I didn’t know until today how to filter Adsense ads displayed on my website. I didn’t even know that I needed to. Just goes to show that ignorance isn’t always bliss.

Sometimes it’s just ignorance.

Until I checked my website this morning and found a banner ad that was not only completely unrelated to anything on my site, but was pushing the bounds of the “family friendly” theme that Savage Sites strives to maintain, I had blithely assumed that Google was placing RELATED ads on my site. You know, geek stuff, web stuff, and writing ads with a bit of SEO thrown in for good measure. But Asian Kisses?

Yeah, pretty sure that’s a lucrative click, but no thank you.

It’s not so much the trashy looking ad, it’s what clicking on it leads to, and whether that’s kid-appropriate.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to make a trucker driver or two blush. Even made a man walk into a metal utility pole once with a well-timed smile. But not here. This is a place where ads are supposed to match content, and I don’t appreciate my efforts at providing a family-friendly site where tech-savvy kids looking for web design tips are being  compromised by low-class, inappropriate ads.

Yes, that girl is pretty, and my 14-year-old son (and yours) are not blind. They don’t need one more “view photos” button in their faces just begging them to “click here” so they can video chat with exotic women who will love them long time (and what’s your mom’s Visa card number, honey?)

My son has built two of his own sites, starting at the age of 12. So come on, Google, do you really think impressionable kids aren’t exposed to too much of this already?

And before the hate mail begins, please note that my son’s computer is five feet from mine. He’s learned to use the Internet responsibly. But not every parent can be at home when their kids are online. I happen to be one of the fortunate ones, and I still can’t control everything he sees online. Nor do I want to.

That said, there is a solution if you prefer to maintain a G-rated website. Here’s what you can do to filter out most (hopefully) inappropriate Adsense ads from your blog or website:

1. Log in to your Adsense account. You may as well choose the new interface, because the old one will be gone soon.
2. Select the “Allow and Block Ads” tab.
   

   Choose ‘Allow and Block Ads’

[clearboth] 3. Scroll down to “Sensitive Categories” and click “edit.”

This how my category selections look after I modified them:

[clearboth] And here’s the thing: I don’t have anything against “References to sexuality” or “Reproductive health,” “Dating,” or “Drugs and Supplements.” But those subjects don’t have any relation to this particular blog, and I’d hate for a parent to say to their child, “Sure, you can look that up on Savage Sites,” and then have that child faced with an ad that might be inappropriate for someone of their age. It’s just part of the responsibility of maintaining a family-friendly, kid-safe site. Not a big deal, and easy to fix.

There are loads of sites that my son knows he can visit without my permission, and has been able to for years. And I want Savage Sites to be that kind of site, too. So I hope this helps you with your family-friend site, and please let me know if you ever see anything here that you feel doesn’t live up to that standard. I may disagree, but I will consider your viewpoint and respond to your inquiry.