I received the email yesterday and thought it might prove illuminating.

It wasn't.

IanCP, at first I thought you were being harsh. Then I read the article and realized otherwise. That essay seems largely an introduction to the author, the Head of Publisher Policy Communications at Google.

Here is the meat of that article:

•Your content is important. We will never suggest censoring your content to meet our policies. However, we have obligations to our advertisers. If you want to post or maintain content that is not compliant with the AdSense policies, simply remove the AdSense ad code from that page. We’re here to help you maintain and grow your online business.

•Get familiar with our ad implementation policies and content policies. I’d recommend reading adult content policy and copyright policy carefully.

•Keep an eye on invalid clicks by reviewing your traffic and CTR trends.

•Check these steps before filing a policy appeal. It’s always possible to appeal a policy violation once you remove Google ads from pages that violate our policies or once you address the policy violation. Remember that all policy appeals are reviewed by our team and we try to get back to every appeal within 72 hours.

Has anything been de-mystified?

As it's meant to be a series, i'm hoping that the subsequent posts might be a little meatier.

The title of the article promises that AdSense Policies would be demystified. They are not. So of course a reader might feel their time had been wasted. The title promised meat but the article delivered cheese.

The problem isn't that the policies weren't demystified in the article. The problem is the author chose a poor title. I don't think the author meant to mislead. He simply made a poor editorial decision. The article is actually an introduction to the head of communications and the title should have communicated that better.

I'm glad others feel this way, I also thought there was very little meat yet didn't want to be seen as criticising Google...again!