AdSense Disabling Arbitrage Accounts by June 1st

[Freddy81]

They told me my account will be disabled at 1st June, and also added that I'll receive payment for all outstanding earnings in accordance with the standard AdSense payment schedule.

For this day (17 May), does it mean that they will pay for April 1-30 earnings, or for May (1-18) also?

[europeforvisitors]

basically their just going to pick and choose the top arbitrage sites and work their way down cancling as fast as they can " 2 weeks max process " systematically destroying the livelyhood of these MFA that been getting a free ride.

Is it Google's fault that some AdSense publishers have been foolish enough to base their livelihoods on a flawed business model with a limited lifespan?

"The next get-rich-quick scheme" usually turns out to be "the last get-rich-quick scheme" in the end.

[hyperkik]

I've read somewhere that most of the content on the internet is not copyright

A bit off-topic, but what you've read is incorrect.

[farmboy]

I just read through all 13 pages of this thread and although I know it sounds cynical, my comment is this:

If one month from now I can randomly pick URL's from my filter, go to the URL and find AdSense no longer on the pages and/or find a quality site at the URL, I'll believe something is really happening.

Otherwise, this is just another in a line of "Google is doing something about MFA's" threads.

FarmBoy

[Scurramunga]

...Otherwise, this is just another in a line of "Google is doing something about MFA's" threads.

Best comment within this thread so far.

[edited by: Scurramunga at 3:59 am (utc) on May 20, 2007]

[tabish]

Looks like google is doing some "effort".. but I am sure these MFA people will find another way soon. You can not wipe them off completely.

I know it, because I keep getting clients who has always some weird ideas to make money from adsense, and they keep seeking programmers who can do these kind of programming for them.

It can never be "stopped" completely, because "I crossed $500 a day" thread encourages more MFA's rather than genuine publishers.

[venrooy]

I don't run any MFA sites - but at first I thought "what's the difference?". If the advertiser and the MFA are both making money then it should be ok. Then over the last year, I started to notice - as a purchaser of adwords ads - that most of my content network ads were no longer converting. So I stopped using the content network all together. And I would imagine that there were many adwords accounts that have done the same thing over the last year or two.

Google is starting to notice that these MFA sites are costing them more money than they are making. Because of the large adwords accounts opting out of the content network.

[farmboy]

I will be the first to admit that I have been running substantial arbitrage and MAF sites.

...Please AdSense team. Please give honest (at least non-breaching) webmasters a chance to straighten things up and stay in the program.

Employers perform background checks on potential employees because past behavior is often a predictor of future behavior. But a period of years with good behavior can show a person has matured, had a change of heart, etc.

Lenders conduct credit checks because past behavior is often a predictor of future behavior. But a period of years of good credit practices can show a person has matured, accepted more responsibility, etc.

If Google is actually in the process of taking widespread action against arbitrage/MFA sites, I think it's reasonable for Google to assume that those who have been operating such sites will try to find a shortcut, game the system or whatever you want to call it, in the future.

But if a person were to operate truly good useful content sites without AdSense for a period of years, I think it would be reasonable for Google to give them another look in about 2010.

FarmBoy

[potentialgeek]

I've read somewhere that most of the content on the internet is not copyright[ed].

Big myth. Copyright Law 101: All content is copyrighted by default. Text, photos, etc. This is a smart and fair law. You don't have to file anything to apply for copyrights. Every original thing you write you have a right to as soon as you write it. It's automatic.

Then there's fair use law.

p/g

[jimh009]

> Big myth. Copyright Law 101: All content is copyrighted by default. Text, photos, etc. This is a smart and fair law. You don't have to file anything to apply for copyrights. Every original thing you write you have a right to as soon as you write it. It's automatic.

Correct...unless someone copies your content and then files for a copyright protection BEFORE you do. Then it becomes one big hassle on "who created the content first." Why it's a good reason to always file for copyright...it avoids these "whose content is it really?" problems from cropping up.

[Anat]

I for one appreciate the MFA publishers' contribution to this thread. You can bash the MFA model, but I don't think it's fair to bash these people on a personal level.

Some very respectable publishers have dabbled with MFA's (no, I didn't). It does not make them "bad" or "immoral". They were just working a business and worked with the loopholes generously supplied by AS. It was there for all to use and as the recent act shows, Google could have cracked down on this model before and didn't, in effect saying this was legitimate. We're talking about huge accounts, UPS club checks, and I am positive that AS editors had a look at the sites and were fully aware of their business model. It was their choice to work with those sites or not. Up until now, they did. They don't even cut them off without notice and keeping the money. The message seems pretty clear to me: For Google this was a legitimate business model. It worked well for them before and no longer does.