I see complaints from time to time about ad networks not paying, or suspending publishers for various reasons. Often the ad network which does so is labeled bad or a scam. Sometimes it is a scam but most of the time it is not. Do you actually read the terms and conditions of the networks you sign up to ? If not then you should, because like any business transaction there are conditions placed by both parties upon the transaction. Ad networks typically publish terms and conditions which form the basis of your contract with the ad network. Nobody should sign up with any ad network without knowing the rules. Most ad networks will not suspend anyone who follows the terms and conditions applied at the time of sign up. A speaker at ad:tech in Melbourne last week from a very large ad network that we all know and love to hate, spoke on the subject at one of the forums. He also said that the most common reason publishers are suspended is fraud. He cited an example of a publisher who sent thousands of clicks an hour via tor exit proxies and thought that would go unnoticed. Obviously the publisher was suspended and never paid. As someone who runs two ad networks, I deal with these issues daily. However people seem surprised when they are suspended for a violation, they often say "I didn't know" or "I'm sending traffic pay me". All these issues can be avoided if you know the terms and conditions of the ad networks you deal with. You can't expect an ad network to keep you on or pay you if you don't follow their rules.
Quite agree with you. Would like to add that every publisher who was unfairly suspected of fraud traffic should surely contact the network representatives and provide them with website analytics [using Google Analytics or other tool] to proof the traffic was real.
Sure, I totally agree with refusal of payment if a Policy compliant Site later violates Terms and Conditions of an Ad Network. However, if a Site is accepted even though it is apparently already in violation of Terms and Conditions from the start, then later the Ad Network turns around and refuses to pay due to the very same apparent violation of Terms and Conditions changes things quite a bit. It's an all too common double standard snake move some Ad Networks try to pull. Accepting and Allowing Sites that do not meet Policy standards from the start to run ads throws the Policy jargon right out the window. No if, and's or but's about it, Publishers that do not meet policy standards from the get go shouldn't be able to run ads in the first place.
Advertising Programs do not have crystal balls, if a publisher signs up saying they have read the terms and conditions and understand the limitations of any particular network, then surely the ad network cannot be held responsible if it later terminates the publisher because they didn't actually meet the terms and conditions of when they signed up.