$304,000.00 Unpaid Earnings

[adamallen]

Google terminated my account with $304,000 [2 months ]in unpaid earnings. Have I successfully been paid these types of sums before by AdSense, yes.

I run one of largest travel websites on the web. What would you veteran webmasters do in this situation, assuming you have no honest idea as to who is behind the "invalid clicks" that were supposedly generated. I'm not interested in one line off the cuff comments. I'm only interested in real "in my shoes" replies.

[Zygoot]

E-mail Google and ask them to reevaluate your account. Don't be rude and kindly explain them you would like to get the chance to prove you aren't responsible for any kind of invalid clicks. Also offer them to investigate your site logs.

I hope it helps.

[Vishal]

Try to communicate with AdSense team. That is a lot of money, they should be able to give you some very good reasons.

[adamallen]

Thus far I've received the same canned auto email stating my account has been disabled. I've received no special treatment, no real human replies. Obviously the "exact" amount isn't $304K, but it's close +/- [unless WW shares IP info with G, I should remain anonymous here]. I don't care if you don't believe, or think this is a bogus post. Reply as though you believe me, or enter a different forum post.

I'm obviously in hot pursuit of a lawyer. Just wondering what folks here have to say.

[Heartlander]

For 300 large, and the potential for what is obviously a business supporting many- I should think there would be a lawyer on a plane at this moment to discuss this business relationship in person.

It's a partnership, and G holds all the cards.
I'd get my logs and everything in a briefcase and get this matter resolved ASAP if I were you.

I dunno.
For the kind of money being thrown around, it seems to me that this whole thing is made to be like a "game" at times and it's appaling to think that the principles wouldn't deal with these matters on a professional business-like platform.

I mean come on- either someone from your camp knowingly clicked on the ads or they didn't.
If they did not, and there is no clear violation of the TOS agreement, then some people need to sit and discuss this lucrative cash flow like professionals.

[Heartlander]

//I'm obviously in hot pursuit of a lawyer//
You are regularly earning that kind of cash, and you don't have a lawyer on your speed dial?
Who handles all that money for you and does the paperwork?

[adamallen]

Thus far all emails have been canned auto replies, "we'll look into it, keep in mind there are no guarantees, etc..." Let this be a lesson to any of you who think Google protects big dollar premium advertisers. And, food for thought, do you really think Google is going to spend the man hours necessary to credit the advertisers for this size of a sum, and, there is no way in hell 100% of the earnings are fraudulent, what happens to the "valid click" earnings which I assume are 99% of the sum?

Or, maybe I'm wrong. Anyone in the travel / hotel industry received a HUGE AdWords credit recently?

[Gargen]

Wow thats alot of adsense money, but yea try to resolve it with google.

[adamallen]

PS The Google rep who approved our premium membership hasn't replied to repeated emails. The canned auto emails are signed "The Google AdSense Team".

[petra]

With those kinds of sums, I would've thought you had a dedicated adsense employee managing your account. There is no way in hell that a public shareholding company like google to let go of such a lucrative stream unless there was very compelling reason to do so. I would take the advice of being polite and offer them to investigate your logs, stay away from the lawyer thing, you have no rights in this relationship, you signed them off when you joined the program.

[Heartlander]

This thread is certainly going to go into many pages, but I still question why you are spending time asking questions in a forum when you should be on the phone with a TEAM of lawyers for this kind of money.
Am I to assume from your initial post that over 7 figures have already changed hands in this partnership?

//stay away from the lawyer thing, you have no rights in this relationship, you signed them off when you joined the program. //
Think about that a little more clearly.
Do you think if it was you, you'd simply hang around waiting for canned emails?

[James]

I dont want to sound cruel but if this member is normally generating that sort of money,there is no way he or she is wondering what to do in such a situation, and resorts to making a post on these forums. Something does not sound right.

Obviously Google by now knows who the poster is...how many $300K refusal to pay emails do they send in a month for goodness sake.

Forget the forums, the Citizens advice bureau, and all the rest if it, get a Lawyer right away. Remember they have the burdon of proving you broke the TOS, and proving just does not mean than saying you broke them!

If such a case proceeded, Google would have to open there doors and show all the relevant documents, not just the ones that goes to there case.

Again this does not sound right somehow.

[AlexMiles]

I used to do Adwords in that particular field, but the merchant quit converting. I gave up content advertising for it some months before because there did seem to be a suspiciously high number of non-converting clicks.

I got a $1 credit in June, but I don't know if it was travel related.

So put me down as a slight possible, bear in mind Google might have had a bit of trouble in this area, then get a contract lawyer to set things straight!

You are not necessarily bound by the terms of the contract as I'm sure your lawyer will know. If they don't know that, you need a better lawyer.

Let us know how you get on, and replace Adsense with Yahoo's offering in the meantime.

[edited by: AlexMiles at 11:27 pm (utc) on Aug. 27, 2005]

[Heartlander]

Thank you James.
I'm thinking the same thing.
This obviously isn't going to get solved on the internet in a forum.
....and the funny part is that we probably will never know the outcome regardless.

I can hear the Pro Bloggers firing up their computers on this story now....

[adamallen]

We've already been approved for Yahoo ads. But still, I can't pass up this opportunity to let everyone here at WW know there is no golden AdSense elevator, nor any protection for "your interests". If you start making serious money via AdSense, diversify it between ad networks or private advertisers.

PS We received a mood clock last December, just like everyone else.

[petra]

Think about that a little more clearly.
Do you think if it was you, you'd simply hang around waiting for canned emails?

He can do whatever he wants but getting a lawyer involved is not going to bring his account back. And if you read the T&C's they clearly state that it is within their right to withhold payment for invalid clicks. Again, why would google let go of such a lucrative cash stream unless they had serious problems with the account.

[James]

Google is a reputable company, they cannot afford to get involved in sharp practice, let alone anything more serious.

I think this is a computer generated screwup, by computer I meen at the google end!

Google should be given an opportunity to actually speak from a human being not a robot, to this member and to look into the matter, before taking it to the courts, but I cannot help feeling something is not Kosher here as I said in an earlier post.

"but getting a lawyer involved is not going to bring his account back", this is not 100% the case, if google are found to be at fault, a court can order the plaintiff to be put back in the position he was prior to the incident, and of course in the California courts, daaaaaaaaaaaamages usually take care of that!

[Jarodboy]

300000 in 2 months?! Wowww that's alot of cash...
Hope you can reinstated your account, you seem to be honest.
Emailed them until you can expose your case to a real person

[adamallen]

Take my story with a grain of salt, as I know you will. Know in the back of your minds that huge unpaid AdSense earnings are a liability, regardless if you're an AdSense veteran or not. Whether your cousin Jim Bob clicks your ads or not, it makes no difference, remember that. You are not protected from "invalid clicks", why you ask, because no one is. Yes, that's right Mr. I have an ultra clean white hat website with filtered traffic. So do I.

I've got to run. Thanks for your posts. I won't post the outcome. :)

[adamallen]

And one more thing, James is right, a lawyer will not get my account / money back. Chances are slim if anything is resolved legally to my [our] benefit, I can be honest with myself at least. My partners and I are by no means rich men and women as individuals.

See you around folks. If you're religious, send a prayer up for us.

[calman]

A $150,000/month AdSense account is very large - indeed. The account had apparently been approved for "premium" status.

The account would undoubtedly be very important from Google's standpoint.

I simply cannot believe that a decision to ban an account of this nature would be taken lightly by Google. I suspect it was a group decision taken and approved at a very high level within Google. I am sure they have procedures in place for banning large accounts. You can be sure they were not banned for a few random invalid clicks.

Something is very wrong here. We clearly do not have all of the details.

Apparently, there is no communication between the parties which seems strange for an account of this size. Hopefully, that situation can be rectified.

[walkman]

keep e-mailing or call. Don't get a lawyer yet--at least don't let Google that you have one. If you sue, that $300K will go to your lawyer for fees. If the lawyer is a cheap one, you will most likely lose anyway.

Not all clicks were fraudelent (maybe some competitor set you up?), so Google can deduct a % to cover them and give you the rest. Your best bet is to be nice, and prove that you had nothing to do with the clicks.

[Never_again]

The Google rep who approved our premium membership hasn't replied to repeated emails.

You are running a business, not a hobby site. Smart business people don't use email to solve problems of this magnitude. Pick up the phone for goodness sake and call the rep. you have been dealing with.

[Chris_R]

If what you say is true (everyone that comeson here says they have a legitimate white hat website that Google has unfairly banned) - then send them a notice of intent to sue to their legal department.

They haven't been responding to you - and sometimes (in my experience - sending it to an ACTUAL lawyer will get a companies attention.

Then hire a lawyer if they don't respond. This is all you can do - Period.

It should not cost you anywhere near $300,000 to hire a lawyer :)

Keep in mind I said IF What you say is true.

Google knows almost everything. Plenty of people think they are clever and can slip one by Google. Maybe you can for a little while, but they ABSOLUTELY will not pay you if they know that you have been cheating.

What should happen if some percentage of clicks are invalid, but they don't know it was you - beats me. That is what lawyers are for. AFAIK - none of this has ever gone before a court before (to trial at least). The one case I know of google sued and the other commany caved.

It makes no sense for Google to can an advertiser bringing them in that much cash a year. Google either made a mistake - which the lawyers will be either quick to realize - or they didn't.

[Chris_R]

Oh - and exactly how many people do you think are bringing in $150K a month and get suspended?

Your identity is not seecret - if you are even within 20% of what you are talking about.

[alwaysthinking]

I think I smell a shill for Yahoo attempting to stoke the flames of discontent amongst Adsense Publishers...

Very recently joined WW - Aug 23, 2005. And as a new poster to the WW AdSense thread, he supposedly operates a web site that generates very sizable AdSense revenues - the kind of revenue that most of us don't even DREAM about making., Comes out of the blue making flaming accusations about AdSense...

AND also "plugs" for Yahoo: What's the "We've already been approved for Yahoo ads" have to do with his alleged current AdSense dilemma? Other than to imply that Yahoo Ads will somehow be better than Google AdSense, a point which he certainly cannot prove.

Furthermore, why would this new poster waste so much time & effort making numerous posts to this and several other threads he started on similar topics, progressing from "eCPM Decrease" to " Disabled AdSense Account"? I'd be working on solving the matter... not making a bunch of disparaging posts.

this is NOT just a case of "this does not sound right" ... This is obviously a prime example of flimflam.

Remember, the experts always say "if something sounds suspicious, it probably IS suspicious..." Pay no heed to this person's drivel!

[asp4bunnies]

I know someone this happened to (roughly 45,000 in one month's earnings waiting for them) and then Google reinstated their account and paid them that amount after 2 months of waiting. The process was TERRIBLE though and Google should have gotten on the phone and given more than canned vague responses for that kind of money.

All the more so for the amount you are out.

[ann]

>I won't post the outcome<

Why not? You got everyone involved and now you will not tell us how it ends?

Let's see,
lowered ecpm first post 08/23

banned 08/24

Now this one.

just wondering about this whole deal.

Ann

[skippy]

This is the best Disabled AdSense Account thread ever.

[walkman]

if this is a lie, that is a really low, and I hope The Google Adwords guy steps in and says it. Not many accounts owed around $300K got suspended in the past month or so.