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Adsense Canceled

         

jonnyQ

10:04 pm on Dec 16, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Well, it happened to me. Because Adsnese has been canceled I can discuss it is detailes. As many people received e-mail from google mine has been canceled due to illegal clicks which I have not personally generated nor hired anybody to do this. One day it just happened an I noticed that I was receiving 4,000 click that day. But before anything I usually got 230 clicks per day which resulted in around $250 a day. Now that day I have somehow received 4,000 clicks, but I made only 213 that day. I try to call google, by the way don't even bother becasue they don't have any live support nor they will help you on the phone. The only way is to go to google adsense page and click on support and fill out their request page. Untill they get back to you, well it takes time. They told me that the re-checked my account and confirmed illegal clicks therefore to prtoect their adwords advertisers they just shut it down. So ther is no way of getting your accounts back. So stuff like this happenes, I think when you notice a high increase it is better to contact google right away to let them know, otherwise they just shut you down easily without any questions. I think google needs to step up and create some kinf of protection for innocent adsense publishers. Maybe my competition didn't like me and they strt clicking on my ads or personally I have no idea what happened. I didn't see any increase in my traffic, but somehow clicks came from who knows where. The only thing is that I made $213 the day I got those 4,000 clicks. My site was real estate relared and I know that people pay big buck for adwords in real estate field. So if I got those 4,000 clicks..I should be getting more..right?..Well I only got $213, so maybe google screw up..just like to blame innicent adsense advertisers. Your thoughts?

dt1961

5:19 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Google just doesn't have the time to worry about cheats, frauds and lamers - it just boots them. If you play the game honestly and to the rules you will not get booted.

Look all you want for an alternative but as yet there isn't one.

Adsense is in my business plan but be realistic will it be next year? The way this industry moves who knows!

7_Driver

5:27 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



while now I was getting close to $6,000/month.

Quite often when this sort of thread comes up, you get the theory that when there's a problem, Google boots the small sites because they're not worth investigating properly.

This example makes that theory look pretty shakey. $6000 may not be much to Google - but I bet it's in the top few % of all AdSense accounts. Perhaps you need to be in the UPS club to get a "proper investigation". Or perhaps nobody gets one.

Google has the right to terminate the agreement at any time, for any reason--just as the publisher does. That's something publishers should keep in mind when relying on AdSense for their monthly income or even their pocket money.

True. But I'm not looking forward to explaining that to employees whose salaries I pay with AdSense income, if I get booted, and have to make them redundant.

Ultimately, we know that most publishers who get booted are doing something wrong. But there's a growing suspicion that your competitors could get you booted any time they feel like it. And I suspect I could do the same to them.

Google's policies are handing a lot of power to the unscrupulous - is that a good thing?

Ultimately, the way this is being handled in some cases appears to be very unfair to publishers. Why should Google care?

Because if you start to treat people badly (or that perception arises), the people who leave first aren't the dodgy, low quality ones - they're the best ones, because they're the ones with alternatives. That applies to employees, it applies to affiliate programs, I think think it will apply to AdSense. I agree that some sort of appeals procedure in which you can get to talk to a human (if only for sites above a certain level) would do a lot to improve Google's reputation for fairness among publishers.

Competition for AdSense will ultimately be the best thing, as that will give more than just the big publishers alternatives.

europeforvisitors

5:53 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)



I agree that some sort of appeals procedure in which you can get to talk to a human (if only for sites above a certain level) would do a lot to improve Google's reputation for fairness among publishers.

Google isn't known for its communications skills, and most e-mails from AdSense Support appear to have been assembled from chunks of boilerplate text. Still, I can understand why they might not want to get into "human" discussions with terminated publishers, which would invariably result in time-consuming dialogues such as:

"We've disabled your account because of invalid clicks."

"But I didn't click on any of my ads, and neither did my partner, friends, or pets."

"Okay, but we've still disabled your account."

"But why?"

"We can't reveal that. Our internal procedures are private for security reasons."

"But I'm innocent."

"Maybe so--or maybe not--but that may not be the point."

"Well, if I'm innocent, then why did you terminate my account?"

"I'm afraid that I can't tell you that."

After 20 or 30 back-and-forth e-mails, the publisher would still be out of the program and Google would have run up unnecessary overhead expense. So why bother? Since the AdSense contract allows either party to break off the relationship for any reason, it makes a lot more sense for Google to just say "We're closing your account" and leave it that.

david_uk

6:42 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



After 20 or 30 back-and-forth e-mails, the publisher would still be out of the program and Google would have run up unnecessary overhead expense. So why bother? Since the AdSense contract allows either party to break off the relationship for any reason, it makes a lot more sense for Google to just say "We're closing your account" and leave it that.

I agree that probably 99.9% of people getting booted deserve it, and I'd agree that in these cases where it's totally cut and dried it's a waste of the adsense team's time to enter into this type of discussion. Just boot them.

The difficulty is that like all of us, Google isn't totally infallable. Some people here are paranoid that if they were to be on the recieving end, they wouldn't get a fair go at trying to resolve any problem. Saying "Email the adsense team" is the best anyone can suggest, but we all know that one day you might get an email from a human, and another you get some garbage from the Google fortune cookie generator!

The repeated threads of "Google disabled my account, now I can't feed the kids - I only clicked on my own sites ads 4000 times, what did I do wrong?" are annoying, and only serve to make some honest people think that Google will disable their account overnight. There are enough people that sound plausible contributing to these threads, and nobody is able to officially confirm that Google don't disable accounts without some form of safety net for the paranioa to continue to be fed.

All people really want is for Google to put something on the website to advise webmasters what procedure to follow if they suspect click fraud, and some reassurance that they will use humans to investigate click fraud/tos violations picked up by their bots before booting.

Until Google give guidance and a little reassurance, then these threads will continue.

Jon12345

6:47 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Yes, it may make more sense from a commercial perspective for Google to do that, in the short term. However, when a company has a near monopoly on something it can only abuse its position until a significant competitor steps in. Most of us here love the innovation of Adsense but some of us rely on it for our incomes. If you are banned without really knowing the full reasons why or if you are innocent, that is rather similar to being sacked by your boss and they don't tell you why.

I think the withholding of payment for previous clicks is really out of order. Makes me wonder if it is in fact legal to do so. Whether or not the TOC state that Google have the right to withhold, it does not mean in law that the TOC are reasonable or valid. I suppose its up to a test case to prove this one way or the other. Trouble is, when you are up against the might of a company the size of Google, the individual would appear to have little chance. Have there been any test cases?

Yes, click fraud is a problem. But don't make redundant those who may have had no part in this fraud.

TNJed

7:21 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I get conused with the 2 faces of Google we are faced with. On one hand, Google sends out tip booklets and offers advice on how to maximize your CTR by changing colors, sizes, and positions of your ad blocks on your pages. On the other hand, Google doesn't allow sites built for Adsense. What's the diff?

Cross your fingers and say you aren't registering this new domain to display Adsense on, but then use the Google tips for improving your Adsense blocks which were honestly an afterthought?

Google wants it both ways and they know it. They also know they can get away with it. They show their advertisers that they don't put up with crappy built for Adsense sites, but don't put it past them to show you (wink,wink-nudge,nudge) how to best have your ads perform on your "not-made" for adsense site.

europeforvisitors

7:33 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)



Google wants it both ways and they know it. They also know they can get away with it. They show their advertisers that they don't put up with crappy built for Adsense sites, but don't put it past them to show you (wink,wink-nudge,nudge) how to best have your ads perform on your "not-made" for adsense site.

Yes, and the Google Search team tries to reduce spam in the SERPs while the proliferation of unvetted AdSense sites contribute to the problem. It's like newspapers or magazines running articles on consumer fraud while accepting ads for quackpot weight-loss products and bosom-enlargement devices.

itisgene

8:12 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I think What Google does is a legitimate business way to deal with their business partners. Yes, I am also worried that I could be kicked in one day for no reason. But that's how you do business, I mean, any business. If you have a few suppliers and if you don't LIKE one of them, you will stop the relation ship and give the order to someone else FOR NO REASON. or just because you don't like the company. That's what is Google doing now.

Well, of couse, if you don't like google, you can go to someone else, too. But in this case, as a publisher, there is nowhere else to go, except real large publishers(You can go to Overture's contextual ads if you are really large). Google Adsense is almost a monopoly at this point. There will be some unfair decisions by the party who has such power.

I am trying to spend more time to have more web presence so that i can have more adsense and more income. I will not to quit my full time job because of adsense, even if I can be in the UPS club. I'd rather create a real business that has my own business partners (exlcuding Google Adsense) from the money I earned from Adsense. that way, if something bad happens, it will be my faultnot Google's fault. I cannot live at the mercy of just one partner.

I have been in Adsense since June 2003 (The first month Adsense opened its door to general publishers). ANY SITE could be kicked out by Adsense. It is sad for Adsense publishers. but I think it is legitimate. We must not rely soly on Adsense.

I do not have any siginificant Affiliate income. I started a new site with affiliate program in mind as well as adsense. It is making half and half from each program right now but losing one program will hurt the future of the site's income.

I am working as a search marketing professional as a full timer. Those sites that i own are for hobby or research purpose(to learn search marketing better). If I can make significant money from Adsense, I will start my own business, which does not rely on Adsense. This new business should replace my full time job not the Adsense.

Anyways, I think this thread was real good discussion that I had never see from this Adsense forum for long time, even though it was started as "I was Booted". So, I thank to JohnQ and others. This kid of thred helps all of our Adsense publishers understand Adsense program better. So in fact I would encourage anyone to post "i got booted" message. So that we can learn any changes of Adsense policy. So far it hasn't been changed much. But that's what we learned.

Please keep the good work and make good money from Google Adsense. And have a good sleep and ...Merry Christmas. :)

TNJed

8:38 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



"It's like newspapers or magazines running articles on consumer fraud while accepting ads for quackpot weight-loss products and bosom-enlargement devices."

EFV - that's great. LOL

europeforvisitors

8:46 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)



But in this case, as a publisher, there is nowhere else to go, except real large publishers(You can go to Overture's contextual ads if you are really large).

Quigo's AdSonar and IntelliTXT may also be worth a look.

itisgene

8:54 pm on Dec 18, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



EFV, thanks for the tips on other alternatives. I know you have been contributing to this forum a lot and you don't like the booted people crying about the unfairness. But THAT kind of suggestions make this forum makes this forum much more valuable. How would unexperienced booted adsense publishers know about the alternatives until the experienced like you let us know? :)

Keep up the good advices.
Thanks,

atomix

12:01 am on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hi, new member here, though i've been reading this forum for long time..

Today we too got email regarding cancelled account by Google. :(

Now, our last month payment was "approved" on 16th, so is there any change to receive payment check, since it was approved, but dunno if sent yet.

itisgene

6:27 am on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



atomix,

If it was today, and the payment approved on 16th, you will get the last check from Google within a few days. But you won't get the next one for December.

Was there any specific reason that you gor dropped? Do you mind sharing your experiences?

jonnyQ

7:08 am on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Thanks evrybody for contributing to this forum. I was lucky enough to get approved by adsense through a different site of mine. I used different IP address, I just went to local library and apply through there. Now through these posts I know what to do. I will need to remove my ads every time there is anything weird going on and report this to google. The problem is, well at lest for me that I will need to check my account at least twice a day to monitor such activity.

Thanks everybody for your input.

Entelekhia

9:36 am on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



There is no legal problem concerning Google kicking anyone out of their program. That is normal procedure in any line of business. The legal question mark is that they don't pay you what you have earned, and what they have investigated to be ok.

If your boss sacks you without any reason AND doesn't give you your salary, you would propably sue the ***, even if it would state in your job contract that this could happen anytime. And you'd be most likely to win too.

I always hear this "99,5% of the booted deserve it". How do you know? Google admits that there are click bots and nasty competitors.

The problem is that there is no way you can prove to be NOT guilty as Google doesn't provide any evidence. You can't defend yourself.

If you click your own ads, you must be really REALLY stupid.

[edited by: eelixduppy at 10:01 pm (utc) on Feb. 18, 2009]

Macro

9:46 am on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I always hear this "99,5% of the booted deserve it". How do you know?

By the posters coming here answering questions, giving away their URL, and someone spotting the clear violation of TOS on their site.

I won't vouch for the exact percentage as I haven't calculated it but of the many cases that came to this forum in the last year or so many had clear breaches or finally accepted that they had been in breach (you'll be surprised how many haven't even read the TOS).

Broadway

4:12 pm on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I'm always insulted by the posts from people that make mention of activities or planned schemes that clearly run contrary to the Adsense TOS (something that they should have read or else read about here on WW). Such great humans. People who want to take the money from the Adsense program but have no interest in contributing to its integrity, or even remotely concerned about helping to insure that the people paying the bill (the Adwords advertisers) are even remotely getting their money's worth.

weela

8:01 pm on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



jonnyQ
"I used different IP address, I just went to local library and apply through there"

Now we know why you likely got booted out in the first place. What you just admited to shows your willingness to cheat the system.

Jon12345

8:53 pm on Dec 19, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



He maybe willing to cheat the system now but it does not even imply that he was willing to cheat before being terminated.

I'm very much in favour of innocent until proven guilty. And admission of guilt for one thing does not mean someone is guilty of something else.

hyperkik

3:41 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Certainly, but... how does that old joke go....

"Would you sleep with me for ten thousand dollars?"
"Sure?"
"How about for $20?"
"What kind of woman do you take me for?"
"That's already been established. Now we're just negotiating the price."

jonnyQ

3:51 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



To some of you it may seem as I cheated their system, but personally I don't believe so. You have to undesratnd if you are banned from adsense all your keywords that you have been listed under in google are gone. That is if you worked hard to raise your keyword in top 10 position on google, your site will be dropped from that position. They not only punish you just by canceling your account. They want your site to completly disappear from their network. Now is this fair? If you ask anybody that had their account suspended they all tell you the same story. Basically I spent lots of money to have few of my keywords brought up on google, now who knows where my site is listed. Nowe this is 100% unfair from google!

europeforvisitors

7:17 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)



Basically I spent lots of money to have few of my keywords brought up on google, now who knows where my site is listed. Nowe this is 100% unfair from google!

Judging from what you've just said, it seems likely that the disappearance or downrating of your pages in the Google index is the fault of the SEO consultant who took your money, not of the AdSense team.

blaze

7:55 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member




One guy was positively convinced he never encouraged people to click ads on his site... till Jenstar discovered his posting on another forum requesting people to visit his site and visit his sponsors. He'd forgotten he had done that but it was a clear violation of the TOS.

Oh, ok so I can just go post on other forums to get someone banned from AdSense?

There is only one solution - enable Pay Per Aquisition (PPA). Until people can control how much they're willing to pay for a customer, this is just going to get worse and worse.

Why does PPA work? Because in order to do a PPC DOS (Pay per click denial of service) you need to keep clicking on their ads until they drop their bid.

But if they were signed up as PPC you'd have to be clicking on all their ads forever to keep them down. Eventually you're going to give up or get caught.

zomlio

8:53 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Judging from what you've just said, it seems likely that the disappearance or downrating of your pages in the Google index is the fault of the SEO consultant who took your money, not of the AdSense team.

From my experience, when my account was disabled, my website's ranking was gone right away.
Now i don't have any traffic from google any more, which is the main source of my traffic.

zomlio

10:02 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



[qoute]Ultimately, we know that most publishers who get booted are doing something wrong. But there's a growing suspicion that your competitors could get you booted any time they feel like it. And I suspect I could do the same to them.

[/qoute]
It is quite simple to do so.yes.

zomlio

10:05 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



[qoute]That is if you worked hard to raise your keyword in top 10 position on google, your site will be dropped from that position. They not only punish you just by canceling your account. They want your site to completly disappear from their network. Now is this fair? If you ask anybody that had their account suspended they all tell you the same story.[/qoute]

I agree with you.
The question is, what can we do next?

recordc48

10:23 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Im not sure if they made the exception for me, but when I first started with adsense, I felt that my site was in violation of the TOS. So I followed the advice that I got from this forum, and I took down the ads and improved the site.

I was shocked by the income potential, and it freaked me out, so I wanted to be sure I was doing it right. I emailed the google adsense team and asked them to review a couple sites to be approved for the ads. 3 days later I had approval in writing from the google team on those 2 sites so I put the ads up on them.

I actually thought that they would tell me to make some changes because the sites are optimized for search engines, and that part of the TOS is not clearly detailed. But as it ends up, they are actually very flexible from what I found, and as long as you are providing quality content and a service to your visitors, why would they want to stop you from placing relevant, helpful ads on the site?

I am not sure if they will take the time to review everyones sites, but it sure makes me feel better that they ok'd mine. Helps you sleep at night :)

blaze

10:45 am on Dec 20, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



So, basically the conclusion is that only on page factors can get you booted from AdSense?

zomlio

12:34 pm on Dec 21, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Blaze,
They not only punish you just by canceling your account. They want your site to completly disappear from their network.

Macro

12:48 pm on Dec 21, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



zomlio, how long has Google been indexing your site and showing it in results?
This 108 message thread spans 4 pages: 108