Hello,
I’ve been working with AdSense for more than five years now, but earlier today Google paused ads on my site because they’ve “invalid traffic” concerns.
Some background: 4 digits monthly earning, steady CPC/RPM and normal CTR of 1.0 to 1.5%, no massive clawback/invalid traffic issue in past, and the site is popular/well known in the industry with recognition from top media houses, such as C** etc. Traffic is 1-2M a month.
Services I use: Google Cloud Platform and Sucuri.
I am not engaged in any shady activities and I am well aware of the terms & conditions.
The main story:
My Google organic traffic increased significantly between March 10-17. The traffic increased because users have issues with a popular operating system and my articles with workaround were ranking first, so naturally, my traffic improved.
From 30-50K average traffic, my traffic increased to 90-120K a day and it lasted until yesterday night. Traffic is now back to normal.
Traffic sources:
Google
Google News.
Desktop 90%
Locations:, US, EU,
Naturally, AdSense revenue tripled between March 10-17, but unfortunately, my happiness lasted for a few days and I received this email from Google today:
Ad serving limit placed on your AdSense account
It’s quite obvious that I did not click on my own ads, I did not ask others to click on ads, my ad placements never had issues in past, and traffic is from Google, so I am not sure how the traffic is “invalid”. (I had removed link ads, replaced it with responsive ad. Ad placements/site design unchanged in the last two years)
It’s very likely that I won’t get paid for this month’s revenue, so all the money is going to Google or "advertisers"
I have accepted my fate and I have no regrets. I’m not venting out my frustration here. I have created this post to remind others: Reduce AdSense ads and try other networks.
This was completely unexpected.
I’m in process of switching to other ad networks and my AdSense ads will be restored within a month.
I have mailed Google, but I'm not expecting a reversal.
Thank you.
