Can my account be terminated because someone ELSE is abusing it?

[kstirn]

Hi all,

I recently got a mail from Google AdSense saying they found my account violating their terms and it would be suspended if I continue doing so. This is what they said:

<snip>

The thing is I NEVER did anything of the above, not even clicked on ANY of my ads (believe it or not). I also fully comply with their guidelines (3 ad units per page, no ads on pages without content, ...). I mailed them back asking for more info about the violation but they, of course, wouldn't give out any details, they just said they re-reviewed my account and it is indeed in violation (and repeated the above regarding clicking, auto-surf etc again).

Now I'm thinking my site (which has unique and quite popular content) could be listed in some "pay-to-surf" or something like that service. But I never wanted m site to be included in any such service nor have I any control of who links to my site and who not.

If they gave me details I could at least contact the website owner (if that is the case) and ask him to remove the links to my site.

I don't earn much with AdSense but I do get a check every month and it means a lot to me. And I don't want my account terminated just because some ******* (insert your own word there) is abusing the service/my website.

Any suggestions what should I do?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.

[edited by: martinibuster at 4:25 pm (utc) on Nov. 14, 2006]
[edit reason] No email quotes. See TOS [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]

[bts111]

Hello kstirn,

Welcome to WebmasterWorld!

It looks like have been given a second chance. Your site must be of value to Google's advertisers. I would be taking the ads off your site until the storm passes. Let Google know what you have done. And yes, I have had to do this before.

Also, don't be telling people about your sites and how they make money. People usually don't like to see others do well especially when it comes to money.

Good Luck :)
bts111

[joelgreen]

Check your server logs for referals. Are some of them coming from "bad" sites?
Signup for Google Analytics for better tracking (I think Google will value Google Analytics account info more then log file from your server).

[kstirn]

Hi!

Thanks for the replies. I think that's exactly what I will do - remove the ads from my website and contact them again showing them I'm serious about protecting the advertisers and TOS, hopefully they will be able to give me a better explanation about what was wrong.

Regards

[jomaxx]

It's conceivable it could be due to someone else, but I'd look in the mirror first. Read over the Program Policies and the T&C in their entirety, and make sure you comply in every respect. Especially with respect to labelling or discussing the AdSense ads.

You can also try removing AdSense temporarily. Your stats won't drop right down to zero (due to various types of cacheing), but they should slow to a trickle. If they don't, that's a sign some other site could be running your AdSense code.

[kstirn]

Actually I did go through their terms several times (I read the TOS before signing up for an account) and from the replies I got from Google the violation must either be repeated clicks or clicks/impressions coming from incentive websites.

Yes, I meant taking down ads temporarily and trying to locate the problem.

[kstirn]

Another possible scenario just came to my mind - my website is mostly about some free scripts which many people really like so it's possible someone repeatedly clicked (is clicking?) on ads to "help". Anyway, just thinking things through...

[StatiX]

Now I'm thinking my site (which has unique and quite popular content) could be listed in some "pay-to-surf" or something like that service. But I never wanted m site to be included in any such service nor have I any control of who links to my site and who not.

I had a problem with pay to surf sites. I think most of the sites that had me listed all used the same script "runner.php". I used a filter to test the referrer and see it came from a script called runner.php. If it did, it was most likely an auto surf program, even tho I never signed up for advertising on one.

[kstirn]

Thanks StatiX, that's probably the problem here too. I just filtered referrers in AwStats and more then 400 visitors this month came from a script called "runner.php" from several auto-surf websites!

As you I also never signed up for any such website nor approved any to show my website. Well that just s****, I can't believe I came close to having my account suspended because my website was listed in a service I have no control over.

I'll block any /runner.php referer with .htaccess and hopefully keep the GoogleGod happy. Traffic from auto-sruf sites is very low quality anyway.