AdSense $5,000 / month earning milestone - Is it dangerous?

I earn money from Google AdSense program.

In December 2015, I earned total $4,437 (USD) from my two websites.
In January 2016, I earned total $4,914 (USD) from the same sites.
I am pretty sure that this month (February 2016), total earning is going to be more than $5,000 (USD).

I struggled very hard to reach this much earning per month.
But I am afraid at this point.
The reason is - I have heard that when someone reaches $5,000 per month earning, Google AdSense strictly audits (special audit) the sites under the account and everything related to that account.

My websites provide value.
But I have heard many AdSense marketers/earners were victims of the whimsical employees of Google AdSense and lost all their money once they reached $5,000 in a certain month for the first time.

Is $5,000 really dangerous? Or is it just a myth?

Do you guys have any experience on this?

I shall appreciate any feedback and/or suggestion.

 

it's depends on country, for example i live in Georgia and here all accounts were banned this month, from what country you are?

 

I am from Singapore.
Do you think my account is safer?

All accounts got banned in your location? This is beyond my imagination. Damn!

 

@Robert Fisk, I do not think there is smth to worry about! It should be completely safe!

@mortality, that's hard to believe that every single account from a particular country has been banned. ...Plus how is it possible that you'd have such info???

 

Nothing to worry, make sure you keep your site into compliance and prepare to be contacted by many ad networks and even Adsense to join DFP.

 

So you personally know everyone in Georgia with an AdSense account so this can be confirmed LOL

 

of course I dont know every publisher in my country but I know more then 50 publishers and they also known lot of publishers and all of their accounts were banned and their friends too, also I see lot of posts in adsense groups about blocked accounts, Mass BAN happened here, I don'tnknow about Signapore but I think in Signapore way safer to have adsense then in my country

 

Therein is probably the problem. A close association between accounts is always a red flag.

 

Install something like statcounter so you can track ad clicks. You'll want to be prepared with data if Google tries to challenge you or claim fraudulent clicks.

 

How can you capture clicks without modifying adsense code?

 

The example I mentioned doesn't modify AdSense code whatsoever, it simply tracks exit link activity. It's just an analytics program. In your reports, you'll see "Google Adsense 300x300" (as an example; you'll see different labels for different ads) and then the date and time of the click and the option to see details about the individual that clicked (like their IP Address). Whenever I've run into fraudulent clicks, I've simply delivered these logs to Google and everything was cleared up right away. There are probably other ways of doing this out there - I just don't know about them.

AdSense can be a tough animal to deal with. The more you can do to protect yourself, the better.

 

can you tell us what that program is called?

 

Yeah, I mentioned the name in my first post up above. I have no affiliation with them as anything other than a user of their service and I speak only from personal experience.

 

As far as I know Google AdSense does not give the publishers any chance to defend their point. When Google AdSense audits account, they usually do it without involving the publisher. They usually do not ask anything or challenge the publishers. They just shut down accounts and send an email that says "your account is banned". Although the email gives a link from where you can try to defend, Google AdSense rarely pays attention to whatever the publishers write to defend their position and/or situation. Google AdSense is more arrogant than you can expect or imagine.

I personally think that they will not care or pay attention to the third party data you present with them. I have come to this guess based on reading forums and posts on how Google AdSense treated other publishers in the past.

 

Perhaps. I've never had that happen to me. I've only received a notice or two over the years about fraudulent clicks. I provided them with information and everything was fine. I'm sure every situation is unique. My only advice is to cover yourself however you can - maybe it won't matter, but it might.

 

I hope you have multiple revenue streams, because you never know with adsense...
Even though it is rare, even big sites have been shut out. It is great making
that much money with adsense, however, using adsense has always been risky...

 

Exactly. The more I am earning from AdSense, the more afraid I am of possible losses.
Unfortunately, the niches of my sites do not have good paying affiliate programs. Available affiliate programs offer very small amount per lead. So, placing their offers on my site is not a good option.
So, I cannot but totally depend on Google AdSense.

 

Thanks for your helpful tips and sharing your experience on this matter.

 

You should always monitor your adsense clicks, and if you see something out of norm, then
you need to report it to adsense, and it does not matter if they read it not, but you want
to protect yourself as much as possible, as long as you self report of what you find, then
you maybe ok in the event you end up getting clicky bombed or something....

However, I am sure there are sites making far more then $5000/mo...
So if you have gotten this far in the process, then you must be doing something right...

other then that, stay within their guidelines...
and the rest is fate, there are no guarantees with adsense....