Ad density
On mobile, ads that add up to more than 30% of the main page height fail the Better Ads Standards. On desktop, the limit is 50%, or 30% when there is a sticky video.
Guide · Media and publishers
News and blogs: more ads per page without becoming a violation
Anyone who lives off audience tends to put more ads on each page, and that is where the risk appears. This guide shows what Google and the Better Ads Standards accept in density, sticky ads and full-screen takeovers, and why scaled content and forgotten subdomains can limit the whole account.
- ✓Based on Google's official policies
- ✓Mobile and desktop checked
- ✓Read-only scan, no changes to the site
16ad experiences in the Better Ads Standards: 6 on desktop and 10 on mobile
30%maximum ad density on mobile under the Better Ads Standards
3pop-ups: above that, AdSense does not allow ads on the site
2labels accepted by AdSense to identify ads
The publisher's risk
More page views, more ads, more for Google to look at
A news portal or a large blog publishes dozens of pages a day. Each one gets banners at the top, in the middle of the text, in the sidebar and in the footer. One wrong page template is enough for the same problem to repeat across thousands of URLs.
Google's publisher policies say that no Google ad may appear on screens that do not meet the Better Ads Standards, that violate Google Search's spam policies or that have more ads than content. In other words: the problem is not only the banner's position, it is also the quality of what surrounds it.
The good news is that almost everything is solved in the theme template or the ad plugin. Fixed in the right place, the change applies to the whole site at once.
Where warnings show up most
The six points that weigh most for people who publish content
Each item comes from Google's publisher policies and the Better Ads Standards.
Large sticky ads
Bars that stick to the screen and take up a lot of space are on the Better Ads list on both desktop and mobile. A small, closable anchor is the safe path.
Full-screen takeovers
On mobile, a full-screen ad before the content fails Better Ads. Google's vignette is different: it appears between one page and another and can be closed right away.
Scaled content
Generating many pages with AI, copying or automatic translation without adding value is scaled content abuse under Google's spam policies.
Misleading titles
The misrepresentative practices policy prohibits luring the reader with false or unclear pretenses. A title that promises what the text does not deliver falls here.
Forgotten subdomains
An old subdomain with casino pages, copied content or spam showing your account's ads falls under the same policies as the main site.
On the article page
What is and is not allowed around the text
Everyday examples from a newsroom that monetizes with AdSense or Ad Manager.
Allowed
- A banner between paragraphs, with clear space separating the ad from the text
- An Advertisements or Sponsored links label above the block
- A small anchor at the bottom of the mobile screen, with a close button
- Google's vignette between one page and another
- A video that only plays with sound after the reader presses play
- An article translated and reviewed by someone who knows the subject
Not allowed
- A banner stuck to the Next page button or to the menu
- An ad block titled Read also or Related news
- A full-screen ad that opens before the article on mobile
- An error or thank-you page full of ads
- Refreshing the ad or the page without the reader asking
- A whole section of mass-generated articles with no review
Content quality
Scale, translation and titles: where the newsroom counts too
Google's spam policies cite as scaled content abuse using AI to generate many pages with no value for the reader, copying content from other sites and putting it through automatic transformations such as synonym swapping or translation, and stitching together passages from several pages without adding anything.
This does not prohibit using AI or translating. Google asks who wrote it, how the text was made and why it exists. A story that was translated, checked and has an identified author is very different from a thousand pages translated by a robot and published without being read.
For titles, the reader rule applies: if they click and do not find what was promised, the title is wrong. Promises such as guaranteed results, a shocking revelation that never appears or a false link to a famous brand fall under misleading practices and misrepresentation.
Common errors
Six slips that repeat on content sites
All of them show up often on large portals and blogs, and all have a simple fix.
Ad on the 404 page or an empty search
Screens without publisher content, such as error and thank-you pages, cannot show Google ads. Take the blocks out of those templates.
Made-up label
AdSense only accepts labeling ads as Advertisements or Sponsored links. Titles such as Recommended for you confuse the reader.
Banner disguised as news
Formatting the neighboring content to look like the ad, or the ad to look like content, is prohibited by the placement rules.
Two blocks stuck together
Ads stacked in the middle of the text raise density and accidental clicks. Leave content between one block and the next.
Pagination just to generate views
Breaking a short text into several pages with little content each creates screens with more ad than content.
Open test subdomain
Test environments or old subdomains with copied content keep loading the ad tag and count in Google's review.
In practice
A regional portal that lost revenue on mobile
Before
The theme put three banners in a row at the start of the text, a tall sticky bar in the footer and a full-screen ad when opening the article. A former partner's subdomain was still publishing copies of articles with the same ad tag.
After
The banners now sit between paragraphs, the bar became a small anchor with a close button and the full-screen ad was swapped for the vignette between pages. The partner's subdomain was taken offline and the tag was removed from it.
None of this required rewriting articles. The fix was made in the theme template and the ad plugin, and applied to all pages at once. Afterward, a scheduled audit checks every week that no new template has brought the problem back.
In ConsentMode
What the audit checks on content sites
- Measures ad density on each URL, on mobile and on desktop
- Finds large sticky bars, full-screen takeovers before the content and pop-ups
- Measures the distance between banners, menus and navigation buttons
- Flags ads on error pages, empty searches and thank-you pages
- Lists the subdomains and audits each one as a separate site
Frequently asked questions from publishers
Is there a maximum number of ads per page?
AdSense does not set a number of blocks. What counts is the proportion: the screen cannot have more ads than content, and on mobile density cannot go above 30% under the Better Ads Standards.
Can I use AI to write articles?
You can, as long as the text has value for the reader, is reviewed and does not exist only to multiply pages. The problem is careless mass production, not the tool.
Is translating my articles into other languages allowed?
Yes. The risk is in automatic mass translation published without review. Also remember that the content must be mainly in a language Google accepts.
Does Google's vignette count as a prohibited full-screen ad?
The vignette is a Google format that appears between page loads and can be closed right away. What Better Ads fails on mobile is the full screen that blocks the content before it appears.
Does a subdomain with a problem affect the main domain?
The policies apply to every page that shows your account's ads. A subdomain with spam can trigger a warning and limit ads, so it is worth auditing each one.
Library
Official sources
This guide was written from these official pages. Read them directly at the source:
- Google publisher policiessupport.google.com/publisherpolicies/answer/10502938
- AdSense ad placement policiessupport.google.com/adsense/answer/1346295
- Coalition for Better Ads' Better Ads Standardswww.betterads.org/standards
- Google Search spam policiesdevelopers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
- Ads on screens without publisher contentsupport.google.com/publisherpolicies/answer/11112688
Find out in minutes what to fix on your portal
The audit reviews the site and its subdomains as a visitor would, without changing anything, and shows exactly what to change.