Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I had a member post a thread in my forum asking how earnings are made and how they can help by clicking.
I have no idea how to answer this question and not be in trouble for encouraging clicks.
Can I answer with something like "Just click the ads that interest you" or should I avoid answering it at all?
This is my first google scare, by the way! :)
Please don't tell people to click the adds (just a head up)
It can backfire horribly!
If google thinks there is a pattern to the clicking on your site, like clicks from one IP more than "normal" you can lose your account for "click fraud".
Its actually a tactic that people use to attack other websites.
Google is scared to death of click fraud now, having been recently hit by a massive lawsuit over it, and heaps of innocent people are getting hit according to web design sites.
So we really need to let people act normally and randomise the clicks.
I guess I was more worried on how to answer...I understand the TOS, but I just didn't want to take any chances with this one.
I appreciate all of your replies. Thanks again!
Strange people inhabit forums etc and some are horrendous trolls, if you let it be known that talking about the ads can be damaging to your account/site, you open the door even wider to all sorts of nasty scenarios.
When it happens on my forum sites, if the post seems genuine then i will take the time to PM the member and explain why i removed their post but most of the time i don't bother, just delete it. If they are dumb enough to think it's ok to tell people to click ads on a page then they are too dumb to understand your explanation as to why not to do it.
You have me scared that your moderators persist in this type of behaviour though , how old are they? 12?
My moderators are actually aware of the google TOS. This question was posed from a member. I sure hope they aren't suggesting stuff like that! :)
spaceylacie, thanks for that suggestion. I really like it a lot!
I went ahead and edited that stuff out of the topic. Again, thanks to everyone for the great advice!
Hoss
This is foolish advice. There are literally millions of pages that have the word "click" in them. Like "click here for more information" or "detail page is just a click away".
The word "click" on your site most certainly does NOT get you banned.
I had a long, old thread where someone was asking where to buy a product and some other member replied to "click the ad at the top of the page". At the time a particular advertiser had bought exclusive rights to that forum. Fast forward many months later when that advertiser is gone and AdSense is now being rotated on screen... and I get an automated email...
[edited by: Sunflux at 4:21 am (utc) on Nov. 24, 2006]
>>>I think it's good practice to automatically filter for certain words and ensure that you don't display adsense on pages containing any of those words. i.e. if the word "click" appears on your page then don't display adsense. Better lost profit than getting booted.<<<This is foolish advice. There are literally millions of pages that have the word "click" in them. Like "click here for more information" or "detail page is just a click away".
The word "click" on your site most certainly does NOT get you banned.
Well I was just giving you an example of what could be done. When dealing with user-generated content I think it is better to be cautious and exclude ads on pages with certain words until you've had a chance to review those pages.
Most of the time the work click is going to be fine. But why take the chance? Don't show ads on such pages until you've had a chance to review the page, then if you see that the phrase is ok re-enable the ads. I certainly don't think this is foolish advice. It may take just one user to post "click the ads" to get you booted (or at least warned.)
