'Banned' While On Vacation

It isn't fair!

[effekt]

The day after I left for a week long vacation I got an email from Google saying there was a violation on my web site and that I had 3 working days to fix it. Obviously, I just got this email (6 days later) and immediately fixed the little problem. But where the ads are meant to be showing is still blank.

Am I screwed? Is it time to find a new Adsense? I hope not :(

Just my luck!

[kevinpate]

Hopefully either your first email, or your very next one anyways, is one where you explain directly to AdSense your recent absence, your actions on return and a request for review. Luck to you on that.

[idolw]

buy a 3G phone and check email on your mobile everyday.

how can you not check email everyday when you run online business?

[trannack]

What did you do wrong? I think it would depend on how big an issue it is to adsense. The fact that they gave you 3 days to rectify it may stand you in good stead.

[crescenta]

This is why I now have a laptop and will take it with me when I travel. Yikes.

[rollinj]

Don't worry! Just fix it ASAP and get back to them ASAP!

I had the same scare just a week ago, just big blank white spots where your ads should be, right?

They've simply put that website "on hold" while they wait for you to correct your errors.

I feel your fear, however the adsense team was more than helpful to email me two more times further detailing my violations of the TOS and that they were asking me to fix them before they started to show ads on it again.

[gregbo]

how can you not check email everyday when you run online business?

Either that or hire part-time help. There has to be someone available to take care of this type of emergency.

[effekt]

Cool, thanks for the assurance rollinj. How long did it take them to get back to you? It has been a whole day so far and no response, but I guess it was the weekend...

[level80]

Adsense support never replies to emails over the weekend (from my experience). They have the time off, so emails sent on Friday after hours might not get a reply till Monday/Tuesday. Parts of Google may be 24/7/366 but the Mon-Fri 9-5 nature of Adsense publisher support is probably one of the factors in why they decided not to have a phone line for publishers.

It doesn't help if your emails going to someone 8 timezones away in a country that's asleep/closed for the weekend if you want a quick reply. Just use the time to work on your site and stop worrying about something you can't change. Google will reply in their own sweet time.

[elguapo]

If you have a "Brick and mortar" business, that is how you can say that you were on vacation and have no way of knowing what happened while you were out.

It's time to get a lap top or Notebook with a wireless Broadband and take it anywhere. When you have an online business - that is the way to go. The business goes on while you enjoy your vacation.

[G_Smitty]

Although I rarely do work on vacation. I always have my laptop and Verizon wireless connection. I check email once per day while on vacation an reply and work only when absolutely necessary. Just got back from a week in Gatlinburg TN and am planning A week off skiing next month. Adsense allows me one vacation per month month.

I also use logmein.com to access my home business computer. This is by far the best advance over the past few years.

As a Brick and Mortar owner I would never go a day without making at a minimum one call per day to check on the status of my business. Likewise I would never go a day without checking my email or the status of my site.

[miguelito]

well you are all answering this guy's question like you were all 100% dedicated to adsense with no other job or activities, that may be true for some of you but not all.
unless he is making really big bucks then like most people, he probably doesn't think it necessary to check in every day and prefers to relax and enjoy his holiday.
those of you who work in the real world, do you phone your boss every day to make sure the business is still there?

[elguapo]

miguelito

well, if you dont want to be disturbed while on vacation, that is your prerogative. Nobody tells you what you want to do. But don't whine and complain when something goes wrong when you come back.

[effekt]

I agree with you all on checking my email while on vacation but then it wouldn't be a true vacation would it ;) But perhaps next time I'll check it every few days just to be sure.

I do make fairly big bucks (over $100 daily) and Adsense is kind of my primary income - although I do not rely on it in the event of something going wrong.

Anyway, I got an email back today and they thanked me for fixing the issues and my ads should be running again within 48 hours :)

[jomaxx]

To be fair, even if you set it up so that you could check your email from the road, it's far from a slam dunk that you could make major site modifications from there. I have a huge website, and all it would do for me is give me a head start on begging Google not to ban me.

[joelgreen]

I'm thinking of implementing an "AdSense switch" script on my site. I would visit some page to switch it on/off. That should work if internet access is limited...

[Andreals]

If you want to take a *real* vacation without totally abandoning your responsibilities you should have someone else check your email and will disturb you only if the barn is actually engulfed in flames.

Yes, that requires you to have a friend or an assistant, most of us have at least one...

[gregbo]

unless he is making really big bucks then like most people, he probably doesn't think it necessary to check in every day and prefers to relax and enjoy his holiday.

When I was working in the "real world", there were often times when I didn't have any backup, because my group was small and underfunded. I had to lobby for a contractor to cover my assignments when I was away on a family emergency.

[Fryman]

A real webmaster doesn't take vacations, at least not like "normal" people do.

I wouldn't dream of leaving home without my laptop and checking email every single day.