Is cheating Google that Easy?

A test on Google Ads.

[pawas]

I signed up with a new account using fake information for testing purpose.
After i got confitmation for the adsense account. I added the banner code to the main page. Then what i did is, right clicked the Adsense AD and copied the link code which leads to the advertisers site.
I hyperlinked all the links on the main page to the link code i copied from the google ad.
After 24 hours i checked the stats and, what i saw was amazing, I had 88 click for 203 impressions and earned 12.44$
Please note that i don't want to fraud google, i only wanted to test the google system.
its now 6 days and no ban on account or any thing against what i am doing.
How come google not determine that these clicks were false.

[Mauricio]

I think you should reopen the site and wait eight days (until your account reachs 100$) and see if your alter ego is paid.

And yes, I think Adsense is really easy to cheat (and spam): I see it everyday.

[larryhatch]

If there is an encrypted # with each Adsense ad delivered, then copying the ad code is just begging
to get caught. An out-dated # would be a screaming red flag, detectable in micro-seconds,
should they choose to look for it. -Larry

[StephenBauer]

Sid_egg,

I think you thould delete that post! :)

[Bluepixel]

Unfortunatel, you can't access foreign iframes (Code located on an other domain) from your browser using javascript, since this would allow crossside scripting attacks.

I just checked it :(

[StephenBauer]

Yeah, Java and JavaScript does have that cross-domain security restriction. I remember that from some applet coding years back.

[StephenBauer]

Maybe this thread should be deleted before the inevitable happens and then all the honest, highly-paid-by-AdSense publishers are over-scrutinized!

Jen!?

[StephenBauer]

There is a way to grab the appropriate URLs but then you are faced with another situation to deal with which would hopefully be the show stopper.

Delete this thread now!

[base64]

OK, here is 2 facts:

1. Cross-Domain security restrictions, implemented in web browsers (IE, Firefox, etc). This is the security measure, which prevents potential AS frauder from reading stuff from AS iframe with javascript.

2. Various security holes, discovered in all browsers, related to Cross-Site-Scripting and Cross-Domain restriction bypass possibilities. There are lots of such security holes. When new hole is discovered, then patches will come out, but there is always in use some percent browsers, which are NOT PATCHED agains specific cross-domain restriction bypass issues.

So potential "bad guy" can select from traffic unpatched browser owners (this is technically possible) and use them for making fake clicks.

Sophisthicated - yeah, but still possible :)

[asianguy]

If Google finds out what PAWAS had been doing, his IP address will be banned. He may now need to get a new IP address for this matter.

[xxxxxpp]

If Google finds out what PAWAS had been doing, his IP address will be banned. He may now need to get a new IP address for this matter

He said he used another computer with another ip to sign up for the fake account. So his ip won't get banned, but probably the ip of a computer in some internet cafe.

[StephenBauer]

base64,

That is true and you could use user-agent to limit your exposure and provide the hole, but once it is patched you will have to find another hole (if you can). There is one way (of many I would surmise) to grab the urls and do with them as you wish, but then you are faced with another dilemna (which I will not mention as I think there is a way around it as well).

Be best to just delete this thread.

[Sobriquet]

[sarcasm]Delete the thread and brush this issue under the carpet also ( as it is done with a lot more sensetive issues ).[/sarcasm]

cheating is bad but exposng the weakness of a system is journalism.

Deleting this thread would be just a form of dictatorial censorship. This thread does not talk of anything wrong, just a flow of the system, which is not even proved.

[StephenBauer]

You're right about exposing it, but maybe the hacker in me doesn't want it exposed!? Seriously though, I was being a bit sarcastic myself.

:)

[eaden]

I might have come across your site, or one like it.

I have seen a page that all the links go to pagead2.googlesyndication.com but where static, not done with javascript.

I would guess that they audit the accounts once a month so in 6 days you might not be banned but after a month maybe.

[oddsod]

cheating is bad but exposng the weakness of a system is journalism.

Exactly. That's why my post at msg #2.

[StephenBauer]

The HTTP referer is a hard thing to overcome without <snipped>.

Hopefully they do sanity checks on the referer.

[webnoob]

im not trying to be rude, but to make some points:

people that do things like what you're doing/done hurts the system.. imagine if everyone did it.. imaging if everyone tried to 'abuse' the system.. guess what? google at some point may discontinue ad service.. then what are you all going to do? cry like babies when you've ruined it for yourself and everyone else?

this forum should be to talk about how to improve ad performance/revenue/etc.. not to post how much you can make in one week.. or how long before you can earn a million dollars a day... or ... i'll leave it at that.