Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I just seem to keep coming accross the type of post (not all here) where the theme is "I got to 100 dollars and they disabled my account for invalid clicks.'
I would imagine a few odd clicks can happen as an accident, and I would imagine that there are people who have well meaning relatives; but what if your site is one that has people who return who are actually LIKELY to want the info in the ads? As a writer, if I visit and then revisit a fellow writers site with ads on, I am likely to click away because in the end what I and my fellow writers want is to know about everything going that could benefit us. Thus we might go to someone's site and click say seven or eight times depending on what is there. It would not be fraudulent, and could easily result in sales or at least bookmarking a service for future use. Would google then take those clicks as fraudulent because they are from the same IP? How could they know the difference?
Is it safe to put something on my site that says 'Don't click on the ads unless you really genuinely want the information? I get return traffic because I write something on the site daily that is read daily by some people. I can forsee some of them thinking they will do me a favour if they realise the ads are there for revenue!
It just seems odd to me that rather than banning these people who they think are fraudulent just as they reach payout means there has been a lot of free advertising if they then ban someone without explaining why - as always seems to be what people are saying they are doing. Is it wiser not to ask for a payout at the $100 mark and let the consistency of the site show for itself over time?
I wouldn't personally have a clue if someone did something to my site - I am already wondering how to remove the idiot who keeps putting adverts for yamaha and tarot on my website guest book. Presumably that is some kind of program someone targeted my guest book with. I can't unfortunately, unless some kind person on here tells me something I don't know, ban from the guest book. It is worrying that an advertiser already picked on lil ol me....
I am also a little worried that well meaning relatives might think they are doing a favour and present me with a 'fait accompli!"
It seems to me there is a link between sudden increase in web traffic and getting banned;but if you do something to increase web traffic, then it would push the account into a state where they might need to pay out. I am not against Google. If it works for me in a few months then I will be happy, but it has sort of made me wonder how anyone can actually get to the point of being paid given all the ways it seems possible to not get paid -It seems some of you are making profit, so it must work for some. I think what is worrying me is that it could be the smaller less technical people who accidentally wander into murky waters?
If you are 100% white hat and comply with the TOS, I would not worry about being banned - just let the clicks roll in, and see what works and what not. Smartpricing will take care of legit clicks that do not convert (into sales), but non-converting clicks alone will probably not be the reason for being banned.
And no, I would not draw any attention to the ads, i.e. not explain to NOT click the ads. Just leave them as they are. One WW member recently suggested that making your ads stand out (i.e. not blending too much into the content) might protect you against too many accidential clicks that naturally do not convert (because users did not expect to be taken elsewhere). I think this is a very good insurance.
To summarize, if you're white hat, don't worry. Just build the site you always wanted to build.
You put it on and all goes well, great the money is rolling in, but start trying some other options.
You put it on and it doesn't provide a good return, start trying some other options.
You put it on and for whatever reason you get banned, good thing you already have some other options.
Essentially, I am saying plan to try some other options as well regardless of Adsense.
Freq---
LOL in my profession ( I write, but also teach childcare) you can be hauled accross the coals for saying something like 'White hat!' I am still working on a correct political term for white board! I presume it means honest in the context you are using it! Yes I am completely neutral colored in case of offending anybody, hat! Hmm a new term for honest could be, "Is he or she hat?"
It all seems very complicated - I can see making the ads stand out; but then it would destroy the aesthetic quality of my site. It is a portfolio as well so I need it looking really good. I guess if you want to make money that is the difficulty. I have cream against purple which I think actually works pretty nicely though. I thought you couldn't tamper with the html for the ads so I can't see how the guy you mentioned legally changed them?
Media - I have been thinking of other ideas. It does make sense to make the site support itself. I guess I will be trawling through here again to see what has worked for people.
What you aren't supposed to do is modify them by hand.
I can tell you that I for one was very concerned about being terminated for something not within my control, especially after seeing the earning potential with adsense.
Today, I don't even think about it, but I also don't test the waters in grey areas. Everything is "white hat" with my sites.
Also, I report to Google anything unusual that I notice with my sites like the CTR tripling for no reason on a given day or if I click one of my ads by accident.
Finally, if I come up with some new idea for adsense, I email them for clarification first rather than just put it up.
Just keep your sites above board, report anything funny, and build.
Not everyone that clicks there own ads has been kicked out of adsense, but it's possible that it brings up some sort of manual review of your website and Adsense account. If things don't look above board (or pass a "sniff test" as it has been called in these forums), then it's possible they may decide to end their workings with you.
I agree that the number of people getting booted from adsense is tiny compared to the number of publishers.
From the past threads I've seen about "being banned", there usually is a reason for it, even if the person posting doesn't realize it (by not reading and understanding the TOS) or even if they won't admit any wrongdoing.
I think the majority of publishers have nothing to worry about when it comes to getting kicked out.
It seems to me there is a link between sudden increase in web traffic and getting banned;but if you do something to increase web traffic, then it would push the account into a state where they might need to pay out.
Why would Google want to ban accounts that have reached the payout point? How would Google get richer by keeping a small publisher's $100 than by letting that publisher continue to earn money for Google month after month, year after year?
A sudden increase in traffic or earnings might prompt a manual review of your site if the numbers looked suspicious (e.g., there was a jump in the clickthrough rate), and if you were doing something shady, Google might disable your account for that reason. But it makes no sense at all to think that Google would punish you for being legitimately successful, since it's in Google's own interests to keep publishers who deliver value for advertisers and for Google.
Is it wiser not to ask for a payout at the $100 mark and let the consistency of the site show for itself over time?
It's wiser to take the money and run each time they're willing to send you a check.
If you let it pile up at Google like someone did (I don't remember the thread) and THEN they cancel your account you lose the whole thing.
All I can say is if this little $100 check stresses you out then I'd take that check and invest in GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), the makers of TUMS.
Mzanzig wrote:One WW member recently suggested that making your ads stand out (i.e. not blending too much into the content) might protect you against too many accidential clicks that naturally do not convert (because users did not expect to be taken elsewhere). I think this is a very good insurance.
Iwrite wrote:It all seems very complicated - I can see making the ads stand out; but then it would destroy the aesthetic quality of my site.
Look for example at the sponsored links accompanying Google's search results. Some have the same background color, but with a separation line. And the others appear without separation line, but have a different background color.
Blending with a mix of both techniques (same background color and no separation line) is not forbidden, but probably Google's way (a middle point, moderate blending) is better to avoid confusing users and get good conversions, and at the same time diminish ad blindness.
Keeping your account alive and well
Occasionally, we get emails from publishers who are worried about having their AdSense accounts disabled. And recently, we've seen that others have been talking about it too. While we do take our program policies seriously, no one should lose any sleep over their AdSense account -- after all, there's a person behind every one of them. And a big part of maintaining a positive experience is working with publishers to understand the policies. In every possible case we first try to work with the publisher over email to remedy the issue -- and in nearly every case there is a quick and easy solution. (You might want to add adsense-support@google.com to your email contacts list to make sure any email messages about your account make it past your spam filters.)
We know you care about your AdSense account and we do too. As long as you're familiar with our simple guidelines, we're positive we can continue to work together for a very long time.
Ben, AdSense Publisher Support
8/25/2005 01:55:00 PM
[adsense.blogspot.com...]
Iwrite
It all seems very complicated - I can see making the ads stand out; but then it would destroy the aesthetic quality of my site.
It doesn't have to destroy the aesthetic quality. Many webmasters blend the ads with the content very succesfully, and the ads look like they are part of the page. Most people accept that sites are usually supported by advertising - what people hate is excessive advertising that detracts from the content. Also, the adverts are more likely to work for you if they aren't excessive.
I have ads only on a few pages, and I do very well out of adsense. I don't think that the ads detract from the content. In fact, if the targetting is good, the ads will add to the page content. A good example of this is EFV's site. He posted in this thread - site easy to find.
I know several publishers in Singapore, Malaysia, China and India and not one lost his Adsense account.
I wouldn't worry about that but just make sure the traffic source is clean and you play the game with fairness and honesty and you should be fine.
