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Can You Get Someone's Google Adsense Account Banned?
- Categorized in: Affiliate Marketing
If you wanted to get someone banned from Google Adsense, could you do it? We think it's actually possible.
The reason why we think this is because recently our Adsense account got cancelled. As per Google's policy though, they won't tell us why. All they will say is that they have observed "suspcious activity". This often means an unusually high click rate, or suspicious traffic statistics, or anything that looks like clicks or traffic are being artificially inflated.
The thing is, it wasn't us. I know everyone probably says that, but it really is true in this case. We have been using Google services for almost 10 years, not only Adsense but also Adwords, Analytics, Ad Manager, and more, and we have always prided ourselves on following all of the guidelines and acting honestly. So if there was any "suspicious activity" on our sites, it certainly wasn't from us.
Because Google won't tell you what the "suspicious activity" is, it makes it very hard to defend yourself. And the consequences are quite severe - basically you get your account banned for life immediately. No second chances. It's procedurally unfair in the extreme. And you can't open up another account using a different name or email address either, they'll close that too when they match it up to your sites or bank account.
So in our case it is a genuine example of Google getting it wrong, and screwing a business that has supported them for years, without giving us any opportunity to defend ourselves.
All this has made us think though, that if our account seemingly got banned because our traffic or clicks somehow looked "suspicious", then surely it could happen to anyone. What if you wanted to get someone's Adsense account banned? Couldn't you just go their site and repeatedly click on their Adsense ads over a period of time, or employ some kind of "click bomb" to do it for you? The unfortunate recipient would most likely eventually have their account cancelled, and they would not be provided with any information about why.
Please note that we are not suggesting anybody do this, ever. Anyone who clicks on Adsense ads with the intention of earning money, defrauding the system, or harming someone is an absolute mongrel and deserves a kick in the arse.
All were saying is... isn't this a terrible flaw in the Google review system that has the potential to unfairly penalise people?
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Google's False Positives are responsible for ruining businesses and sites left right & centre. THe problem is Google does not invest enough into customer service. You literally can't contact someone and discuss something like this with them. It's ridiculous, but unfortunately with their massive strong hold they simply can afford to punch people in the face and get away with it.
I actually feel that soon, google will reach it's peak and start to downfall. A new search engine is needed, purely for the fact that people like something new. Google's dominance can't last forever. Bring on the new guys. Lets hope they get it right.
Google's moto of 'Do No Evil' is a load of rubbish. Steve Jobs said it himself.
Hi Anthony, thanks for the comment, and you won't get any arguments around here!
I agree - with people's constant thirst for something new, Google will eventually be challenged by someone else, and like all industries some healthy competition will be good for everyone
Most services on the Internet enforce their rules in a willy-nilly and arbitrary manner with zero recourse to the "customer." The practice is not limited to Google's Adsense. I think the problem is made worse since many services are free they don't feel they have any contractual obligation to live up to. It can be just as devastating to be be tossed off Facebook or lose one's e-mail account at Hotmail. I'm not sure there is that much we can do about it. Until customer service at site X becomes so bad people start leaving en mass, the abuse will continue. Also, unethical competitors and emotionally disturbed stalker type can take advantage of the current situation. Just pray you become a victim of that type of harassment. For anything thinking about doing these kind of shenanigans, they should keep this in mind:
They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
- The Bible, Hosea 8:7
I've heard of several people having their accounts cancelled for this reason. If you go to a lot of popular webmaster forums such as Sitepoint, Webmaster-Forums and others you will see stories claming the same thing. Often Google gives the user no detailed reason, but a lot of people suspect competitors are to blame.
You would think Google would figure out a way around this, but I have not heard anything to suggest that they have. You can't even click on your own ads on your site because you really want to go to that site in fear that Google will ban you for fraudulent clicks. They can't even do something to recognize our IP address? It's even in their TOS that you cannot click ads on your own site.
One thing I do fear is someone doing what you discussed to my website and loosing my Adsense account. The good thing is that their are a lot of reputable competitors coming into the playing field in the last couple of years.
I believe this exact scenario happened to me. My site was growing substantially for about 12 months... enough to get the attention of a much larger competitor. They made repeated offers to buy my website, all of which I politely refused. Traffic really spiked after that, yet very little increase in registered users. 3 months later, after two very large Adsense payments, I was banned from Adsense. Now I'm scraping for pennies from the other CPM networks.