Loop hole for a free music download page.

[webmagnets]

Is this against the terms of service for adsense?:

I have a page where I offer my original music as a free download. Would it be ok if when the person downloads, at the end of the song they hear a voice asking them to click on our sponsors.

Is this a loop hole that I should use?

[digitalpoint]

It would be a violation of Google's TOS.

[disgust]

no, you shouldn't. you can never invite/solicit clicks.

and google is pretty uptight about MP3s- I would hope they'd be reasonable enough to realize it's okay if it's coming from the band, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're not.

[webmagnets]

How would they know if I was asking people to click. Would they listen to the mp3?

Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems like something they can't enforce in this instance.

[disgust]

go for it if you feel compelled to. but if you get any reasonable number of people listening to those MP3s, someone will report you- that's usually how google finds out about abuse.

[Geir]

How would they know if I was asking people to click. Would they listen to the mp3?

Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems like something they can't enforce in this instance.

Well, I guess it comes down to this:

Do you follow the rules because it is the right thing to do, or do you follow them in fear of what will happen if you don't?

I guess the likelihood of getting caught is small, but it would still be cheating.

Also, IF you got caught for this, you might see your adsense account terminated.

:) Geir

[webmagnets]

Does the TOS say that you can't invite clicks in anyway what so ever or does it say that you can't have text that invites a click.

What would keep me from personally asking my sister-in-law to click on an ad from her computer?

[lorien1973]

i think the spirit of the TOS means both.

[disgust]

Does the TOS say that you can't invite clicks in anyway what so ever or does it say that you can't have text that invites a click.

What would keep me from personally asking my sister-in-law to click on an ad from her computer?

you're not allowed to solicit clicks in any way. and if you're encouraing users to click over and over- especially if they're using your computer or on the same connection- you can bet google will find out.

stop trying to cheat the system. you're hurting advertisters, and when advertisers are hurt, they pay less to those of us that use the system the way it was meant.

[webmagnets]

I have not tried to beat the system.

I am just wondering what is allowed.

[disgust]

you can use a bit of common sense, though- advertisers pay for traffic. if you're faking that traffic, they're paying for, well, nothing. obviously this is going to come out of someone's pocket.

I suggest you be careful, and read over the TOS multiple times. google is pretty notorious for being quick to cancel accounts that abuse the system.

[caroline]

No, don't do that. It's worse than having a text note with "please support our sponsors".

[paradox]

webmagnets - what if a competitor or a disgruntled fan came by your site and became aware of what you were doing? They would probably report you to Google to get your adsense account banned.

[Geir]

webmagnets - what if a competitor or a disgruntled fan came by your site and became aware of what you were doing? They would probably report you to Google to get your adsense account banned.


Yes,
I also think this is the most likely way to get caught.
Google is probably unlikely to find out on its own, but I would think the chance of SOMEONE reporting you to Google would be significant, and once that happens, yo most likely will see your account terminated.

To me though, the most important thing is that I would not want to cheat, even if I thought I could get away with it.

:) Geir

[caroline]

Same here, Geir. Adsense is giving me too much revenue for me to try and cheat.

[nriweb]

google allows u to mention the ads as "sponsors" ... so i guess u can surely mention that the google ads are from ur sponsors and in the mp3s u can thank the sponsors... or maybe say something generic like "support our sponsors" etc ....

depends how much u r earning and do these few extra dollars are worth taking the risk of ur account being cancelled..

[fryman]

Adsense TOS:
"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. This activity is strictly prohibited in order to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs. For example, your site cannot contain phrases such as "click here," "support us," "visit these links," or other similar language that could apply to any ad, regardless of content."


"support our sponsors" would be the similar to "visit these links".

What would keep me from personally asking my sister-in-law to click on an ad from her computer?

Why is Google the huge empire it is? Because they are really good at what they do, you can't do these kind of "tricks" and expect them to not be able to find out. Just by doing an IP check they can see that the clicks are comming from your same region. If you get many clicks, they will start investigating. I have read on many forums that accounts are getting banned. Once you get the dreaded letter, there is nothing you can do about it. Get kicked out of adsense, and no matter what you do, you will never get back in.

Don't risk it...

[macdesign]

I'm getting paranoid, I was testing how all my pages of ads looked while browing on my kids computer, and he started to click one of the ads, I figured that's all I need, leave the site up and leave the room, and find he's clicked hundreds of ads, and get terminated.