Forum Moderators: martinibuster
It could just be that they clicked there own ads and now are lying to us about not clicking.
A more worrying theory is that there is a flaw in the fraudbot and its causing people to get wrongly kicked.
<added>Often, those who have been suspended are very vocal in their displeasure with Google, so it could also seem that there are more suspensions going on than there really is. </added>
I haven't seen any posting about being banned for quite awhile either. Maybe you mean the posts where people are worred that they might be banned?
How many WW members have reported being dumped by AdSense? Probably not more than a few dozen.
Of course, not all people who get dumped are going to complain, and not all publishers who get dumped are regulars on Webmaster World. Still, we're far more likely to hear from unhappy terminated publishers than from publishers who are still on board. When was the last time you saw a post that read: "Guess what, I joined AdSense three months ago, and I haven't yet been tossed off the network!" :-)
Guess what? I joined Adsense five months ago, and I haven't been thrown off yet. I had a brief panic initially when I clicked on a couple of links in ignorance on the first day, but this was sorted with a couple of emails. Since then the money has just kept rolling in - almost the same income every month, and no downward trend in any of the stats.
They were getting a lot of bad press, and now I believe they
are working more closely with publishers, to resolve problems. Before this, things appeared to be alot more draconian. I have seen a lot less of the kick out messages,
since mid october.
They were getting a lot of bad press, and now I believe they are working more closely with publishers, to resolve problems. Before this, things appeared to be alot more draconian.
What bad press? A few dozen posts here on Webmaster World?
One could argue that any such "bad press" was actually good press, because it inspired greater confidence among advertisers who wanted to be sure that Google wouldn't tolerate click fraud.
I do think that Google is sending fewer automated "invalid clicks" e-mails than it did a couple of months ago. That may be because the company realized that its warning triggers needed to be set higher, or it could be that the fraud filters have been improved.
Also, I think Google changed it policy in Mid October.
There was some big publicity back in October about a publisher who was suspended for fraudulent clicks. Then the Register picked it up, with the spin that AdSense changed the confidentiality clause specifically due to the guy who was suspended.
What wasn't reported, if that the "clause" that the Register and the suspended publisher claimed to have been added to gag him, had actually been in there since AdSense initially launched. And it was just coincidence that a new set of terms came out right after this guy started blogging about his suspension - but no changes to that particular clause was made.
The article also claimed there could be mass expulsions from the program for publishers breaking the confidentiality clause - something which hasn't happened, but it did fuel the fire that mass expulsions were taking place. And this one guy was very vocal in his quest to show Google as the bad guy.
We discussed the article in this thread [webmasterworld.com]. GoogleGuy weighed in on this issue as well (msg # 23). His response and confirmation on the clause issue was reported in many blogs/sites who initially jumped on the "Google is gagging publishers because of this poor blogger" bandwagon, and the Register article was shown to be a lot of hot air without real facts. I never did see any sort of correction in the Register though.
Apparently the free site I have on Yahoo does not match the account details of the domain I said I own when I joined.
Since I own 50 domains, and registered one of the .co.uk domains and was accepted, I cannot understand why they should ask me to prove I own Yahoo, the TOS do not seem to specifically ban free sites, as otherwise what about all the BLOGS that have GA on? You are allowed to put the code on any site you "own", which I seem to recall meant had the rights to control the contents of.
More irritating, is that they only sent me the email because I drew their attention to the site, since I was checking that they were happy with me replacing the geocities/googleadsense site with a .co.uk one and had the courtesy (and sense) to check how they felt about the use of the word "googleadsense" in a domain name. Not wishing to break copyright laws, and out of plain courtesy.
All the while before this, the validators that supposedly give the OK to sites that GA detects when they are new, never complained once about it or the revenue it has given them (judging by what it has earned me).
Does anyone know the exact location of any warning that free sites (subdomain accounts) are not allowed as one of the webpages you can advertise on?
I cannot remember enough about the sign-up to remember much more than that they did not seem to allow a domain like the geocities one, to be entered for primary domain of the account. I think the email address had to belong to the domain as well, both of which are true for <snip> and <snip>
The moral may be, do not contact them unless you really have to, and do not try to be too honest about what you are doing. That would be a pity, and I would rather lose my account than have to be forced to accept that way of behaving.
I complied with their request to remove the leaderboard within 5 minutes of seeing the email, it made me late for work.
I can only hope that the email this morning was from a disgruntled employee, perhaps at the end of a long tedious shift clicking on duff sites and answering silly emails.
They still have not answered my original enquiry. So much for the support function. If that is the kind of support I am going to get, then they can boot me off.
While wading through stuff from Google, trying to find answers to what they were up to, I noticed that if they TERMINATE your account, you HAVE TO REMOVE ALL THEIR CODE WITHIN 1 HOUR of the request or be in VIOLATION of the TOS.
Do they expect us to be on the email system 24 hours a day just in case we might miss this kind of email?
IT ALSO SAYS THAT SECTIONS 3, 7-11 (INCLUSIVE) 15,16 AND 17 SURVIVE.
This answers the question about why no one spills the beans, even when they are chopped. Section 8 says you cannot discuss click through rates, or any other confidential information, and this contractual obligation survives being terminated. Sounds like the UK's official Secrets Act. I am still bound by that from 1972 and cannot talk about the letters I delivered as a Postman!
What happened to American "freedom of speech"? And I say that as a UK citizen!
<snip>
[edited by: Jenstar at 10:18 pm (utc) on Nov. 20, 2003]
[edit reason] No URLs/emails; violates charter [/edit]
Another consideration, many free hosts are using AdSense as a way to monetize the free webspace they are allowing others to use - if you both were running AdSense, that could result in double serving.
As for blogs, unless you are involved in the blog yourself, you have no idea if a person owns the site or is acting on behalf of the owner. Some blog sites are running AdSense site-wide as a way to monetize giving free blog space, similarly to what some of the free hosts do. It is also worth noting that Blogger/BlogSpot runs AdSense site-wide, as it was bought by Google.
how they felt about the use of the word "googleadsense" in a domain name. Not wishing to break copyright laws, and out of plain courtesy.
Since both of those terms are trademarked, I wouldn't want to violate trademark laws and use those words in a domain, but others have (not sure how protective Google is about its trademarks in domain names).
However, the two could have been completely unrelated - one of the techies could have run a report on all sites running AdSense on Geocities last night, or perhaps Geocities is in the process of getting a premium account to run AdSense site-wide, which would require removal of all the current on-site AdSense by those using the free webspace (to prevent double-serving).
What happened to American "freedom of speech"? And I say that as a UK citizen!
The term "freedom of speech" often gets bandied about in forums, usually when members claim that their posts have been "censored" in violation of their "First Amendment rights." In reality, the U.S. Constitution merely protects citizens from government regulation of speech or the press. It doesn't prohibit companies or private organizations from having confidentiality clauses in contracts, censoring forums, ejecting demonstrators from office buildings or shopping centers, etc.
Considering that Google owns blogspot, there should be some sort of warning when you sign up. "Warning: if you host your site with us, you'll never be allowed to make any money from your site."
FURTHERMORE, the adsense site says:
"4. Can I show ads on more than one site?
Yes, and you don't even have to let us know because we'll automatically detect new sites that contain the AdSense ad code. The HTML code we provide you with is valid for any page in any site on which you want to display AdWords ads. However, you may only place the AdSense ad code on sites that comply with our program policies and that you own or are legally authorized to act on behalf of for the purposes of Google AdSense."
So there's nothing in there about subdomains, they are just making up policies as they go along.
To me, my free site is my site, and Yahoo Geocities authorise me to store my files on their server and only I am allowed to edit it. The site is NOT the DOMAIN.
Not sure if they would object if I paid for the website to be hosted by Yahoo (or is it not a site but a page?)
From the response to my replies, the email this morning suggests that they may be clarifying this definition along the lines I indicated to them to avoid other people getting it wrong as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To answer Blue_Fin's point
"Why did you apply to the AdSense program with a site that you had no intention of displaying AdSense ads on?"
I never said I did.
Adsense was on at least 10 sites, and is still on the .co.uk ones I put it on, including the one I registered with.
Which one that was, I cannot remember, but only guess, so perhaps Google will answer one of my emails and tell me how to check and if needbe, alter the original domain I registered.
Try remembering 50 domains off the top of your head. That is only the .co.uk ones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The freedom of speech quip was just that, I understand about confidentiality, I work in the IT section of a large Banking concern, and have been an accountant.
Nevertheless, we do not have to like exessively restrictive "gagging clauses", which is what he expression was meant to confer.
In fact, if it is too restrictive, courts can overturn it, and at present the open ended nature of the part "SECTIONS 3, 7-11 (INCLUSIVE) 15,16 AND 17 SURVIVE." with no limit stated for how long the survival of termination lasts, may be too much.
Most restrictive covenants are not allowed to run indefinitely, not even the Official Secrets act, which is limited to 30 years after the event.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite the problems with wrong interpretation of what a site is, I have only admiration for the way the scheme is performing, and for the standards of communication from their employees. That is, when I eventually do get a reply on something. I am still waitng for the domain name question to be answered.
At least I trust Google more than some of the ad merchants I have belonged to. And I have been paid.
To answer Blue_Fin's point
"Why did you apply to the AdSense program with a site that you had no intention of displaying AdSense ads on?"I never said I did.
Adsense was on at least 10 sites, and is still on the .co.uk ones I put it on, including the one I registered with.
Which one that was, I cannot remember, but only guess, so perhaps Google will answer one of my emails and tell me how to check and if needbe, alter the original domain I registered.
Try remembering 50 domains off the top of your head. That is only the .co.uk ones.
Then why did you say:
Talking of posts from members about to be banned, I seem to be one of those, as the email I received this morning says that unless I can prove I own Yahoo Geocities domain, I cannot remain on the Adsense scheme.
All you have to do is remove the code from that one site if your other sites comply with the program. Why jeopardize your entire AdSense account because of one website when you have 50?
Something just doesn't add up here. I feel we aren't hearing all of the facts.
Then why did you say:Talking of posts from members about to be banned, I seem to be one of those, as the email I received this morning says that unless I can prove I own Yahoo Geocities domain, I cannot remain on the Adsense scheme.
Ahh, Blue_Fin true to form. I don't see anything here that suggests mateypeeps registered with AdSense with a site he/she didn't intend to have AdSense on.
<snip>
2odd...
[edited by: Jenstar at 7:40 pm (utc) on Nov. 21, 2003]
[edit reason] as per TOS [/edit]
Since the free sites were already up and on Google (some rank 5), I used them to see how adsense behaved, and what problems there might be.
They first asked me to prove I owned the geocities domain, and in the meantime asked me to remove the code, which latter I did within 5 minutes of opening their email.
Even Google themselves say they will be reviewing their restrictions soon, and may allow free sites in the future so it is not as if it is an absolute crime to use free sites, even in their eyes, or they would not be thinking of expanding their scheme to include them. (They may decide not to of course).
In fact you can send a fax which has the signature of a webmaster saying you have his permission to use his site/page/domain and they will allow you to put adsense code on it.
I suppose I could always ask Yahoo to sign the form!
However, I cannot be bothered.
I have removed the adsense code from all the free sites I put it on, Google say they have no problem with me continuing with my account.
Nothing was done deliberately. The confusion came from interpretation of the term "site", and what I "own". I thought it was any site (meaning web page) that I can edit the content of, with the permission of the host.
Oh and registering a domain name with GoogleAdsense in, running Adsense ads on it - then telling Google about it in an e-mail! Well that's like waving a red flag in front of a bull so I'm not surprised they threw the book at you over a minor infringement of the contract.
I never said I registered a domain with the words google or adsense in it.
I asked what they thought of various ideas I had to replace the free site, and if they objected to even ad-sense, which they did.
How is it that there is a site called watchinggooglelikeahawk then? It says it is not associated with Google at all. Why do they not object to that?
I object to the slur on my character with the incorrect interpretation of what I did.
I never did any of the 3 things quoted by level80
"Oh and registering a domain name with GoogleAdsense in, running Adsense ads on it - then telling Google about it in an e-mail!"
I never registered a domain with the words google or adsense in it, I therefore never ran google adsense on it, and I never told Google about any non-existent domain with "google" in it, as it doesnot and did not exist.
I just had the courtesy to ask what they thought about some domain names, and told them why I wanted to move away from the free site I was particularly asking about.
They objected to the use of a free site, not the name.
