If you click on your own ads,

tell Google right away

[sven1977]

I accidentally clicked on one of my own ads recently and can only suggest everyone not to freak out and simply let google know that it happened accidentally and that you apologize for this. In my case, google replied immediately and said that my account is in good standing and that the click has not been counted.

[FTFlash]

Very good advice.

[mike schmitz]

I wonder how many emails Google gets every day saying "OMG! I just clicked an ad!".

[etechsupport]

I think if you'll request google they can even provide you a separate code by which you can be enable to click your own ad. However it all depends upon the sole decision of google only.

[uk_webber]

There is no excuse for clicking your own ads - it is still cheating someone out of money.

Harsh I know but a fact.

[etechsupport]

That's true but normally few webmaster clicks due to ignorance, that should be strictly avoided.

[hyperkik]

A number of people here have confessed to accidental clicks when switching between programs or browser windows. The purpose of notifying Google under such circumstances is to help ensure that nobody pays for such a click.

[barnest2]

There is no excuse for clicking your own ads - it is still cheating someone out of money.

Sure there is. Everyone makes mistakes. I have a forum with dropdown navigation and I've gone to click within the dropdown, missed slightly and hit an ad by mistake. I let them know and they were fine about it. Happens to the best of us and I'm pretty anal about not clicking on my own ads.

If it happened every week, or even every month, I can see where they might get pissed. However, once every two months or something, that can't be a big deal, especially if you inform them.

[Radejr]

I emailed them about it and they said thank you for notifying us and to just remember clicking my own ads is strictly prohbited. thats all I got when i emailed them

[Visi]

If google has not been smart enough to monitor clicks from my IP (same one I check stats with) on my site then we are all in trouble with future payments. Would have to think this is basic PPC fraud control measure and has been done. If not then some of those class action suits will ensure that revenues drop like a rock.

[Sanenet]

If google has not been smart enough to monitor clicks from my IP

- so if just one person on AOL signs up to Adsense, that's how many clicks that Google would ignore? :)

Believe me, fraud protection ain't as easy as some people think.

[Sootah]

There is no excuse for clicking your own ads - it is still cheating someone out of money.

Harsh I know but a fact.

What are you talking about? He didn't do it on purpose and he reported it to Google. Google didn't pay him for the click. No harm, no foul.

Besides, the extremely infrequent click from a publishers IP is to be expected. Sometimes accidents happen. (Especially if you're using a touchpad on a laptop.)