"Google AdSense Account Disabled"

My Google AdSense account has been "disabled" (or, to be more clear, has been terminated/cancelled.) "Google AdSense Account Disabled" was the subject line of an email message I received on Tuesday (July 5, 2005.) Here is the content of that email:

It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on
the ads on your web pages. We have therefore disabled your Google
AdSense account. Please understand that this step was taken in an
effort to protect the interest of the AdWords advertisers.

A publisher's site may not have invalid clicks on any ad(s), including
but not limited to clicks generated by a publisher on his own web
pages, clicks generated through the use of robots, automated clicking
tools, or any other deceptive software.

Practices such as these are in violation of the Google AdSense Terms
and Conditions and program polices, which can be viewed at:

https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?hl=en_US
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies?hl=en_US

Publishers disabled for invalid click activity are not allowed further
participation in AdSense and do not receive any further payment. The
earnings on your account will be properly returned to the affected
advertisers.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

My very first feeling was that the email message was just another annoying spam or phishing email. But when I tried to login to AdSense, this is what I got:

Account Not Active

An AdSense account does not exist for this login, as it is associated with an unapproved application. For more information about your application, please review the message we sent to the email address you provided with your application.

I have twice responded (via email) to the "account disabled" message they sent me, asking them to give me a full, detailed explanation of the circumstances that lead to their decision to terminate my account. It's been 5 days since I sent my replies and the Google Team has yet to send me a response. I've read quite a few stories about other people's AdSense account cancellations, and I understand that Google rarely bothers to provide an explanation. I really thought that they would extend the courtesy of an explanation to me since I am an AdWords advertiser, and they know am I because the email address that I used for my AdSense account is the same one I use for AdWords.

Sabotage? That certainly crossed my mind, especially because it is quite easy to sabotage an AdSense account. But I after thinking about it for a while and discussing my situation over @ DP, I realized that there could be a number of other explanations for the termination. But I may never know why, as Google is well known for not providing any detailed explanations regarding terminated AdSense accounts. The termination email I received was most likely generated by one of Google's many sophisticated algorithms, and I've been told that the term "invalid clicks" is a Google term that can cover anything from blatant cheating to having AdSense code on a site with too many banner ads.

FYI: The Google AdSense Terms of Service (TOS) gives Google the right to cancel anyone's account at any time, and they don't have to give a reason.

Account terminations are becoming more common these days and I'm quite certain that it's because they're just plain fed up with all the click fraud going on. Google was recently awarded $75,000 in a case against a flagrant AdSense cheater operating out of Texas (apparently they were paying people to click on ads!) I think that's great. The big time cheaters need to pay. But what about folks like me who don't cheat? Why is Google targeting people like me?

I had placed AdSense code on the vast majority of my functioning websites (well over 100 sites) so I certainly wasn't going to do anything silly like click on my own ads. That form of cheating is so easy to detect, so to do so would be really quite stupid. Every once in a while, an accidental click would happen, usually caused by my baby girl playing with my mouse when I wasn't looking (she's only 2 years old but she moves so fast!) I always did the right thing and sent Google an email informing them of the accidental click, and asked them to refund the advertiser if possible. Could those few accidental clicks been a factor in their decision to cancel my account? Maybe. Who knows?

Or maybe, as certain DP Forum members have postulated, maybe they cancelled my account because I had AdSense running on my free poker website. Their TOS stipulates:

Site may not include...Gambling or casino-related content...

However, my free poker site is just that: free poker. No money has even been solicited on the website; never has and never will be. I don't like gambling; if I were to run a true gambling site, that would put me in the same league as those people who don't mind taking a gambling addict's last dollar. That's not me, but I do enjoy playing poker, and I put the site together for folks who, like me, enjoy the game, even when no money is being wagered.

But maybe Google's interpretation of my free poker site is "poker = gambling". Who knows?

Some folks @ DP have speculated that my account termination was justified because certain sites I own could be seen as "made for AdSense", and "made for AdSense" sites are not permitted, as stipulated in their TOS. It's possible, I guess. Who knows?

Or maybe the Google Team didn't like the way I link all my sites together. Maybe. Who knows?!

Or maybe Team Google is just fed up with me. After all, there have been times in the past when they've asked me to remove their AdSense code from certain sites I own that are configured as custom parked pages. These pages contain original, written content--written by me, of course--and in my eyes were perfect candidates for the AdSense program (the ads displayed were usually ads about domain registration, which, in my opinion, were a great match for these pages.) Whenever they asked me to remove the AdSense code from a site, I did so right away, but often I would reply and let them know why I thought their request was not fair. Contributing factor? Maybe. Who knows?!

Some people have managed to convince Google to restore their "disabled" AdSense account, and I think that's great. But I am now forced to reconfigure (remove the AdSense code and replace it with some other affiliate links) most of my websites because of this mysterious account termination, which has taken up a whole lot of my precious time, and I don't think that I would want to reverse this process if my AdSense account were restored (I have backed-up all my files, of course.) Who has the time for this? Not me. So I'm movin' on, establishing new affiliate relationships with Commission Junction and other reputable affiliate program operators. I'd still like to have my account reinstated, mainly so that I can get paid the money I earned for delivering quality traffic to Google's AdWords advertisers last month (how much? Close to $1,000.) I'd also like some vindication, as anyone in my position would.

It is my opinion that the Google AdSense Team has not treated me fairly, and I hope that other folks who've had their AdSense account "disabled" for no apparent reason read this blog entry, so that they can at least have comfort in the knowledge that others have met the same unjust fate.

Will I miss AdSense? Sure I will. AdSense is an excellent affiliate program and I would recommend it to anyone with a website that receives A LOT of traffic--I'm talking about traffic volume that would generate at least $5000 worth of clicks each and every month. Otherwise, don't bother.

Bottom line: it's far easier to make money when you're getting paid "per click" as opposed to "per lead" or "per sale." Yup. But I'll be just fine, especially when Yahoo! (and MSN?) unveils their version of AdSense which I am hoping will be comparable (or even better?) than the Google original.

I wonder: now that my AdSense account has been terminated, is my AdWords account in jeopardy? Could Google shut down my precious domain blog? (Google owns Blogger.) I certainly hope not! This blog is fast becoming the heart of my domain empire, and I sure wouldn't want anything to happen to it. Perhaps it's time to give WordPress a try! I sure I could find a nifty converter somewhere.

To Google AdSense Publishers: Some advice to AdSense publishers--especially to those who have AdSense running on multiple websites: remove AdSense from any site that you think might offend the Google gods or else your account may suffer the same fate that mine has. Check your earnings often; If you start noticing clicks worth $0.00, contact Google and ask them about it. Google is on a rampage, terminating accounts with extreme prejudice. They are canceling accounts first, and they aren't bothering to ask questions later. It is my opinion that they are under some pressure to respond to all the click fraud going on, and because of this pressure it may be that they are no longer issuing warnings to publishers who they feel have broken the rules in some way, instead opting to disable accounts summarily.

To The Google AdSense Team: I'm still waiting for a response from you. I'm an AdWords advertiser, so I think you should show me some love here. I'm still very interested in knowing the exact reason(s) why you decided to disable my AdSense account. Do me a favor and reply, please, or you can click here to send me an email. Thanks! And, for what it's worth, I really think you have...well..."interesting" priorities. Right at this very moment, there are unnumbered webmasters out there who are overtly and blatantly defrauding the AdSense systems with obvious and easily detectable click fraud schemes. Don't you think you ought to take care of them first? Hmmm...

Has your AdSense account been "disabled"/"terminated"/"cancelled" for no apparent reason? Please post a comment and share your story.

Thanks for reading. I promise bring the free domain name giveaway back to this blog just as soon as I get all my websites sorted out!

My prayers to those who have suffered and are still suffering in London.

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