a play button on the ad, feel free to click on that play button. Oh, but don't click on the ads within the video - that is still a no no.
A WebmasterWorld thread has AdSenseAdvisor advisor encouraging publishers to check out the videos by clicking play.
Actually, you're welcome to watch the click-to-play video ads that appear on your site by clicking the Play button. We want publishers to be able to check the content of video ads playing on their sites, so we only count clicks that lead a user to the advertiser's site, such as a click on the display URL or on the video while it's playing. Clicking only the Play button will let you watch the ad without generating invalid clicks.For more info on video ads, check out: http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=8832
Hope that clarifies, -ASA
The Can I play the videos of ads on my site? question reads:
You're welcome to view the videos of ads on your site by clicking the Play button; clicks on the play button are not counted as clicks in your reports. We'll only count clicks that lead a user to the advertiser's site, including on the display URL or on the video while it's playing.
So just don't click on the ad in a fashion that will lead you "to the advertiser's site, including on the display URL or on the video while it's playing"
So enjoy the Click-O-Phobia medicine and click on those play buttons.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
