Google Stops AdSense Click Tracking Script?

A thread at Webmaster World reports “3rd Party AdSense Click Trackers Disabled”.

News about the tracker being disabled was first posted when a webmaster wrote, " Today I noticed in my asrep tool that it is no longer tracking adsense ads that are clicked on…..After comparing notes with a few others….looks like things have changed in the Google code.I used the tool a lot to find the MFAs to block…..".

Common changes noticed among users include:

• I only use the tracking script on a few pages. I'm not down to zero, but today vs. yesterday is down 90%. Something appears to have changed.

• The status bar no longer displays 'go to website.com' when hovering over the ads.

• I'd have to agree it was intentional. Possibly because it was on their list as leading to a potential privacy outcry someday. Or possibly because they're afraid it leads to the over optimization of MFAs. Or it's possible some arbitrage sites were tracking AdSense clicks as "conversions", and Google didn't like the implications of that.

• Its never been accurate but since yesterday its pathetic, I had over 300 clicks in my cp but adlogger said I had 28 all day.

• Adlogger needs to be updated. It does NOT show URLs anymore

• I'm still seemingly able to count the clicks as before, though only for IE users as ever, which is a diminishing slice of my traffic”

Finally, one user explains: "I use another tracking script which is also now rendered pretty much useless because the status bar text seems to have been removed. I can see only two reasons for this, one good, one bad: Good: The AdSense team are going to add a feature into the reports to allow us to view which ads are clicked. Bad: The AdSense team want to conceal how well this and future mass bannings go."

All in all, the usual suspect is that Google will soon be introducing new features in the reports.

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