It just caught my attention that Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool now has this interesting option in its filters:
Yes, as testified by the above screenshot I took, Google external keyword tool now offers you to include adult content in your keyword results. This is something people have been having trouble with for a long time, and I had a similar experience myself when trying to check some keywords.
Technically speaking, as per Google’s AdWords Content Guidelines, adult content is not completely prohibited but restricted:
Sexual & adult content is restricted.
Ads cannot promote child pornography, any sexually suggestive content involving children, or other non-consensual sexual material. Ads also cannot promote teen pornography or pornography that describes models who might be underage <…>
Google does not allow this content at all, regardless of whether or not a site complies with local government regulations.
Although adult-related ads that comply with our policies can show in some countries, certain countries such as Germany, China, Korea, and India will not show any ads categorized as “Adult Sexual Content” at all, such as ads promoting any pornographic content.
Hence, if the PPC usage of these keywords is so limited, this MUST mean these results are geared towards using the tool for the organic purposes. Further proof of it:
The above screenshot shows the tool’s results for the very first one of the terms outlined in the guidelines as completely banned. The only thing that makes me wonder is the “Advertiser Competition” column data – does that show how many people TRY to get these ads up and running? or does it show the hypocrisy of Google’s AdWords guidelines?
On the other hand, I can see the practical use of this new option for AdWords advertisers: a bunch of times, while searching for suggestions for non-adult keywords, I did get some adult terms in the mix – so if this checkbox is intended to filter out the adult results out of their suggestions for sure then everybody should be happy in the end.