Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I along with a ton of others who have been shown the door from google's adsence strikly becouse of building scraper sites.
I have tried to get back in but, have been told (through email as I don't have a adsence phone number to a live person to call) that my services are no longer needed.
My question is (to all here and to any "offical adsence members" from google here on webmasterworld as well): Should getting banned for building scraper sites get you kicked out of adsence for "LIFE"?
Anyone else here that has been kicked out for building scraper sites (and) who actaul got back in, please share you input here as well as those people who are in my shoe's.
There is one other thing to consider. The people who have been banned from adsence, once ypn becomes aviable, we will all be going over there (along with thousands of other PO'ed webmasters who can't even call a adsence person on the phone to get a answer, even though they are doing thousands of $$$$ in biz monthly). Now don't get me wrong, I am not going over to ypn to do scraper sites (i have real content sites for ypn and for adsence if I could get back in for that matter) but, the "EX" scraper site builders are infact brillant seo's and know how to bring trageted traffic to advertiser's, why would adsence want to just throw "us" in the garbage can and watch there market share shrink when they should be looking for ways to stay on top. Heck, I would even be for a "pobation peroid" for offender's like me but, I "LIFE TIME BAN" (as in never ever again).....
Teeceo.
They are on their way already. I believe they have a whole pile of lawsuits relating to trademark infringements, and a copyright battle looming with book authors.
fwiw, big business and the police gave Michael Corleone their blessing. How's your Italian? :-))
Either way, just like some famous rock stars, you've probably hit your peak. You made a ton of money and you'll probably never be able to pull it off again, even if you are able to pull it off one more time it probably won't last. You'll have to live like the rest of us slobs. You'll have a hard time adjusting. You'll consistantly talk about the brief time you were rich. You will probably spend a few more years trying to grasp at other desperate means to re-attain your former glory, but sooner or later you'll be sitting in your large empty house holding divorce papers in one hand and an overdue mortgage in the other. You'll slowly balance the shotgun between your knees and...
Teeceo,
Looks like Google may be about to sue you to get all that money back.
They have done it before they could do it again.
Ann
Over half million? that could make it worth their while.
But a lifetime ban for a first offence? I'm not so sure.
I've made plenty of mistakes in many areas of my life, both personal and professional. We all have. I like to think that people deserve a second chance.
So no, I wouldn't impose a lifetime ban for a first offence - *unless* they'd been blatantly ignoring warnings. I'd give someone a second chance but have them under intensive scrutiny in order to protect the interests of advertisers.
But given the number of publishers out there that sort of approach would be labour intensive and very expensive for Google to implement. So from Google's commercial viewpoint I think a lifetime ban is probably understandable.
Yes. (Is that a trick question?)
Have they sued a scraper site simply for being a scraper site? I can understand suing for click fraud, but scraper sites' crimes are against the original publisher, not Google.
Valeyard, I admire your generosity, but would you take the same stance if the $half-million had been obtained from local storekeepers by a 'real life' scam? Ie: let them keep the money; no prosecution; only a short ban on 'business' trading?
This guy is an admitted scraper and quite possibly using copyrighted material and that is against the TOS.
We only have his side of the story and it is possible a lot more was going on than we will ever know. If he is underhanded in one thing who says he did not pull other "tricks". For all I know he is one who scraped my site.
I learned a long time ago that "what you are speaks louder than what you say".
Just my opinion. Hope they do sue him and yes a lifetime ban is in order.
Ann
Anything less would encourage people to carry on setting up scrapers. A leopard doesn't change its spots, and all that.
He mentions "brilliant SEOs", scraping, and earning $10,000 per week in one post. He should have been saving that money knowing this day was coming.
It takes me 6 years to make $500,000 at my regular job, after 15 years experience. Adsense on the side is just an experiment building to a modest revenue generating machine while I make my original content public. If I could just grab those that illegally (or immorally) profit with my content by the neck...
A UK judge recently determined that Ian Huntley, the Soham murder of two young children, should serve at least 40 years. So, when put in terms of a 'life sentence', I can understand that a lifetime ban for scraping might seem OTT or vindictive.
However, if someone is convicted of gaining half a million dollars through unlawful means (and as the cliche says, ignorance is no excuse) then the 'normal' sentence would involve:
(a) returning the money (or seizing his/her assets and making bankrupt, if the money has been spent),
(b) a fine, or possibly jail term and
(c) disqualification for a finite period (often a few years)
Thereafter, the individual would be deemed to have paid their debt and can resume trading again.
So which of these two options - lifetime ban or bankrupcy/jail/temporary ban - is more severe? Which would teeceo prefer, I wonder?
Ann
Google can't completely ban anyone for life. Not as long as it's still legal for an individual to set up a new identity via an LLC or LTD company.
As others (and I) have long argued - getting completely rid of scrapers in SERPS is the best medicine for the disease. No SERPS, no incentive to put together scraper sites, no Adsense earnings from scraper sites... better than any lifetime ban.
Christopher Michael Corleone, and Ann Michelle Corleone, you have always done the right thing. Are you now going to do the work of the Blue Godfather?
Ann
Like it or not, Google is taking a stand on "scraper" sites. It is actually heartening to know that Google is making such a stand
Teeco was banned way back in March. (At least, that's when he first mentioned being banned as a scraper in an AdSsense Forum thread.) There are still plenty of scrapers running AdSense, so--if Google truly was taking a stand as long ago as March--it obviously hasn't been able to defend against the onslaught of scraper sites.
I agree with Oddsod that whacking scrapers in the SERPs is probably a more efficient way to deal with the issue than playing whack-a-mole with publisher accounts, but the two approaches needn't be mutually exclusive. Just because the search team is trying to excise scraper ages with its algorithms doesn't mean the AdSense team shouldn't enforce the TOS when violations come to light.
He had managed to scam area businesses to the tune of around $90,000 per year by swapping barcodes from inexpensive items to higher priced items, purchasing the item at the lower price, then returning the item for cash. I'm not sure how many years that he'd been doing this, but he is now serving nine life prison terms for his actions. Yes, Nine!
So, my opinion is that a "life time" ban from AdSense is quite reasonable. That's getting off easy if that's all of the punishment. Very easy.
By your own definition, you've made a ton of money. Obviously Google is making a lot more than a few of you who create Scrapers. So, you've made a half million dollars and it is quite impressive, but this amount does not tear into Google's bottom line.
In some way, you've created your own destiny. Be original and have original content, and you could earn a ton of money for the rest of your life without fear of being banned.
As to other Scrapers not being banned, I suspect they are low-income sites. Google obviously went after the big boys who make hundreds of sites.
[edited by: makes_a_little_sense at 3:12 pm (utc) on Oct. 3, 2005]
Simply because I think there are more $$$ costs associated to scrapers setting up a new LLC identity in comparison to getting their throw-away domains out of SERPS.
Teeceo's half miillion affects Google's bottom by $0.
The half million has been illegally *diverted* from advertising that should have been spent with original content publishers. Ie: it is people such as members of this list from whom the money has been 'stolen'.
If Teeceo operated in my industry, getting back just a small share of that $half-million traffic would mean that I could give some people gainful employment.
Or did you login at [google.com...]
"What did this guy really expect by posting this?" I wanted to see what the world's view's were on people getting banned for life from adsense and now I know. God help you though if you account ever gets turned off and all you get is canned replies email's and we alllllll know that no one and I mean no one has even been banned from adsense for no reason or very small things (if anything at all).
As for adsense T&O hehehehehe, well more then a thousand times here in webmasterworld have people tried to figure them out (Has anyone yet?).
Teeceo.
[edited by: teeceo at 4:03 pm (utc) on Oct. 3, 2005]
