After finding out I was doing pretty well with AdSense, a friend of mine decided to hire me to optimize the AdSense ads for his site (i.e. make all the channels, setup better color schemes, place all the ads in better spots and do the work of tracking and improving them throughout the site, etc). I wanted to find out if doing this might cause any concern from Google. I'm sure there's nothing against the TOS with helping improve and place the ads, though I'm curious about logging into his account. I have my own AdSense account for my site, and don't want to cause any issues for either my account or his. I'm guessing that Google tracks which IP addresses login to accounts (and the same IP on 2 accounts might raise red flags), which is why I wanted to be up front about it. AdSense pays the bills right now, so I'd rather be safe than sorry. I haven't logged into his account yet. I quickly agreed to help him, but only then did I begin to think (aka worry) about the possible implications. I already emailed Google about it a few days ago, but haven't had any response yet -- and wouldn't mind some other feedback about it either way. If, for instance, it turns out that if unpaid or as an independent contractor, Google would not permit me to login to his account, would it make a difference if I were hired officially by the company as an employee (which I can arrange if necessary)? Would signing an NDA to not reveal his CTR/eCPM to other parties have any effect? Anyhow, thanks for your help
I think you should be ok as long as you don't click the ads on his site. It's always best to wait for a reply from google.
Why do you even need to log into his account? All he needs to do is give you his publisher's code, and then you can create ads through your account and replace your code with his
That might be difficult as far as channels go. He has to set up the channels and get the relevant channel code from within that publishers account... other than that it wouldn't have been a problem.
I highly doubt this would be a problem since you could just as easily go to his house and login using his computer. Besides, is it against TOS to check your stats from multiple computers? Or for someone else to check their account using your computer? I don't think it is. And, yes, I understand you're not just checking stats. So, before anyone thinks I misunderstood what he was asking, I understand it completely. -boxer126
Thanks for the response guys... Still no response from Google - guess this question got in the answer-later pile haha Yeah, I agree there's nothing in the TOS about logging into your account from multiple computers... though it seems that there are gray areas with Google and this feels like one of them. I'm pretty sure Google tracks the IPs that log into accounts and flag duplicate IPs that appear where they normally shouldn't (at least I would if I were them)... if they are able to nullify an accidental click by an account owner with or without the owner notifying them, they probably do know what your IP is. On a "smaller" account I might be more carefree, though these are pretty large sites (not Shoemoney sized haha, but pretty large). Google will see the large jump in revenue on his site in a few days (I expect an improvement of 10-20x), and when they investigate that, I don't want them to misunderstand the presence of my IP in his account. Worst case, I can come up with all the names for the channels I'll need, and have him enter them into his account. You're right, I can make the rest via my own account and add his publisher and channel codes. One issue is that, since I'll need to keep tabs on whether what I've changed each day on the site has improved things or not, it would definitely be beneficial to be able to see the stats. I could ask him to send a report on all the results to me each day, though that seems like just an inconvenient way to do the same thing - I would still see the same data, which if Google didn't agree, would still be against the TOS. Anyhow, thanks for your advice. If you think of anything else, or even better if someone might already have an answer from Google on a similar situation... I'm all ears. Thanks!
I received Google's response! Thanks for letting us know. We've noted this information in your account. As you may know, in order to protect your interests as well as those of our advertisers, Google monitors clicks on Google ads to prevent any abuse of the AdSense program. Google's proprietary technology analyzes all ad clicks for any invalid click activity that is intended to artificially drive up an advertiser's clicks or a publisher's earnings. In addition, if you ever suspect that invalid clicks may have resulted from a visitor to your site, we suggest that you review your site's logs for any suspicious activity and notify us with your findings. This information can help us in resolving any issues, although as outlined in our Terms and Conditions, Google will use its sole discretion when determining instances of invalid clicks. As outlined in the Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to cease any publisher's participation at any time. We are acting in the best interest of both the advertisers and publishers but Google will use its sole discretion when determining instances of invalid click activity. We appreciate your understanding. While only the top sentence appears to be related to the question I asked, and doesn't discuss their policy on such matters, they have now seen my detailed inquiry (in which I provided the details of exactly what I intended to do, account details for both my and his accounts, my IP address, etc). So I believe I am covered. If an issue arises, I can now produce this email in my defense.
No problem, figured it might help someone in a similar situation (though of course, I would recommend that anyone email them first as well, since really the only relevant/helpful thing from this email was their acknowledgement of the fact that I sent them my info).