Many thanks for your continuing comments. As promised, we are keen to provide further information about data that is available to us from Google, and how it is used by Jelsoft and Internet Brands. Privacy is very important to us, and we want to be 100% transparent on what information is available to us, and how it will be used.
We want to be absolutely clear about our relationship with Google. Internet Brands/Jelsoft are bound by Google's terms of service, which strictly restrict how that data may be used. Please refer to:
AdSense API Terms and Conditions - AdSense API - Google Code particularly section III.2.a.iv
In order for Jelsoft/IB to offer this service, it is mandatory for us to abide by the Google terms and conditions, and indeed we have had to go through an extended process of review with Google to ensure that our presentation of the service (including privacy disclosures) meets their strict standards. Internet Brands/Jelsoft have reviewed and agreed to these terms, and we will abide by them.
What data is available to Internet Brands/Jelsoft?
Google's report to us consists of an aggregate (not site-specific) overview of the whole program, including impressions, clicks and total revenue generated from all sites who have joined via the vBulletin.com members area. This report does not identify any of this data on the basis of any individual site.
In addition to the aggregate report, Google provides an API that makes it possible to access the site-specific statistical information that is available to you via the Google AdSense reporting pages. Specifically, information includes the amount of revenue generated, the number of advertising impressions and the number of clicks.
This information is automatically included in the standard Google API, but please be aware that if you look on your Google AdSense control panel, you will see that you always have the option to restrict access to this information. (We have inquired with Google whether it is possible to restrict the availability of site-specific data access, and they confirmed that the only way to do this is by using the opt-out process described below.)
The design of the Google API makes this information available to its partners with the intention of allowing partners to create enhanced reporting functionality within partner sites. For example, we could extend the members area to display the performance of your AdSense advertising, and utilise the information to offer advice and guidance on how best to improve your advertising yields. We have no immediate plans to implement features that use this API in this way; if or when we choose to use these features, we will be completely open about it.
How can I opt-out of sharing my site-specific data?
Your AdSense control panel gives you the ability to opt-out of sharing site-specific data. You can:
1. Log into your AdSense account
2. Click on the "My Account" tab
3. Click on the "Account Access" sub-tab
4. Click the "disable access" link for vbulletin.com
At this point, Google's API will no longer provide access to your site-specific data.
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