Forum Moderators: martinibuster
There are more and more people here posting how they clicked their ads once or twice to "check" or to click on a link they were "interested in", others that have had their ads mentioned in their own discussion boards and thus have verged on encouraging clicks, and others still who simply can't control 100% of users on computers that they have accessed AdSense from.
And then they get the "invalid clicks" mail or banned straight away, and considering these issues comes to late.
A lot of these people read the TOS, and when they do have to patiently appeal to Google they get prompt, personal responses, but the fact remains that a lot of that attention wouldn't be needed if all users were made more clear just how sensitive Google's AdSense can be.
Prevention is better than cure, and an additonal clear warning to invalid click generators and naive webmasters alike, before they signed up rather than after, and informing them of possible dangerous practices would surely lessen both deserved and less-deserved "invalid clicks" mails. There would be no need to disclose information that might help fraudulent click generators function more effectively, it would simply let users know beforehand that Google AdSense is justifiably strict and that they should show due respect.
If I'd had this info, I'd have been more aware, I'd like to think I would have avoided a mistake, I would have minimized all risks to losing AdSense, and a great website that competes with the best for content in my niche would be getting better, faster. When I compare some of the related keyword-stuffed sites that have AdSense, .. well, anyway :)
How many others think extra info from Google before signing up is becoming more necessary?
All the Best,
Jeremy
I think this is a pretty difficult situation for Google. They don't have any foolproof methods to determine fraud, to a certain extent they have to guess.
First priority will alway be the advertizer. Lots of advertizers crying out publically about fraudulent clicks is worse than some disgruntled small publishers.
So if in doubt, throw them out.
Nobody really reads TOS etc...
We wait for Jenstar's summary ;)
Also, the AdSense rules are pretty clear, and even a publisher who hasn't read those rules must know that clicking on an ad costs money for the advertiser.
I still maintain that statistically every webmaster must eventually get a warning email.
Google have to set their system to fire off a warning email if a pattern is outside the "norm". If your site(s) accrue, say 100,000 clicks over time, then one must assume that you must get at least one warning email - in other words it is statistically unlikely that 100,000 clicks will be in a narrow band, some must fall outside that band.
The trick must be for Google to decide which of the sites that get emails are going to true rouges and should be thrown out of AdSense. And which are statistical abberations.
The trick must be for Google to decide which of the sites that get emails are going to true rouges and should be thrown out of AdSense. And which are statistical abberations.
That's true to some extent, but Google isn't a court of law and doesn't have to limit itself to ejecting rogues. It can just as easily decide to close any account that has questionable clicks unless that account generates enough revenue to justify a closer look or a second chance.
Other factors may come into play, too, such as whether the topic of the site or the nature of its audience is likely to invite "click attacks" on advertisers. If a site has had problems with invalid clicks in the past, and if Google thinks it's likely to have similar problems in the future, Google might decide that it's more cost-effective to dump the account than to keep it--regardless of whether the publisher is responsible for the invalid clicks.
I'm not saying that Google should make decisions on such a basis, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
With AdSense, I think Google has one problem that other ad networks don't - handling fraud detection for very small publishers. But small publishers are unlikely to have the resources to carry out undetectible fraud on any scale (ie, using banks of unconnected IP addresses, presumably by mass worm/trojan attacks on desktops). So that leaves Brett's #2, attacks on publishers by rivals, or by malicious hooligans. I see no real solution to that, but whether it is a big enough problem to kill AdSense is unclear.
cornwall, I think you have it backwards - the more clicks you get, the less likely you are to get a purely statistical "fraud email"
Unless Google's working in number of fraudulent clicks, rather than a percentage.
Before you can complete your registration, you have to check the box informing Google that yes, you have read the AdSense terms. If you aren't going to bother reading it, you should at least skim it, and watch for warning phrases such as "you shall not" or "do not".
And plenty of those terms are common sense - don't click your own ads, and don't get others to click them for you. I do find it surprising that so many people can't see why they can't click their own ads.
I am not sure how much more Google can do to make it clearer to publishers who have said they read the terms and conditions. Should they put a 500x500 flashing animated gif in each publisher's account saying "Do Not Click Your Own Ads?" Get a billboard in Times Square? Send weekly email reminders with "Don't click your AdSense ads" in the subject line?
The fact is, each publisher has said they read the terms, has agreed to follow all the terms, policies and FAQ. If they run into problems because they didn't do that, I don't see why the blame should fall to Google because they didn't say "even a couple clicks by you could flag your account for suspicious activity".
And heini is correct, public executions work quite well ;) I can't count the number of times people in this forum have said "I didn't know that" in response to a point in the terms being brought up, particularly those who have run afoul of the "don't click your own ads" policy. And I am sure there are some scared publishers here who have clicked on their own ads, not knowing it was against the terms at the time, and are now waiting to see if they do get that fruadulent clicks email from Google ;)
Jeremymgp, the fact that it's in the TOS should be sufficient. None of the below is targeted at you personally, but at webmasters in general:
Level of sensitivity etc is not something that Google needs to explain in any detail to any publisher. If you agreed not to do something why should Google warn you that they will take action only if you've broken your side of the agreement x times? A webmaster shouldn't be breaking it at all. It's not difficult avoiding clicking on Adsense ads on your site. If there's been a genuine mistake drop Google a quick line immediately. I don't believe you will be dropped from the program if you do that.
Even it it wasn't for TOS, does common sense and fairplay not mean anything anymore? Why is it nowadays often a matter of "how much can I cheat before I have to pay the consequences"? Why do questions like "What's the safest way of encouraging my visitors to click on the ads?" ever come up at all?
Jenstar, on the other hand I do believe Google needs to remove some of the genuine "fear" that honest webmasters seem to have i.e. is today the day that one of my visitors will get me banned? Because, as Jeremy says, you can't control 100% of your visitors. Should we put a 500x500 flashing animated gif on each page saying "don't click the ads"? :-)
Makes all sense - reading tos, playing fair, don't click your own ads etc ... but the fact remains: your competitors can ruin your adsense account pretty easy.
Don't forget your advertisers' competitors, or dissatisfied customers who want to run up an advertiser's bill.
When - before Sept, 30?
