It is clear to me why one may not click their own content ads and why one may click their own link ads but not the resultant ads but does anyone know if it is allowed to click on their own referral ads? Maybe this sounds like a stupid question to some but I genuinely want to install the google pack on my new laptop and the way I see it is that the advertiser, namely adaware and google are getting a new customer/user for these products so they should not be worried who it is. Of course I am talking about ONLY one click per machine that I install the software on so can anyone agree with my reasoning or even confirm whether this kind of activity is / could be allowed under the policies of Google AdSense? (I should add that I have not done this yet, I wish to make inquiries first - would hate to see my account get banned.)
OOooops, I know it's bad ettiquette to reply to one's own post but perhaps I have found the answer in the terms and conditions. The language is a tad too legal for me to fully get the context but here's a snippet... Maybe i will email Google and ask them as their TOS seem a little vague
Just to keep anyone who's interested posted, I've emailed Google and asked for a definitive point-of-view regarding this question, i imagine they will tell me that i cannot do such a thing but who knows until my email is answered. Will post reply when it comes
Reply from Google: "Thanks for your email regarding referrals. At this time, publishers are not permitted to download products from their own referral buttons. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. " .. as assumed but you never know
Really? DO they suspend accounts for this? I guess they must bust surely if the cookie for adsense login is found on the computer that installs the software then they should simply not credit the webmaster with the referral fee, if thats such a shame. Perhaps I should find someone else with the google pack referral button and click their's as I genuinely do want to install that software.