$100 chopped of earnings

I will be paid just over $100 less in finalised earnings

[Automotive site]

Earned x amount last month, but according to payment tab at the top, the amount that will be reduced by $100.

This is the first time I have had siginificant amount reduced. Anyone know why this might be?

[Automotive site]

I use to receive payments via EFT but recently changed back to cheque. I wonder if they are charging for administative purposes to handle the extra work and passing on some of that on.

[Automotive site]

*off earnings

[flatfile]

What % of your earnings is $100?

[netmeg]

They re-evaluate clicks and traffic and reduce the payment. In theory the advertiser gets refunded. You could also see a reduction if an advertiser defaults and doesn't pay Google.

[jabas]

For me it's -600€ (15-20%), and it's not the first time.

[nomis5]

Google's explanantion of the difference can be found at [support.google.com...]

[Trueman]

Here are some recent discussion about that topic on Webmaster World. I have the impression, more and more people are having this issue, without knowing why.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[webmasterworld.com...]

[netmeg]

Sounds like a lot of people got a big chop in March. It also sounds like they are treating any traffic spike as potentially suspicious. Which is great news for seasonal sites, NOT.

[miozio]

I have a weird report too! Last month estimate are 170 euros less than finalized. The adjustment says 4 euros. What is this supposed to mean? They adjusted 4 and chopped 170?

[BillyS]

We typically lose less than 1%. It was 0.6% in March. As mentioned earlier, it's better to talk about %'s than absolute numbers. For example I think 100 euro is reasonable if you're making 20,000 per month.

[miozio]

A lot of people report this, here is one with Google staff replying: [goo.gl...]

[anteck]

Google are shooting themselves in the foot. I don't get this :

1. They claim 'invalid traffic', yet they are the one's who choose which ad's to display.

2. They are clearly displaying irrelevant ad's a lot more then before. Targeting is screwed up.

3. What constitutes 'invalid traffic'? A bounce back in 'x' seconds? A close of window? Nobody at Ad sense has actually told us what 'invalid traffic' technically means.

4. They adjust these figures at the end of the month. How? What are they looking at?

It it bewildering to comprehend the arrogance of Google in this situation. They expect us to run ads, which are chosen by Google, and then simply accept that a portion of the clicks actually were 'invalid traffic' without explanation or reason.

Screw that. I've removed adsense from a lot of my sites that used to make a small amount of $$ from it, i refuse to put up with this nonsense.

Makes you wonder if Google are still charging the advertisers. Any reports of Adword's customers getting reimbursed for 'invalid clicks'?

Google as a company just look more terrible and unethical with every month it seems.

[NorthIslandChris]

For the first time that I can remember, I also got $100 plus chopped from the finalized earnings.

[fanboy]

Almost $400 for me off this month, or about 4%. It's been happening each month for the last 6 months or so for me. It used to be a tiny variance, now it's huge. :(

[karkadan]

$100 too. First time.

[gmb21]

Any reports of Adword's customers getting reimbursed for 'invalid clicks'?

Yes, there are AdWords advertisers here who have reported getting refunds for invalid clicks.