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I am considering starting a website with a partner. Revenues will be purely ad related.

Is it ok to use two different Adsense IDs on the same website/webpages? I mean: would that comply with the Adsense ToS? (I just went quickly through them and could not see anything against having two different Adsense IDs... but I might have missed it).

And does anyone have experience with this kind of setup?

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3 Answers

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What is a point of using two adsense IDs? You can create different ads, even if they are the same size, and track the performance of those ads.

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The point is to direct the revenue directly into both partners Adsense accounts without the need for a joint bank account etc. This would be a great solution to try the service online, and only if it works go for the full bank account scenario. – tucson Nov 30 '10 at 15:11
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I'd run this service in "trial mode" to see if it is even worth giving Google your bank information. Unless you operate a site with really heavy traffic, this model may produce little to no income. – usabilitest Nov 30 '10 at 17:42
It might be convenient for the moment, but it doesn't really make sense. Why split revenue based on different ad placements? They will not be equal. How will you decide who gets which placement? – B Seven Jun 26 '12 at 16:46
There will be other sources of revenue anyway. And, you don't need a joint bank account. You need just one account and the account owner needs to prepare an accounting of all income and expenses on a regular basis. Then they give the other partner's share to them. – B Seven Jun 26 '12 at 16:58
up vote 2 down vote

It may not compete with their TOS, but it isn't a very good idea. Google puts a lot of time into their algorithms (to make more money for you and them), and they probably didn't account for scenarios like that.

If this guy's your partner, you should set-up a joint bank account (or just start a company) and split things from there. This certainly won't be the only "how do we split" questions to come up.

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Its a violation of the adsense TOS. You might want to look into other ad networks such as BuySellAds.com where you can charge a fixed monthly amount for your display ads, and then split the profits. – Frank Nov 30 '10 at 7:33
Alex, I don't agree with your argumentation. The idea might be good #1. If it's ok with Google, and #2. As a starting solution to see if a website is getting traction. Why set up a joint bank account if you do not know if the service finds its market? Pareto rule says 80% of startups fail, or? Perhaps we can spare ourselves paperwork etc. – tucson Nov 30 '10 at 15:16
up vote 0 down vote accepted

I think I found the answer to my question here in the Adsense FAQ: https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32855

(emphasis mine)

If a website is in compliance with our program policies and the company or owner of the site has given you permission to display ads on their site, you may place your ad code along with the other publisher's ad code on the same page. You will, however, need to contact your web hosting company or the owner of the website to obtain permission to display ads on their website.

Please keep in mind that a maximum of three regular ad units and one link unit may be placed on one webpage. In addition, please be aware that every publisher is responsible for the content of a website on which their ad code is placed. If a website is found in violation of our program policies, we will notify any publisher(s) whose ad code is on the website, and ask you to remove the Google code from that page.

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