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I accidentally clicked an ad! :(

I don't even know which ad it was...

         

Elijah

1:58 am on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I was right clicking on one of the adsense ads on my site so that I could see where it would send go to just like google says to do at: [google.com...]

Well clumsy me! :( While trying to copy the target url out the adsense ad I accidentally clicked on an ad. I immediately hit stop on my browser but it was too late I saw my browser saying "waiting fof pagead2.googlesydication.com etc..".
The problem is that I don't know which ad that I accidentally clicked.
I've decided from now on to never right click on the ads to find out the advertisers url but to just manually type in the domain name.

I just was approved for adsense today and have had only 1 click on so far. I've only had 2 visitors to my site since I accidentally clicked on the ad so I'm guessing it's registering my accidental click.

I'd be happy for google just to reset my clicks or just take away my only click. Anything to keep from getting thrown out of adsense.

What should I do?

(Sorry if this has been addressed before)

Elijah <== In need of help. Very worried!

Thanks for all the help you guys have given me so far!

<edit>Grammar fix.</edit>

Marcus Aurelius

6:34 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I'm afraid Brett's argument makes no sense to me. There are hundreds of ads that run on my sites - I guess I should click them all to make sure they're clean?

Or maybe just the ones that strike you as strange or off in some way.


And by the same reasoning AdWords advertisers should expect to have their ads clicked on by the owner of every site worldwide on which they may appear? Needless to say that would be the end of AdSense.

ONLY if the advertiser was PAYING for it but they are not according to the system that was proposed repeatedly. The point is lets say in a system where the webmaster can find and click on ads without the advertiser paying for it, we can detect ads that are misconfigured, and yes it does happen, and report it. This BENEFITS the advertiser because they may be running a campaign that is not properly landing on their pages.

jomaxx

6:45 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I agree that having an automatic system in place would be better, and in that case the whole argument would be moot.

Unfortunately an IP-based system couldn't be reliable and would probably cause more problems than it solves. The system would have to be cookie-based and would presumably require webmasters to list which domains they host ads on.

esllou

10:09 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



It's like giving somebody permission for selling candy in your frontyard: yes, it's on your property and you may throw him out of there anytime, still you can't open all the wrappers just to check if there's really candy in there (you might do that but then he would move his store to somewhere else ;)

analogy of the century that. still laughing from the previous post when i got to that one! Two LOL posts in a row doesn't happen much to me on the net. Only about second time this year. Thanks guys!

Brett_Tabke

10:18 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



> No one tells me what to do on my site.

exactly.

It is on your site - you deserve to know where that click is going. You certainly can NOT trust a url on the page that runs through redirects or looks innocent. Just go look at any search result on google - a lot of them (all?) have click through counters in the js.

tombola

10:53 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Brett,
Your suggestions to Adsense publishers to click their own ads won't help anybody in this forum.[/b]

You can say what you like, just be honest to yourself: if you were an Adsense publisher, would YOU click YOUR own ads?

...wonder how long it takes before this message will be removed ;-)

mack

11:55 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I think Google need to pay closer attention to their own algo for determining what is a valid click and what is not.

That way a site owner can click away without costing any advertizers a cent. Good example would be to make use of the adsense log in cookie. Any clicks from that machine on the same site go to the site but do not count.

If Google want to make adsense work for site owners then they need to take steps to remove the fear factor.

Mack.

Lil_Red

12:08 am on Dec 14, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Personally, I think this whole discussion sounds like something out of Monty Python.

Please get a grip people, if you are so paranoid about getting booted out of AdSense for something as insignificant as ONE click on an AdSense ad maybe you should find a different line of work. One where you feel more secure.

mack

1:01 am on Dec 14, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I agree that some people are to paranoid but very often their fears are for genuine reasons. If Google do not do something to relive the fear factor then IMHO it is an abuse of trust.

Google do not own our websites, we do!

Mack.

Chndru

8:20 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>No one tells me what to do on my site.
exactly.

Let's say for example,

"No one tells me what to do on my post in WebmasterWorld, I am going to post specifics and promote my site".

That's absurd, since as a member, by definition, you go into an agreement with the TOS here.

Similarly, Adsense has TOS (right or wrong is out of question). If it is acceptable to you, go for it. Else, try another pond for a fish.

Blue_Fin

8:35 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Bravo!

hooloovoo22

8:36 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



maybe they don't tell you what to do, but they make some pretty convincing suggestions. Like many have said, it's an agreement. Don't use it and abide by it if you don't want to -- but then you'll have to deal with the consequences when they occur.

If adsense was on webmasterworld I'm sure they wouldn't terminate the account if he clicked on the ads, but not all of us carry that much weight. We've evaluated our options and found that playing by some of their rules is a small price to pay for being a publisher and receiving a nice monthly check.

Chndru

8:52 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>weight.
It has nothing to do with it. ROI, in $ and time.

Brett_Tabke

8:56 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



> would YOU click YOUR own ads?

I've been in every major advertising program on the net from DoubleClick, Flycast, Burst, to these newer ones. The first thing I do EVERY morning and often twice a day is to click on those ads.

A) to see that the click through is working.
It is amazing to see how often they don't.

B) to see where the click through is going. I remember clicking on an innocent looking monkey once and ending up at a casino add. You can't know where it goes unless you click it. There is little in that ad that tells you where that ad goes.

C) To see that the clicks are being accredited. I've caught EVERY ad program I have ever been in having problems with counting clicks. If you click once a day and don't have an accounting on your screen for that click - then there is a problem with the program.

The issue is not Google's tos, it is they job to filter you off. It is YOUR job, to run a site and assure that it is working properly for your visitors.

Never let anyone dictate what is one your site and how you use it but you. It's your site - only you can protect it.

Chndru

9:12 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Never let anyone dictate what is one your site and how you use it but you.

No one dictates anything. A publisher voluntarily enrolls into any program (here, Adsense) and promises to abide by the rules, s/he is aware of, by the time of making the decision.

To me, it is simply cheating - If you say "I am NOT going to do this" (in this case, not clicking their own ads) and then, do it.

I appreciate, Brett, that you are trying to improve the Adsense program with more rights to the publishers. Everyone agrees with that. But, dont confuse that issue with the issue of clicking your own ads when the TOS say do NOT. If the program is not acceptable to you (or anyone), it's just a bad fit and you need to move on. It's good to say, "publishers need ability to filter particular IP address". But, its immature to say "go click your own ads and dilute the quality of the program"

hooloovoo22

9:39 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



when one ad program outperforms all others by so much it doesn't leave all that much to be debated -- until there is a competitor.

It's like the kid who got an A on their test, but won't drop it to the teacher about missing half a point somewhere on it. I like my A, I'm going to put it up on the fridge and be content with it. for now.

Brett...I think it's smart to be your own watchdog. Nobody else is looking out for your own best interest. You've been apprehensive of adsense since day 1 and I'd be interested to know if it's because they don't openly track stats or such a strict TOS, or the issue that we've been discussing.

Blue_Fin

9:42 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I've been in every major advertising program on the net from DoubleClick, Flycast, Burst, to these newer ones. The first thing I do EVERY morning and often twice a day is to click on those ads.

And all the power to you if they aren't CPC based. I have a hard time believing you do that multiple times per day every day on AdSense ads and your account hasn't been disabled.

EliteWeb

9:45 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Heres the low down, they give you the option to filter out sites that you do not want displaying. The only way you would know the sites is if you visited the sites. Googles dIv tags or whatever they use make the whole table cell a hyperlink so its hard to select just the url without clicking on it.

Personally I would like to know what sites link to me, and if the site does follow my sites content or if it violates my TOS for my site.

One click wont hurt anybody. What if your at your 'hobby' site and you see an ad you want to click on, i mean it is your hobby site and you want to purchase or see what the product is. I have purchased products through my own advertisement just as I've purchased through other peoples adsense ads.

Blue_Fin

10:52 pm on Dec 18, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Advertisers should not be paying for you to determine if their ad complies with the goals of your site. Right click on the ad and get the URL that way, then paste it into your browser.

Don't try to substantiate your personal concerns at someone else's expense. In the long run, you're just hurting yourself because you'll have fewer ads for your users to click on, or worse, your account will be disabled, as it should be.

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