Hi there, Someone reported my site as a violation of adsense TOS (even tho it's not), and I got that 72 hour warning from Google. After 72 hours, nothing happened. However, I do know the person who reported my site, and it seems like he did it because he doesn't agree with the content/opinions on my site. If he reports/flags me again, can google disable ads on my site? I mean...do we really have no power against people who maliciously report sites for no reason just to get them shut down (in terms of adsense, that is)? How do I even know Google evaluated my site after 72 hours? It's now been 1 week since their warning email, so I'm guessing they did. What if they evaluate it 30 days from now and decide by some small issue that I didn't even notice on my site, that I am in fact doing something against Adsense TOS and they shut the ads down? This is troubling me. Thanks for your input!
That decision is ultimately up to Google. I can't say for certain that they will disable your ads if it happens again, but if Google does end up disabling the ads on your site on the basis of someone reporting/flagging your site, you still have the option of contacting Google directly and appealing their decision. If you provide them with a valid explanation and you haven't violated any of Google's rules, there's no real reason why they would continue to disable Adsense on your site.
Thanks for your input, icegin. Ya, that's what I figured, it's up to Google, and basically that means I could worry from now on every single day that maybe one day Google randomly shuts off my ads. My two main concerns are: 1. Did they ever do the evaluation on my site after the 72 hours? I didn't get any message about me violating anything again so I assumed they did. However, what if they didn't? Has anyone heard of instances in which they got that 72 hour warning, and then weeks, months later, had their site shut down? 2. Does the power really lie in the hands of the reporter of violations? Can anyone just go and flag smaller websites for adsense TOS violations, and do it repeatedly, getting a site shut down on purpose? Seems like a huge flaw in Google's system to me, if that is indeed the case. From what I have read online, appeals to Google are rarely accepted, and accounts/sites are even more rarely reinstated. So once your site can't do ads anymore, or worse, you're banned from Adsense, there is a 99% chance that outcome will be permanent. On top of that, Google takes months to respond to appeals, if they even do at all, and you cannot contact them directly. All this really freaks me out, and now I think that my site could get shut down because of some person with a grudge online at any sec.
Me they sent me an email at the beginning of november 2011 giving me 72h to fix a problem which didn't exist. I did nothing and 3 weeks later they disabled ads on my site. I then appealed and they sent me a one line answer talking about another (unrelated) problem (which didn't exist also) that needed to be solved. I then replied asking for help in resolving whatever they want me to solve and they never replied back. Now the site has ads disabled since end of november, I couldn't be bothered to write again, but I will eventually. I suspect they will not reply, that's why I can't be bothered until now..
There is nothing you can do except trying to make sure your site is in compliance. That is true whether or not someone is reporting you. Google will do what Google will do, so there is no point worrying about it.
This is why most people who earn income online encourage people not to rely solely on a single source. If you are really concerned about Google disabling Adsense in the future, perhaps you should try to monetise your site in different ways. I don't know what kind of site you own, but is it open to promoting affiliate products? CPA?