GoogleBits

This article describes best practices to avoid getting banned from Adsense for invalid clicks. There are stories all over the net where people get banned with little explanation, here we will go over what little is known about how and why this occurs.

Invalid Clicks
By far the most common reason bans account is because of invalid clicks. This is a generic letter that is sent out when an account is banned for this reason:

1) It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on
the Google ads on your site(s). 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
- a publisher encouraging others to click on his ads
- automated clicking programs or any other deceptive software
- a publisher altering any portion of the ad code or changing the
layout, behavior, targeting, or delivery of ads for any reason

Practices such as these are in violation of the Google AdSense Terms
and Conditions and programme 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

Sincerely,

The Google Team

OR

1a) Your AdSense account was found to be related to an account previously
disabled for invalid click activity and we have therefore disabled your
account. 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.

As outlined in our program Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the
right to terminate any publisher’s participation at any time.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

So what defines an invalid click? Here’s what Google’s policy says it is:

Invalid clicks are clicks generated through prohibited methods. These prohibited methods include but are not limited to: repeated manual clicks, or the use of robots, automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software.

Please note that clicking on your own ads for any reason is prohibited, to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs. All clicks must be generated as the result of a user clicking on the ads. We therefore require that Web pages do not include incentives of any kind for users to click on ads. This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers’ sites as well as labeling the ads with text other than “sponsored links” or “advertisements.”

Seems clear enough, or does it? One thing that is not very clear is the process Google uses track these invalid clicks works. This is another one of their closely guarded secrets, here is one of their stock replies when asked why by a user who’s account has been banned:

Google treats instances of invalid click activity very seriously. Due to the proprietary nature of our algorithm, we cannot disclose any details about how our monitoring technology works or what specifics we found on your account. However, we can assure you that we have again reviewed your situation thoroughly and accurately, and could re-confirm that your account violated our program’s Terms and Conditions.

What is to prevent competitor from going to your site and hammering on all of your banners to get you banned? Nothing. Some have claimed this has done nothing while others have claimed they’ve gotten banned for it. At best this documentation is subjective although we would hope they have measures in place for preventing fraudulent clicks.

What can I do to prevent this from happening to my site?
Following the Adsense policies is the best practice to prevent a site from getting banned. A couple of hightlights that are the most important are:

• Don’t click on your ads
• Do not promote the clicking of ads on your site: Either by posting a “support us by clicking on our banners” in a forum or in the site content. It’s also very importand not to draw extra attnetion to your ads by using images or text as explained in the Incentives section of the TOS
• Read the TOS thorougly, specifically What can I do to ensure that my account won’t be disabled? learn it in and out so you not only know what not to do, but to be prepared in the event you have issues come up.

My account has been banned, what can I do?
Here is Google’s official policy on this:

We are always happy to work with you to resolve any issues you may have. If you feel additional information would be valuable in explaining your situation, you can notify us at adsense-adclicks@google.com, or respond to the disapproval notice that was emailed to you.

Please respond to the questions asked by the support team, and we will be happy to reconsider your account with the additional information provided. Please understand, however, that there is no guarantee that you will be reinstated into AdSense. As outlined in the Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to determine instances of invalid activity. If we feel our advertisers and publishers will be adversely impacted by invalid activity we may from time to time cease a publisher’s participation in the program.

We are always happy to work with you to resolve any issues you may have. If you feel additional information would be valuable in explaining your situation, you can notify us at adsense-adclicks@google.com, or respond to the disapproval notice that was emailed to you.

Please respond to the questions asked by the support team, and we will be happy to reconsider your account with the additional information provided. Please understand, however, that there is no guarantee that you will be reinstated into AdSense. As outlined in the Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to determine instances of invalid activity. If we feel our advertisers and publishers will be adversely impacted by invalid activity we may from time to time cease a publisher’s participation in the program.

Not all sites are rightfully banned, this goes back to what consitutes an invalid click. Many sites have experienced this without knowing what caused the invalid clicks. Google’s typical response is in one of the letters stated above, the replies can often be delayed as well.

Still, there is nothing to lose in trying to send them a heartfelt email asking for them to investigate further if you feel wrongly accused. Unfortunately most do not get unbanned and Google gives little to no further information on the banned account.

What about the money I’ve earned before I was banned
Google will usualy withhold all earnings as stated in the letter 1a above.

Is there anything else I can do?
This is all agreed to when signing up for an Adsense account and technically there is nothing you can say or do, they hold all the cards.

There has been a lot of buzz going around about a class action lawsuit against Adsense. You can view more about it here at DigitalPoint

This entry was posted on Friday, January 27th, 2006 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Adsense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.