how is this done? is it legal?

[renny79]

I just came across <snip> and am wonder how is this possible? From the click URL, I can see that it's a googlesyndication.com url which means they are adsense ads right? But how come they don't have the Ads by Goooogle link or any unit limitation and format? Is this the priviledge of being a premium member (I don't know if they are or not) or are they just being sneaky?

Any help is appreciated. I am just stratching my head over this and my curiosity probably will make me lose sleep tonite. I am sorry, I can't help but being the geek I am. :)

-Ren

[edited by: Jenstar at 3:18 am (utc) on July 13, 2005]
[edit reason] No outting of publishers [/edit]

[novice]

<snip> is a premium publisher and has added features.

[services.google.com...]

[edited by: Jenstar at 3:19 am (utc) on July 13, 2005]

[bose]

Hi There,

As others have indicated, it is more than likely that it may be a premium publisher. Not knowing the specifics, don't have much to add beyond what has already been said.

Just did not want to miss an opportunity to say: Welcome to WebMasterWorld.

[arrowman]

I've seen my Adwords ads, not recognizable as ads, as the sole content on an otherwise empty page. It appeared as a regular link, with Javascript code to route the click through Adwords. The CTR is approaching 100%, no doubt.

IMO it's premium click fraud. I reported it through my Adwords account, and got a boilerplate reply telling me how "Adwords for search" works.

It appears that Google is not interested in fighting abuse. And that must mean advertisers aren't interested as well. Beats me.