Every day I see posts like this one: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=111122 It seems people are really scared of getting banned from Google AdSense for not doing a thing wrong. It got me wondering, how many people have *genuinely* lost their AdSense account for doing nothing wrong (and by wrong, I mean violating Google's TOS)? Come payout time, are you scared Google is going to send you the dreaded email?
i got it yesterday and i know i did nothing wrong because ive been using it on the same sites for over a year now.
You have been hung, drawn and quartered by Google? Why have they done this to you? What is the reason, do you think? What do you mean by "i know i did nothing wrong because ive been using it on the same sites for over a year now"? What is the it?
I've seen the same posts, but I still find it hard to believe that Google bans for no reason whatsoever. Although they may be lax with their reasoning, they still must have some foundation.
I am ! I have read so many threads here and at other forums that start with "..i got banned for no reason!" , that i must admit i AM scared. Now, i know that probably 95% of those people NEEDED to be banned, but some of them do look like they are totally innocent. Just look at what happned to Expertu (or whatever his nic is) a few weeks ago.. He was able to get his account back, but man, that was a close one! I do worry that i've made one mistake somewhere on ONE of my 200 pages, or that someone will make a post/comment on one of my pages that i miss, that might get me in trouble.. I worry that my traffic spikes will put up red flags, I worry that my site about a particular geographic area will get too many clicks from people that live in that geographic area.. and i worry about probably 10 other things. The idea the G can come down on you on a whim, say you're banned, not tell you why, ignore your appeal, and take all your earnings (to "give back to the advertisers") - WITH NO REASON is difficult. It's hard to deal with a situation where you have NO CONTROL, NO INPUT and NO RECOURSE.. I know that my site is clean, i do everything i can to stay within the TOS and guidelines, but I'm still terrified.. I guess without any turmoil, my life would be boring..
Keaton once said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Google Adsense.
yes i am afraid. i was one of those who got banned and didn't violate the tos. i had so far earned over $1500 and was waiting for my pin. i got banned on monday and recieved the pin on tuesday. i appealed so all i can do is hope.
It crosses my mind from time to time, but I guess now being a publisher of Adsense for two years has made me think that those that did get banned probably deserved it in the sense that they broke Google's TOS... also I'm beginning to think that with the introduction of YPN and MSN's Adcenter that there is enough competition now that if Google did pull the rug from out under you there are reasonable alternatives not to mention that I think Google itself is backing off people as a result of the competition - before they had monopoly on the market, now they need to protect the market they have...
Very true i also think they have taken a hard hit from users using alternatives. I am still wondering why my site was banned because I haven’t done anything different since I started using ads on the site which was a year and a half ago.
Donna - didnt you admit to using a my-space bulletin? I might have mis-read that but if you did why do you now say you did nothing wrong. Apologies in advance if I got this wrong.
Scared? umm I'm paranoid about it to be precise. You never know when some mutt comes across and initiates a click attack. Babysitting the site and checking the logs everyday is difficult if not impossible. I do take a closer look at my stats/channel data/logs everyday before sleeping and after waking up. Moments ago I accidentally clicked on my ad for the first time in nearly 25 months (notebook's touchpad to blame, honestly) and instead of fumbling or ignoring it, I immediately dropped an email to G. I have received a reply from them which doesn't look like an auto-responder to me. I'm safe (hopefully) Most importantly, I do have alternative source(s) of revenue coming in every month.
Yes, I'm concerned. I didn't plan it, but Google has become the single largest revenue source on my sites, bigger than affiliate programs, advertising, and ebook sales.
The bit about NO CONTROL, NO INPUT and NO RECOURSE is the thing that really led to me starting this thread. The fear comes from the unknown, and that is what this banning process seems to be; an unknown. Obviously a lot of people "claim" to have done nothing wrong, when they have probably been a violation of the TOS. However, I am certain that innocent people have been persecuted too.