Google AdSense Login Page Doesn't Render Correctly

by James T Wood Google

Having trouble with your Google AdSense login page is likely an indication of an issue with the rendering engine in the Web browser that you're using. Different browsers use different content rendering engines that interpret the code on the AdSense login page differently. If the page doesn't look right, use a different browser and try disabling add-ons that could block content.

Not All Browsers Render Equally

The HTML Web code that makes up the website content is interpreted by each rendering engine based on its own set of rules. Google Chrome and Apple Safari use the WebKit rendering engine, while Internet Explorer uses the Trident engine and Mozilla Firefox uses the Gecko engine. The WebKit engine, for example, has nearly 2 million lines of code that are used to access and render all the different elements that exist in HTML. Additionally, HTML uses cascading style sheets that permit the same code to be interpreted differently based on certain criteria. So a browser may see the exact same AdSense page code but based on the rendering technology and CSS rules render it very differently from another browser.

Correctness Is Subjective

Internet Explorer may render the Google AdSense page differently from Chrome or Firefox, but that doesn't necessarily mean that one is correct and the other is not. Each rendering engine is attempting to comply with standards and make the Web accessible to its users. Internet Explorer's engine has been around since 1997 and attempts to bring forward as many older features as possible. Until 2012 IE was the leader among all browsers and at one point had nearly 70 percent of the market share, according to StatCounter, which tracks browsing trends. By comparison, WebKit was launched in 2003 as an open-source project. The difference in purpose and environment led the rendering engines to a differing set of priorities that may lead to pages rendering differently, while still being correct for that browser.

Size Does Matter

In addition to the rendering engine, there can also be browser-specific settings that make a page look different from one browser to another. For example,Internet Explorer may have the font size set larger than that in Chrome so the AdSense page will lay out differently in each. Some text is reflowable, meaning that it adjusts based on the width of the browser window, so if you have your browser maximized it might look different than having a smaller window.

Extension Check

Browsers can use extensions -- also called add-ons -- to change the way websites render. One common extension use is to block ad content. If you're using an ad-blocking extension in your browser it may prevent some or all of the Google AdSense page from rendering properly. You can disable or uninstall your extensions to see if that's the cause of the page not rendering correctly on your computer.

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