How to Keep Your AdSense Ads Halal

19. Sep, 2008 33 Comments


Did you know you could filter out certain AdSense ads from appearing on your blog or website?

AdSense has a feature called “Competitive Ad Filter”.  It has been around for a while, but is one that is not often used.  Originally, this was designed so that you can filter out businesses and services that compete with whatever it is you’re offering.  However, as Muslims we can use this feature to filter out sites that we should not be advertising for.

The majority of Muslim blogs tend to have advertisements for dating or matrimonial services.  This is not something done randomly.  Businesses pay money to advertise their services on sites with certain keywords such as “Muslim”.  Some of these may in fact be legit, but my guess would be that most are either haram or, at the very least, questionable.

When it comes to dating sites, here’s what I did to find potential problems:

1.    Google “Muslim dating”
2.    Copy all the links of businesses that advertise
3.    Paste them into the Ad Filter in AdSense

Remember that it is against Google’s Terms of Service that you click your own ads for any reason at all.  So if the site’s address isn’t listed in the ad, then you’ll need to use Google for more information.

Of course, new sites will always be popping up — so you really have to stay on top of things.  If you are willing to go through this process once in a while, then I recommend you go ahead and use AdSense.  For example, I know that this post includes words such as “dating”.  So for quite some time I will be monitoring the ads that are displayed so that I can add them to the list.

On the other hand, if filtering ads is something you just don’t want to deal with then I highly recommend you stay away from advertising.  Why?  Because the last thing you want is to earn money from haram sources.

Do you really want to earn even one penny from someone who clicks on some dating site that advocates haram methods for establishing a relationship?  I hope not.

I’ve compiled a list of sites that you can just copy and paste into the “Competitive Ad Filter”.   Click the icon below to download the file with the list of sites I’ve found questionable so far.  There is also a short tutorial video showing you how to find, search for, and filter site that may be questionable or haram.

Let me know where you stand on the issue of AdSense and targeted ads.  Do you use AdSense on your site?  If so, have you had a chance to look at the type of ads being displayed?  Did you already know about (and use) the “Competitive Ad Filter” feature before reading this post?

(Photo: cgfan)
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33 Responses to “How to Keep Your AdSense Ads Halal”

  1. Chantal Reply 30. Aug, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    How did it cost to start up this blog…I want to start my own.

  2. Azeem Reply 31. Aug, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    Salaam,

    Muslim Ad Network (http://www.muslimadnetwork.com) offers halal ads targeted towards Muslims. Aside from that we offer a filtered Adsense service, so you don’t have to worry about constant filtering, we do it for you. Sign up today.

    PS Karim I love your blog, keep it up bro!.

  3. Andri Reply 02. Sep, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    news from google, now you can Block more than 500 websites you can block much website

  4. ahsan ali Reply 28. Sep, 2009 at 4:57 am

    jazakAllah brother.

  5. glodnykrolik Reply 16. Oct, 2009 at 6:56 am

    Thanks for the great info as I was looking for it.

    Is is possible that you or someone build a verified and continuously updated database for those website?

  6. sajadahanak Reply 03. Dec, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    Assalamualaikum Thanks bro for great useful information..I am very appreciated

  7. IslamNu Reply 15. Jan, 2010 at 12:48 am

    Great article. Certainly helped me understand more about Adsense ads.

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