Not sure if I wanted to share this because some people might just respond well your stupid but I dont care. A long time ago I was banned from Adsense because I clicked my own ads. I admit I did click them on accident 2 times. I really didnt care at the time since I dont really make sites where I use adsense. Then a month ago I thought I would make a site and adsense was a good option for income. So my wife made an account and got it activated and put up the ads on the site. Now a month later when the income was enough for me to take of hold and have them send it to me they decide that they will ban this account and take my xxx.xx money and not send it to me. Now I really dont care about that money even though it was earned through valid clicks. The whole point of this is just how of a convienent time they decided to do this and the only excuse given was that the account was related to someone who was banned and due to their TOS they can.... As outlined in our program Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to terminate any publisher's participation at any time. I think this is wrong of them but I really dont care right now.
Unfortunately those are the rules and they are in place for a reason. The reason why it takes so long is they don't do a full audit until they are ready to send out a check. It saves them a lot of work as some people take a long time to reach the $100 level and others never make it. The reality is their TOS would have no teeth if it were just that easy to get around it with no concern.
Im my opinion though, if they feel that some of your clicks are invalid, and decide to ban you, they should pay you for the valid clicks. Thats like taking your car to the mechanic shop, and asking for a new motor. They try to bill you an extra $5 for an oil change when you didn't want one, and you tell them you should get the motor for free. Well, damn they already put the motor in - and it was valid. It's sad that G is that way. It's got me concerned as well, I've clicked my adds probably 4 times in the last 3 months (I don't make much, maybe $20 a month). They were accidental. I made probably $1 off of them. If they feel you've clicked a few ads or had an occasional "fishy" clickthrough, they should 'audit' that part and pay you for the rest. It's kinda dumb that they'd ban someone because .05 % of the clicks were 'fishy'.
I disagree. I think evidence of fraud potentially puts all your clicks into suspicion, and jeopardizes their advertisers.
I agree that if they feel you're a potential fraudster, then yes. BUT - their should be some margin of error, because it's easy to accidentally click your own stuff. Maybe they should log the IP's you access your adsense account (I'm sure they do) and disallow paying any clicks from that IP. As long as it doesn't look intentional (like dozens or more clicks) then they should just discount them. Really though, nowadays theirs so many PPC programs out there that if adsense ticks you off just go to another. I'd like to stay with adsense, but like I said until I recieve my first check I'm going to be skeptical.
Wow! Now that's a new one. This is the first time I have heard of someone being banned because they are related to someone who was previously banned. Are you telling fibs? By that I mean, are you really married? Did your wife really sign up and not you ...?
Aaron seems like a decent enough guy, but they don't ban people for a couple of accidently clicks on their own page. It just doesn't happen. Despite the protestations to the contrary. Violations to get banned have to be egregious. Reality is scores of people have come here and claimed the same thing, but with time the facts have come out and the truth is discovered. Aaron's story rings that same sound. So there is already a decent margin for error for things... People getting banned have crossed it... In the overwhelming majority of cases. There have been a few exceptions, but as far as I know all those people have been re-admitted after appealing. I don't think that is even an option for Aaron because he got banned the second time for signing up under someone else's name.
I actually know someone who did exactly the same as that. Clicked his own ads, got banned. Then a few years later his wife signed up and subsequently got banned as being related to 'someone previously banned'. I couldn't tell you the content of the email from G word for word, the OP already had the gist of it. I'm 100% certain that there used to be a clause in the TOS that said one account per household, but I'll be damned if I can see it in there now.
No its my wifes account her SSN and everything. Just the account has same IP, address, phone number, ect. as me.
See this is the kinda stuff that makes me nervous about my account. I've accidently clicked a link or two and just the other day I setup google search and tried it once when I got it setup. So does anyone know how to contact google adsense? I've heard in the past that if you let them know you accidently clicked on something that you'll be in good shape.
Now that you mention it, I seem to recall reading something along those lines way back when Adsense first kicked off.
No kidding. Gogole easily thows those poeple out. They compare IP addresss, last names, and other factors. There is only two ways to circumvent a banning which is to either beg google to be reaccepted, or form an LLC to create an account under a company name. However, you would have to get a new IP address. Contact your ISP for that and clear your cookies as well. It would also be recommend to open a PO box for payments or open a business account with your bank for wire payments.
It is best to contact them if you just so happen to click on your own Adsense - actually email them anytime you make a change to your site and unsure if it meets their TOS - The longest I had to wait for a response was 3 business days.
If your second (or spousal, or family) AS account is on the same (non-generic a la AOL, MSN, GMAIL) domain and particularly if other parameters such as address and phone are very similar, you will definitely set off flags at any major ecommerce site. That includes adsense, adwords, ebay, paypal, etc. We have several dozen sites on the same AS account, and are very careful about not violatiing TOS in any way.... as many have said in the past - if in doubt, contact G proactively using the email that turfsniffer just posted above me. Rob
I did contact them. I told them off and said they can keep their money (even though they would anyways). Basically I am done with them for good and never want to go back.
Sorry to hear that aaron. Well Its sad to see that some times even some honest webmasters get crushed. I belive that google should do an on hand review of the site and account before approving them for adsense. I really like the way the let fraud Webmasters make $100 and then SLAM!!! but this shouldnt be same for baning for related account. why they approve any account which is related to some previously banned account. its real pain when you work hard, you earn honest money in a month or two and then you find your account is disabled.
They wait until the 22nd of the month and then ADSENSE ACCOUNT DISABLED...poof 1.5 months of earnings gone. Time it perfectly.
We are a double webmaster family and have been with AS since the begining. We each have our seperate accounts and have never had any trouble getting our monthly $$$$. I guess I missed this in the TOS way back when but hey my webites are mine and his are his. Here's my 2 cents on the clicking your own ads. I highly doubt google banned those folks for accidental clicks. Maybe 20 "accidental" clicks . As I'm sure Google understands these accidents.
Google will filter out the IP eventually. I think if you dont provide an ROI for your advertisers google may cancel your account. I don't know but it may happen. I heard this was true.