Hi! I have just applied for an AdSense account and am worried that my competitors may purposely click my ad's to get me banned. I'm wondering if there are any ways of protecting myself from these type things so that if anyone were to do this, I can stop myself from being banned. If anyone can provide me with some advice on how to address this type thing, I'll be extremely grateful. All the best, pictureboarduk
Started worrying even before beginning your business with the adsense! Just don't get too scared. Check the adsense account for CTR and look for invalid clicks. If you are suspicious, report the matter to google. There are free adsense tracking tools available like adlogger etc by which you can find out the number of clicks in a page, multiple clicks, IP address of the visitor who clicked the ads etc...
Make sure you check your adsense stats daily and if you find any suspicious activity then remove the ads immediately and find the IP that is responsible for those invalid/false clicks . Block that IP so that it will not cause you any trouble in future .
Some tips from me over and above those provided by Google: 1) Just don't boast abut your earnings anywhere...you never know who might get jealous. 2) If you are seeing a lot of misuse, try using the feature inside adsense where ads from URL provided only by you are considered valid. 3) use asrep.com for tracking your clicks (yes it is free and well within TOS) 4) Make channels for each and every ad block you create and to track for earnings and suspicious CTR.(CTR should be very high for a continuous period of time.
check stats daily. Also check log book in cpanel. Have trackers on your site like statscounter or hitstats. If anytime CTR seems high contact google immediatly.