Can I use the "O" word?

I'm currently writing an article on pregnancy and labour. One section will be about orgasms. It only touch briefly on using them to tone the uterus, and won't be anything too adult. However I thought I'd check first on whether this is ok. Would it be better to use different wording like "adult fun"? Skip that section altogether? 

I can't speak for the views of the web-owners, but only as a professional in the sex education and sex trauma therapy fields.

Orgasm is not a dirty word, and not so much to be avoided as it was in the past. I think that the term "adult fun" sounds more smutty than the straight word for what you mean.

I will probably be using the word, myself, at some point in relevant articles. When you are writing a serious piece, it is best to use the appropriate words.

IMHO,

Sheri

Wry you've been around adsense long enough to know it isn't the best word to use because of that. I has nothing to do with what's good writing. It's one of those words that could get your account flagged. Is it worth it? Adsense bans are for life remember.

I agree with Digby.

Thanks for the heads up.  I guess I'll have to avoid that word myself.

Sheri, If I remember correctly you don't have an Adsense account yet. You might want to review their Terms of Service and Content Guidelines to understand just what they allow and don't on pages that use Adsense. It can be very frustrating to some writers. I've just gotten used to the idea that if you want to monetize with Adsense, then certain topics and products are not allowed. I have a group of websites that don't use Adsense, so I can write about or sell anything I feel like.

I'm going to agree with Digby as well.

There is an additional reason why it's not a good idea to have certain "key words" within your article. Even if your Adsense account won't be jeopardized, Google will pick up on these words and serve ads which may be considered inappropriate for a family-friendly site. 

Instead of the o word use sexual intercourse or similar and you should be fine, try to use a more 'technical' term, such as 'can sexual intercourse induce early labor'.

Frankly, I would personally avoid any mention of sexual intercourse at all if you are using Adsense.  If it even hints of being in the wrong category, Google will punish first, and maybe never reassess.

I hope Wizzley has some filters in place to catch inappropriate words. After Panda it's hard to know what could bring us all down in the eyes of the Google gods. It's really better to play it safe.

While there is nothing wrong with articles about sexual intercourse, or related topics, they just need to be published on a site that does not use Adsense.  As Digby says, reading the TOS is a very good idea.

Ok thanks, just thought I'd check what the general opinion was. IMO it's a small but very important part of my article so I might just throw it up on one of my personal Adsense free blogs.  Thanks guys!

(Although I do have one 1000+ word article which is two years old and uses the words sperm and orgasm once... maybe I should take Adsense off. Since Adsense never earns on that ANYWAY.)

This makes me think that I will be having problems with my child sexual abuse articles. I did keyword research and it stripped the word, "sex" out of all the possible variations and just left me with variations on child abuse.

This is troubling because there are lots of people out there looking for information on child sexual abuse and adult sexual trauma.

If I cannot use "sex" abuse as a keyword, and if there is the possibility that it will also respond negatively for using the term in the text, then what do I do?  What about all the websites out there that offer support and help for sex trauma victims/survivors?

So maybe I have to go back and change adsense back to chitika . . . . and will there be a problem for wizzley in general regarding my use of the word, "sex"?

Wizzley is supposed to be a family-friendly site. When we use sex-related words in our content, AdSense or Chitika may show dildo ads or male enhancement stuff on our articles. No want that, k?   

However, if your article is clearly about sexual abuse and contains other, related keywords such as addiction, trauma, recovery, treatment, etc. in prominent places (page title, description, module titles, subtitles), you may be fine. 

I would certainly NOT want anything smutty attached to my articles and if I had the slightest inkling that stuff like you say might be attached to them, I would take them down immediately. Is there any way to keep track and make sure that is not happening?

It makes me hope that the good traffic I am getting is looking for stuff on sex trauma and not sex sex.

Sheri: 21. Jan 2012, 11:20

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 Is there any way to keep track and make sure that is not happening?

See our tips in this thread re: words to use and not to use.

However, since Google personalizes their ads with respect to individual visitors, there's probably no 100% sure way to know what kind of ads are shown on your page. If, for instance, a user browses a few adult sites before (somehow) landing on your article, Google may show him (or her) adult-type ads.

That's why we warn our authors about certain topics and words, and that's why we recommend writing focused content that does not confuse the search engines. My tip would be to use synonyms for sexual abuse, i. e. inappropriate touching, inappropriate physical abuse, etc.

Yes, Sheri, you can see this in action as you browse from site to site.  I find this happens to me all the time (quite annoying actually), that when I finish writing an article somewhere, then everywhere I go the ads match what I just finished writing.

That's interesting, Paula. Then I must be okay. Because ads I see after I've written an article on sex abuse are usually about different kinds of therapy or self-growth. So they must be doing okay at picking up what I'm really about. I'll pay more attention to this from now on and see what keeps coming up.

Hey Achim, how about I write the article and send you a link before publication for your opinion? I may be able to manage it without naughty words. Maybe. I hope!

I don't know any more than you do, Susannah. All we have are the guidelines from Google  AdSense.