Had the chance to surf for a few hours earlier and the regular site I go to over at Blogs That Follow posted an article on Google Adsense’ new Terms and Conditions. As it goes, Google is implementing a mandatory posting of a Privacy Policy on our websites scaring warning readers that we have third parties like Google Ads, sneaking dropping cookies and crumbs onto their computers without their knowledge while browsing our sites. It is required for all websites using Google Adsense- no exceptions.

I haven’t even checked my Google Adsense account in months!!

And so there it was, the updated Terms of Service (TOS) giving me until May 25th 2008 to either accept or decline the new conditions. Yay, I was just in the nick of time! If I hadn’t seen the article and opened my account on May 26th, would that have meant my Google Adsense account is toast? I wouldn’t know.

As this TOS is standard in so many websites we register at like community sites, social networking or email providers, you probably have clicked “Yes, I read and accept the above Terms and Conditions” the same way I do- without so much as read a paragraph of what it is I am agreeing at- thinking it all says the same thing and it won’t affect usage. I mean really, to open a generic yahoo or gmail account you need to click “I agree” to whatever it is stipulated otherwise you can’t create an account.

Our hands are tied. So we accept.

I accepted the TOS and installed the Privacy Policy plugin recommended at Blogs That Follow.

On a related note: Last week, I chanced upon disclosurepolicy.org. I deem it important to let my readers know what I get for blogging on this site and created my own Disclosure Policy. Well, I get basically nothing– yet! All the moneytization on this blog comes from Google Adsense and related companies posted as boxed ads and I have not cashed out a single centavo to date! I don’t mind.

Why place ads when I’m not earning? Third party ads for me creates balance on the whole make up of the blog. This blog would appear drab without it as opposed to those saying ads are messy. The ads are in a way unobtrusive, totally independent of a blog’s content. It’s just there for readers to click or not, to notice or ignore. Content, however requires more of our insights. We make more conscious efforts to choose what to post and what not to write.

It goes without saying then that, no- I don’t and will not endorse any product or company in exchange for money by way of writing and posting an article about it. When I endorse something, it will be because I believe on the product and will gladly rave about it- for FREE. On the other hand, if I dislike a product, service or company- rest assured I will rant about it and no third party can say I can’t since it’s bloody paid! Ergo, you will not read anything endorsed by me that I have not tried, heard, tasted, seen, felt or experienced first hand!

Since we were on the subject, I thought I should clear that out for transparency. There you go. I present my Disclosure and Privacy Policy and admitting to being the last to know.

Folgers Gourmet Selections is teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to help Greater Los Angeles, which is among the most overcrowded places in the United States. By way of creating your own commercial or voting for this simple ad I made here, Folgers will donate $1 to Habitat of Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (up to $150,000).

According to its press release, “Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (HFH GLA) strives to eliminate poverty housing through advocacy, education, and partnership with families in need to build simple, decent, affordable housing. Since 1990, HFH GLA has built more than 190 homes, transforming the lives of hundreds of people. In the spring of 2007, HFH GLA kicked off its three-year “Building a Greater Los Angeles” campaign to build or renovate more than 250 homes in Los Angeles County.” Sounds like a plan!

I know there are far more worse areas in the world other than the city of Angels, Los Angeles (LA) but fact still remains, there is poverty even in the United States and there’s one in LA. I believe people and companies are helping every which way they can in every opportunities that come. I am giving back to the Philippines, my home country in any small way I can. However, I live here in the US now too so this is my share…

Clicking on the ad will redirect you to the Folgers website where you can vote. You can also check out and vote hundreds of ads created by others. Then there’s the company ad starring Dr. Miranda Bailey of Grey’s Anatomy, actress-Chandra Wilson and Journalist and world traveler, Lisa Ling.

Spare a minute or two every day to vote on the commercial or better yet, create your own (and start your own campaign) so we’ll be on our way to helping Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles.

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UPDATE: 20 JUNE 2008: Since I moved from Blogger to Wordpress and changed themes twice along the way, some of my posts looked bad in the new theme so I am now checking each one (really hard work! Grrrr!) to see how it looks. I clicked on Folgers again and see that my ad in their website is back!! My ad isn’t “offensive” anymore!! Glad they placed it back! So you can still vote OR make your own ad! Visit the site when you get the chance. It’s pretty cool how they do it…

UPDATE. 18 November 2007: You can view the entire ad from here, but as it turns out- Folgers deleted my ad on their main site because “someone” reported it as being offensive! WTF?! I wrote to Folgers upon learning this and I haven’t heard back from them yet. (So they did reply after about 2 weeks and said they will check on it!)

This is the reason why I removed the navbar in my site- someone could play a prank on you or whatever and they flag your site as inappropriate then next thing you know, Blogger takes out your site on the web! Most websites are handled by autobots- for all I know, Blogger doesn’t have a real person attending to its thousands of mails or complaints. I could be wrong, but tell me: how on earth can this ad be offensive or inappropriate to be taken down like that?!