Industry guru Dave Taylor answers free tech support questions about a wide variety of business and technical topics, including blogging, Google AdSense, MySpace, Sony PSP, Apple iPod, Mp3 players, management, Linux, SEO, Mac OS X, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Microsoft Windows.

How do I add Google AdSense to my RSS feed?

Hi Dave. From reading your earlier postings, I see that you too have been approved by Google for their new AdSense for Feeds program. What I don't get, however, is how to actually add their adverts in my RSS feed. I'm running Movable Type: can you help me figure this out?


Dave's Answer:

While Google is the master of nifty new programs, I also find that I have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what they're doing, partially just because their programmers seem to know more about how to make my Web browser jump through hoops than anyone else on the Web!

To get started, you'll want to log in to your AdSense account, then click on the Ad Settings tab. The first section is labelled "Ad Type" and you should see this:

Ad Type selector including AdSense for Feeds

Click on the new "AdSense for feeds unit" and select the type of Weblog program you're running out of the choices (Blogger or Movable Type/Typepad).

In the "Your AdSense code" box you'll see the code you should add to your feed, but don't do that yet. You want to create a unique channel for your RSS advertising first, so you can track impressions and click thru rate. In the middle of this same page, there's a section that lets you work with channels:

Configuring channels for your AdSense for Feeds ads

Click on "manage channels", then type in the name of the channel you want to create (I used "RSS Feed") and click "create new channel". It'll look like this:

Create a Unique Channel for your RSS Ads

Now, click on the "Continue to Ad Layout >>" link at the bottom of the Channels page and you'll be back to your original page, but now you can select the new channel!

Now in the "Your AdSense code" box is a bunch of obscure looking HTML that you'll want to copy and paste into your RSS template. Let's look at that part next.

If your browser supports tabs, I'd recommend that you create a new tab before you move to your Weblog configuration page, so you can flip back to the Google information with ease.

If your Movable Type configuration is like mine, you'll have a "Templates" link on the left side of the main page, which, once you click on, will reveal all your templates, including both an RSS 0.91 and RSS 1.0 index page.

Click on the first one, "index.xml", and you'll be looking at your template, which is about as scary as a file gets in the blogging world!

Somewhere in that jumble is a code section that looks like this:

<description><$MTEntryExcerpt encode_xml="1"$>
</description>

Position your cursor just before the </description> tag, insert a few blank lines, then back up one and paste in the code from the Google AdSense page. Click on SAVE then click on the bottom REBUILD button and you'll be able to quickly rebuild just the target file.

You'll want to do a similar thing to the "index.rdf" file too. The XML that's shown therein is a wee bit different, but the same basic technique will apply.

Now, to test it, subscribe to your RSS feed from within you favorite RSS Aggregator (I like NewsGator Online, personally). Your ads should show up pretty much instantly!

Now don't forget to read my Best Practices: AdSense for Feeds and AdSense for Feeds: Any Risks? before you go too much further.

Congratulations, you now have adverts in your RSS feed. Good luck with them. Me? I think you should only have adverts in full text feeds, as I talk about at length in the following article about Ads in RSS Feeds? Corrupting the idea of information syndication.



Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Simpy.

Subscribe!

Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader.

Comments

I do not get the 'Adsense for feeds unit' when I do as suggested by you. Is it that I must have 100 subscribers (of what?)?

Posted by: Satish Talim at June 7, 2005 5:59 AM

You need to apply for the AdSense for Feeds program separately, and once you're approved (which you'll know because the Google team email you a notification) then you'll see the AdSense for Feeds area on your AdSense account.

Posted by: Dave Taylor at June 7, 2005 6:30 AM

I'd also suggest that if you use FeedBurner to republish your feed, then you don't have to mess with the code at all!

Posted by: Tris Hussey at June 7, 2005 5:28 PM

How about the placement in the Atom Feed? I'm not seeing


in that code.

Posted by: Michael at June 10, 2005 8:38 PM

Ah, sorry, I don't have access to a site that generates Atom, so I can't see the template. Perhaps someone else can help? If so, please remember to replace all angle brackets with something else, like square brackets, so that the blog app doesn't eat 'em alive. :-)

Posted by: Dave Taylor at June 10, 2005 10:07 PM

Good tip, but that's going to produc an invalid XML file, which will puke in newsreaders. You can't just pop javascript into an xml file.

Posted by: DL Byron at August 27, 2005 2:41 AM

The code snippet that Google's AdSense program gives you should be something you can drop in, Byron. I didn't have any problems translating JavaScript into any special XML for my RSS feed...

Posted by: Dave Taylor at August 27, 2005 3:20 AM

And it validates? Checked at feed validator.org? I've tried and it breaks everytime. Unless I'm doing something wrong.

Posted by: DL Byron at August 27, 2005 5:22 AM

OK, so I am a year late. I am seeing a lot about a beta version of AdSense for feeds, but nothing for a full release. What happened?

Done well, AdSense for feeds is a great idea. It's as good an idea for feeds as for a website.

Posted by: doug (dougs travels) at November 17, 2006 3:40 PM

I am going threw Free webs and they said that I have to get the code from google ad since and copy and past it to my site but if i mess it up it could screw up my whole site in using edit builder tools from there web site builder program. They already have a big add of there own, up top. It goes compleatly horasontal to my whole page! I thought I only have space to the left and right cause that is the free space left , but I cant put it there cause the web site builder wont let me I have to acutaly mix it in with in my own context of my page. What is the code that I need to do this. I know nothing of any type of html code or css code or any code for that matter. Can you help me with this I want to do a context web site only but if I cant figure how to make some kind of money from the site then I will have to set up a pay for the information account. And with all that is out there all ready I dont whish to do that right now. My web site is Freewebs.com/residentialvirtualemployers thansk for your help raspybluepearl

Posted by: raspybluepearl at February 20, 2008 3:29 AM

Hi Plese add the google add

Posted by: venkatreddy at April 21, 2008 1:30 AM

I have a lot to say, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!









Remember personal info?


Please note that I will never send you any unsolicited commercial email. Ever.

While I'm at it, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site.









Uniblue: Free Virus Scan

Search
Find just the answers you seek from among our 1700+ free tech support articles by using our Lijit search engine.


Help!





Subscribe to
Ask Dave Taylor!

Add to Google Reader
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

RDF   XML

Free Updates!
Sign up and get free weekly updates and special offers on books, seminars, workshops and more.


Recent Entries
Join the List!
Join my author info mailing list, where you'll learn about my upcoming books, speaking gigs, and more!


Book Links
© 2002 - 2008 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site.

[whiteboard marker tray]