It seems that AdSense is forming (or has formed) a secret new group made up of some of it’s most successful publishers.
An email was sent to an unknown number of publishers in the last 24 hours inviting them to join it with the following email which was forwarded to me by a ProBlogger reader two ProBlogger readers who both wish to remain anonymous. I’m unsure if this group is new or an existing one as it’s not something I’d heard of until today:
Your Invitation to the AdSense Online Advisory Council
Hello xxxxxxxxxx,
Congratulations on your success with the AdSense program. Given your extensive experience with AdSense, I’m happy to invite you to join AdSense’s Online Advisory Council, a select group of publishers who offer input on new AdSense products and features. Our development team relies on the Online Advisory Council to help us refine our new services and features. As a member of the Council, you will have the opportunity to:
– Contribute to a community of other respected publishers in the council
– Test new features and products before they are released to the general public
– Provide direct feedback to the AdSense team on how we can better serve our publishers
We hope that you’re excited about the opportunity to help shape the AdSense product offering for Google’s extensive publisher network. Upon receiving confirmation of your acceptance, you will receive an e-mail with further instructions on using the AdSense Online Advisory Council forum. If you’d like to participate please reply to this email with the following text:
“I agree. I understand that information provided to me as part of the Online Advisory Council is Google Confidential Information under the applicable Google AdSense terms and conditions.”
Please note that by sending such a reply you are guaranteeing Google that you have legal authority to accept these terms.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
Has anyone else seen or heard of this group before?
wow… nice offer… and its not a confidential anymore, is it a new scam?
AdSense Online Advisory Council sounds grand huh..
syiru,
http://onlinejob.motime.com
The Secret Brotherhood of Google?
You could show email of the sender at least… now is seems to be just a junk/spam email from some nobody.
sounds good.. do you know, from which email came this? is it original google, or just spam?
Never heard about something like this.
Maybe just a spam.
Anyway, it’s sounds like some secret sith-council O.o
From which mail it came?
i just love this new design. much cleaner and minimalistic. sorry for confessing it here.
Why would it be a scam/spam? What could a spammer possibly get out of this? They’re not asking for money or other info… They didn’t ask the recipient to click on any links… How is this spam?
I think sometimes people are way too apprehensive. Why wouldn’t Google offer something like this? It makes their top publishers feel like they’re worthy of Google’s attention (afterall, they’re making money for Google too) and it gives feedback to Google on what’s working and what isn’t.
Let’s remember the true nature of spam and email scams folks, before jumping to any conclusions…
Sounds like Google is heading for the highest level of one-to-one marketing, partnering with their most valued customers.
Makes a lot of sense!
Yahoo is also talking about a similar concept. I would expect Google to make something out of it.
Yahoo on the other hand is slow to start anything or step out on a limb so a group like this might get tired of it.
I don’t understand why they look for those who make most money out of adsense instead of those who make the most money given a certain traffic? Isn’t it an attempt to improve adsense? if so they should find adsense experts not website owner with huge traffic.
Anyway, seems that the adsense team has run out of new ideas and want the publishers to do the job for them!
I don’t mind as long as my earnings increase :)
Appears a genuine email, with the langauge of email. Typical google style.
Just another spam!
I agree with Lara – what would a spammer get out of this email? Although we can’t see the header, the wording and styling looks legit to me, and it makes kind of sense for Google to test out new things through their most successful publishers.
I think it’s legit. First of all, it would be difficult for a spammer to locate a top Adsense earner, without emailing others as well.
Second, it’s not actually asking for any information or payment. The spammer, if it was spam, would get nothing out of it except an email back.
Finally, SE Roundtable says he received a similar email back in February 2006, for the “Beta” version.
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/014498.html
The above mentioned e-mail message is not a spam/scam. We’re just trying to improve quality of service we provide.
:)
I’ve never heard of this program before, but Google is quite good a keep things secret when they want to. It’s a great idea though, having the people who actually USE the product giving feedback and suggestions.
It’s just a shame I won’t be invited any time soon!
I hear they put a giant “Google” brand under your right arm as your initiation rite for joining the secret brotherhood of uber Google AdSense publishers.
I Subscribed to that group via email they sent me longer time ago (2 months ago) as of yet I don’t know what projects am I going to take upon.
To give you a hint, look at the google jobs little bit closer. There should be jobs to work from home :)
Sorry due to google privacy I can’t really disclose all the info about that group.
haha it sounds like an elite group of people to make them feel better or more important.. sorry I don’t mean to be mean. Could also be like the Jedi Counsil.. hmm wonder who is Yoda..
Seb
I would really welcome this project by Google (I mean, just welcome the fact that they are finally doing something to listen to the people who are making them millions of dollars every day).
I have been increasingly frustrated with Google on both the publisher and advertiser side of things lately. I understand they have to keep their trade secrets, well, secret, but I feel it comes at the expense of paying, legitimate customers who can’t get straight answers to questions regarding problems, optimization, or why clicks are deemed fraudulent (especially when in fact they are not).
Would love continuing updates on this if you get them, Darren!
Interesting. Entirely probable too. It seems like a logical step for Google AdSense.
The email comes from [email protected]. It’s legit. It’s an extension of the existing Beta Groups.
I’d post my real name except this is apparently a bit like Fight Club, hah!
Oops, email address isn’t actually adsense@. It’s adsense-research@.
LOL. Looks like they are starting a knights of the round table to keep secrets in within a group of suckers.
It would be really nice if this were a true e-mail from the Google AdSense Team because it would mean that they actually listen to user feedback. It would be even nicer if they listened to the small guys too (like me), but they are currently untouchable…
Regards,
Chris
http://www.snyke.net/blog
One can only hope that someone will leak a transcript from their top secret meetings to my e-mail box.