If you log into your Google Adsense account you will be presented with the new Terms of Service of Google Adsense which have to be accepted before 25 May of 2008. Failure to accept the Terms and Conditions until that date will have the result that the Google Adsense account will be deactivated.

This could be a huge problem for those webmasters who use third party software to track their Adsense earnings. Google added a FAQ entry to their website explaining the changes that have been made. The first one deals with future products:

One of the main changes you may notice in the new Google AdSense Online Terms and Conditions is that the terms anticipate future products that may become available in other advertising formats and mediums. As we look forward to monetizing more online and offline content, we’ve re-worded some portions of the terms to make them applicable across a broader array of media and formats — anticipating, for example, that future products may be priced, paid, or managed differently than the current products.

The second one is probably more important, it details that webmasters have to inform their users that cookies and / or web beacons collect data in the ad serving process.

We’ve also added some specific privacy policy requirements that make it necessary for publishers to post and abide by a transparent privacy policy for their users. According to this policy, publishers must notify their users of the use of cookies and/or web beacons to collect data in the ad serving process. This change relates to advertisers’ use of innovative products and features like Gadget Ads, Google’s new test ad server, and other offerings in the future.