My father 'helped' me

Clicked my ads

[johnnie]

GREAT!

My father thought he'd help me by visiting all my sites (he found a hub) and clicking their ads once per site. Whilst I love him for his good intentions, he now got me scared $#itless over G finding out and closing my account. What is the best course of action now? Should I inform and apologize to them or not?

[rj87uk]

Inform Google that your father from same(?) IP has clicked most of your ads and the clicks should be discounted.

I would Email Google before Google Emails you.

[johnnie]

He used a work PC, so I don't think it's directly traceable. But nevertheless, I'm sure their system trips on this kind of activity.

[HuskyPup]

If it's not from your system or IP do nothing but tell him off, however if it is from your system and IP and this is the first time it has happened G knows and can detect it and will automatically delete them.

If it makes you feel better tell G but all you will get is a canned response telling you not to do it again!

[johnnie]

Needless to say, I gave him a firm warning not to do it again. It was kind of a sad thing to do, since he really had the best of intentions. He's just not very aware of the workings behind the internet and all. I think I'll just leave it at this, since I'm sure G's system will appropriately discount the clicks.

[jchampliaud]

My suggestin, have your father go back to one of the sites he click on and have him buy something (if that's possible).

[jetteroheller]

Manipulate the host file of Your fathers computer

Manipulate his User agent string, serve Your ads by SSI, so when his manipulated User agent string comes, Amazon instead of AdSense is shown.

Find out, is there a fixed IP, same treatment like above.

[farmboy]

Loose lips sink ships.

FarmBoy

[potentialgeek]

"Never tell family or friends about sites with Adsense."

I live by this rule and none of them ever clicked on the ads.

p/g

[Edge]

First, tell your dad to stop it, immediately.

Second, don't tell anybody else within your family or friends whom might feel compelled to help you.

Third, contact Google AdSense with his ip address or other and tell them to remove the click credits.

[greatstart]

My father 'helped' me
Clicked my ads

I don't have to worry about that. My dad is 87 years old, and he doesn't even know how to turn on a computer!

[StoutFiles]

Something I've always wondered about...could someone kill your Adsense account (competitor) if they really wanted by using click fraud?

Ex: getting on public computers(library) and clicking your ads repeatedly.

[ember]

My mom wanted to "help" me the same way, and I told her no! I have told no one else about AdSense and sworn her not to, either. Parents, what are you going to do with them :o)

[JerryOdom]

I wonder how many times Google has heard this exact same story.

[farmboy]

It's sad how some people who are old enough and wise enough to know better act as if money just falls from the sky without considering that it's coming from someone else's pocket.

And then there are those who realize that but don't care as long as they or someone they know is getting the benefit.

It seems related to the current political season in the U.S. somehow, but that's probably a topic for a thread on a forum far far away from here.

FarmBoy

[johnnie]

It's hard to keep your adsense biz hidden when you still live at home. Anyways, I explicitly warned my parents no longer to try and 'help me' in this way, since it's downright fraud.

[jbayabas]

This is TOO funny. Johnnie, you just made my day.

[netmeg]

My mom wanted to "help" me the same way, and I told her no! I have told no one else about AdSense and sworn her not to, either. Parents, what are you going to do with them :o)

Do what I did - I set up my 77 year old mother with her own blog and AdSense account, and now that it's HER potential earnings at stake, you best believe she's real careful about where she clicks.

[Play_Bach]

I don't talk about AdSense with my friends and family.

[surfer67]

I don't talk about AdSense with my friends and family.

I cut off ties with my entire family after signing with adsense. Not an easy decision but nevertheless a sacrifice I had to make. My behaviour remains a mystery to my family as I never gave a reason for my actions.

p.s. I am kidding of course...

[piatkow]

I imagine that to anybody else with a knowledge of music hall the Billy Bennett monologue "My Mother Doesn't Know I'm on the Stage" has also come to mind.

[fredw]

Stoutfiles said:

could someone kill your Adsense account (competitor) if they really wanted by using click fraud?

I think the prevailing wisdom is that publishers shouldn't be worried about such a scenario, because Google is (a) always smart enough to recognize such a click attack and (b) also smart enough to know you didn't do it (assuming, of course, that you didn't!)

[fredw]

Regarding family members clicking on ads, I actually set up one family member's computer so that they don't see my ads at all. I did this by customizing their browser string and looking for that string in my ad display module.

I also do not display ads to the large company where I do my 9-5, by looking for their IP addresses.