AdSense Fraud

Educating the surfer to prevent click fraud

[wildfiction]

I have written a page which is linked from the footer of all the pages on my web site which explains click fraud and how to use / not use the adverts that you see on my web site. The page is called "Educating the surfer to prevent click fraud".

I'd like to get some feed back on this page from you and what you think of giving the surfer this type of information in order to educate a more resposible user of a web site.

Can I post a link to this web page here?

[trillianjedi]

Can I post a link to this web page here?

No, doing so is against the TOS [webmasterworld.com]. WebmasterWorld does not do page or site reviews.

Personally I would leave it. I think anything that draws attention to the ads in this context is a bad thing. But that's just my personal take on it.

I think the best policy is simply to follow the AdSense guidelines and TOS carefully.

TJ

[hunderdown]

Before you put any such page live on your site, I would ask for it to be approved by AdSense Support. I suspect they will say "no."

[wildfiction]

Why do you think they will say NO? It seems to be in their (and advertiser's) interest to have the public educated about AdSense - do you not think?

[trillianjedi]

I also suspect the answer would be "no" if you emailed Google (and it's a good suggestion to do so). All your page does is draw attention to the adverts.

It may actually be non-compliance with Google's TOS though, so I would be extremely careful to ensure the page is not live when you email them.

Note the last part of this sentence in bold (my emphasis) from the AdSense policy guidelines:-

Incentives

Web pages may not include incentives of any kind for users to click on ads. This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers' sites as well as drawing any undue attention to the ads.

TJ

[ncw164x]

The big issue with click fraud is not a few extra clicks from a human but from a clickbot which I am told can't read ;)

[oddsod]

Educating the USER Page on day 1 when Google inspects it: Don't click the ads unless you are really interested in the products advertised.

Page on day 2
Don't click the ads unless you are interested in the products advertised.

Page on day 3
Click on the ads only if you are interested in the products advertised.

Page on day 4
Click on the ads if you are interested in the products advertised.

Page on day 5
Click on the ads to read more about the products advertised.

Page on day 6
The interesting products advertised can be visited by clicking on the ad.

Page on day 7
Read more about the products by clicking the ads.

Page on day 8
Click the ads dammit.

I can understand their concern - if they approve the page they are committing to checking it on a regular basis.

[jimbeetle]

Thanks oddsod!

Just got back from a "funeral" where the body didn't show up, turns out the person isn't actually dead (it's a long, long stupid story), and needed something to get me ROTFLMAO.

That did it!

[hunderdown]

My reasoning is the same as what trillianjedi posted, and based on personal experience. AdSense does not want you posting anything ABOUT the ads on your site except in very tightly controlled circumstances.

Here's another example--if you posted a statement that basically said "don't click the ads!" that would be calling attention to the ads and would probably actually increase CTR.

[wildfiction]

Thanks for all the comments everyone.

I took your advice and emailed Google about the page in question (which was already live). I received a very positive reply from them which appeared to be appreciative of my efforts in fighting click fraud. They confirmed that the page does not breach their ToS.

I know that I may not post the link to the anti-fraud page in this forum but I feel that it is a page that will benefit anybody running AdSense ads and you may want to use the idea to put a similar page on your web site or link directly to that page. (Please do not copy the page verbatim as it is copyright. Use the idea to create your own page.)

In order to see the page I suggest that you send me a PM and I can give you the URL of the page.

OR

If the following is permitted in this forum then:

search on the company name DeltaT1 and look at the link in the footer on any page on that site

If the sentance above is not permitted here then I assume that a moderator will edit this message appropriately and I apologise for inserting it.

My objective here is to be constructive in fighting AdSense Fraud which I believe we will all benefit from if we are law abiding citizens and I'm not trying to promote my site here.

[wildfiction]

If the sentence that I mentioned in the previous post is not allowed in this forum then you can look at my profile which has my web site in it. I assume that is okay?

[benevolent001]

are u refering to text in support us page of ur website?

[wildfiction]

No benevolent.

At the bottom of any page should be a link called "Google AdSense". It is this link that I'm talking about.

However, you are correct, in that I also discourage fraudulent clicks on the page that you've just mentioned.

[trillianjedi]

I received a very positive reply from them which appeared to be appreciative of my efforts in fighting click fraud. They confirmed that the page does not breach their ToS.

That is surprising.

Can you come back and report effects on your CTR?

TJ

<edit>Fixing broken quote tag</edit>

[edited by: trillianjedi at 9:50 am (utc) on April 19, 2005]

[oddsod]

wildfiction, it's a well written page describing the ads, describing Adsense and how it works, and explaining that advertisers get charged when someone clicks the ad.

Like TJ I'm surprised Google explicitly approved it. The nav link to the page doesn't say anything about click fraud; it simply says: "Google Adsense", and leads to a page describing Adsense with gif images of Adsense ads. That may be why they approved it.

[wildfiction]

The reason that I'm not surprised that Google is okay with that page is that it helps educate the users/surfers of web sites to surf responsibly and ethically.

We (as publishers) appreciate (benefit from) advertisers putting their ads on our pages and we would like the advertisers to benefit from those ads. Click fraud doesn't benefit us - in fact it removes advertisers from the pool of advertisers - and so the more we can do to prevent it the better for us and for advertisers.

Like us, Google wants the AdSense program to continue to succeed. It can only do so by gaining the confidence of advertisers and selling a quality product. If advertisers find the AdWords program more cost effective than other forms of advertising then they will continue to advertise through this medium. If, however, there is rampant click fraud then advertisers will drift away from the AdWords program.

You only have to ask yourself this question: "Does that page help Google, the publishers and the advertisers?" I believe that the answer is yes. Does it help fight click fraud? I believe so.

[thegreatpretender]

I also see this on your website:

"If you see an advert on one of our pages that interests you (for example in the banner at the top of this page) then please click it and visit the advertiser. Please DO NOT just click the ads for the sake of clicking them as this is against the agreement that we have with Google"

Is this allowed? Did google see this already?

[wildfiction]

"If you see an advert on one of our pages that interests you (for example in the banner at the top of this page) then please click it and visit the advertiser. Please DO NOT just click the ads for the sake of clicking them as this is against the agreement that we have with Google"

Is this allowed? Did google see this already?

If Google did read that then they did not comment on it to me.

I have re-read that paragraph and then reviewed the TOS and believe that this is probably NOT allowed, or if it is allowed then it is on the border of being against the TOS. Google state that attention should not be brought to the ads and this would bring attention to a "live" ad to the user (even though it also explicitly says that the user should NOT click the ad unless they are interested in the product).

As such I have removed it from my web site.

Thanks for pointing that out to me.

[Webwork]

I trust you left the clever bread crumb trail in your original post so we could find our way to your website. Likewise, I see your cleverness in how your approach the "AdSense issue".

Your site offers a sitewide link: "Supporting Us" which leads to a page captioned: "How can YOU help (WebsiteName) and say thank you?" Which leads to the following:

As you know it takes time and money to run a web site. In order to recoup some of those costs and to make the effort worthwhile we look at ways of funding the costs and rewarding the people who bring you the resources, tools and data on this site. So how can you help us?

Google AdSense

Please read our page on preventing click fraud and educating the surfer.

Google Searching

Searching Google from our web site benefits us. Use our Google Search Page to launch all of your Google searches.

This has guile and creeping corruption written all over it. Stop being clever. Clever is intelligence constrained by laziness. Clever ways usually come to an abrupt end when someone decides that they are being played for the fool.

Why stop at being just clever? C'mon, use those brains and you're far more likely to succeed in far greater ways for the long haul. ;0)

[oddsod]

He'll of course now offer to modify that :)

wildfiction, even if your intentions were honourable it looks like you'll be best off without that page. Some advertiser need only see this thread and complain to Google. Google would be even more pressed to act because they seemingly approved this. They'd have to nuke you PDQ to preserve credibility.

[sailorjwd]

WF:

IMHO, with all the references to ads I believe you are just asking for trouble. At some point in the future you may have an Adsense person look at your site and find, at their whim, they don't like your references.

Also, rules change over time and intrepretations of rules change and we aren't privy to what those changes are at Google. Things may tighten up as competing advertising systems come on line.

I'd hate to see you get knocked out of Adsense and have to beg to get back in by saying 'hey, but you said it was ok...'

[wildfiction]

Some advertiser need only see this thread and complain to Google.

If you were an advertiser (I assume that you aren't), would you rather see a page about preventing fraud or not?

I am under the impression (and I accept the fact that I might be wrong about this) that advertisers would rather have that page about AdSense Fraud and how to prevent it than not.

Are there any advertisers reading this thread that could give us their opinion? How do they feel about this page? (I assume that most people reading this thread are publishers).

[Is it possible to run a poll on the webmasterworld forums to get a general feeling from everyone about this?]

[Webwork]

I'm prepared to accept that WF is testing the waters in a semi-transparent way in an effort to define "Just what are the limits?". However, if WF wanted to "test the waters" he need not do it on a live site. WF could have raised his/her hypothetical by reference to language on pages or a website that didn't not yet have AdSense on it.

WF, I think Google's policy is, in my own words, "Stay away from anything referencing the presence of AdSense on your website." Google has said all they care to say about AdSense by keeping their Terms and Conditions simple. Read what they say restrictively, not liberally in your favor. Just be happy you have access according to their own terms. It looks like a program that works quite well without having to be coy.

You are flirting with disaster. I'd suggest your pull down all direct, indirect or even remotely connected discussion of the presence and/or role of AdSense on your website.

[oddsod]

I am an advertiser but my opinion as an advertiser is immaterial. It takes only one disgruntled advertiser to cause you trouble. Webwork's legal background hears the alarm bells ringing. It's your call.

[Webwork]

WF - I see the following is still on the site:

Advertising - We finance the site through the advertising on the pages. If you see an advert that interests you then feel free to follow the link. To learn about other methods of helping us click here.

"Ads by Gooooooogle" is all that needs to be said on the subject on your website. No hints. No suggestions. No explanations. No encouragement. No explanations. Nothing.

A discussion of click fraud on a site about stock trading systems? You work with statistics, right? Ever heard the word bootstrapping? That's exactly what your off topic "don't click fraudulently" article smacks of. You talk about clicking the ads under the guise of 'you shouldn't do this will bad intentions'. Of course, if you want to help us pay for the site . . .

The problem, WF, is this: Once Google opens the door to any variation of 'hint, clue, suggestion, guidance' you can [b]bet[/i] that there will be no end to creative efforts to expand that envelope.

I think their rule is simple for good reason.

You're playing with fire my friend. but then again, if you make your living as described by the techniques discussed on your website you are used to taking risks.

[wildfiction]

I am an advertiser but my opinion as an advertiser is immaterial. It takes only one disgruntled advertiser to cause you trouble. Webwork's legal background hears the alarm bells ringing. It's your call.

Thanks guys and I really appreciate your comments. You say that your opinion is immaterial, but even though you think it is, what is it? (if I may ask?)

Perhaps I can rephrase the question for advertisers only: Would you (as an advertiser) like to see a page on the publisher's web site, that explained and discouraged click fraud? Yes or No.

[sailorjwd]

Here's a vote:

I spend about $7K per month on Adwords and I would prefer you not make any mention of Adsense on your site.

I haven't looked, but given the topic mentioned, I suspect that my ads may be appearing on your site.

[wildfiction]

I would prefer you not make any mention of Adsense on your site

Thanks sailorjwd. May I ask why you don't want AdSense mentioned on a publisher's site? (I assume that you would prefer AdSense not to be mentioned on any publisher's site? And you are not singling out my site in particular?)

[sailorjwd]

My feelings are similar to those expressed in msg #25.

And, your persistence about this being a good thing is starting to get on my nerves.

<edit wrong msg #>

[wildfiction]

WF - I see the following is still on the site:
Advertising -

We finance the site through the advertising on the pages. If you see an advert that interests you then feel free to follow the link. To learn about other methods of helping us click here.

I completely agree that that shouldn't be there. That was a very old page (paragraph) from pre-adsense days. I've removed that and I've done a couple of searches through the site to make sure that nothing else like that appears there.

A discussion of click fraud on a site about stock trading systems? You work with statistics, right? Ever heard the word bootstrapping? That's exactly what your off topic "don't click fraudulently" article smacks of. You talk about clicking the ads under the guise of 'you shouldn't do this will bad intentions'. Of course, if you want to help us pay for the site . . .

I agree that it's off-topic but it's very much a site relevant fact because a lot of the pages carry Google Ads. It's also possible to read a "reverse intent" into the page as you've suggested but I think that it is very unlikely that many (if any) readers will think that "deeply" about the subject. That's certainly not the intention of that page.