The darkest nightmare a hardworking affiliate webmaster fears is receiving a dreaded Google Adsense Warning, or even worse, a notice that Google Adsense has been disabled for the entire account. The notice starts out like this: "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." Some webmasters use Google Adsense to generate 100% of their website income and the account may hold many different websites. In that case, every website is disabled at one time. An automatic disqualification can be devastating, especially when Google has no obligation to explain its decision in detail. Not only does the account become disabled, but also existing click-through earnings are refunded back to the advertisers. Life gets tough, but is it that easy to get an account banned? Yes it is. The terms of service every Google Adsense Webmaster accepts, describes the easy do's and don'ts. Do use the Adsense approved formats only Do keep your click-through data and income private. Don't display Adsense on registration or thank you pages. Don't use Adsense code and a competitor's content-targeted advertisement on the same page. Don't encourage anyone else to click on ads. For a complete list, read the Adsense policies and terms https://www.google.com/adsense/policies https://www.google.com/adsense/terms The easiest method an account can be banned is by a Webmaster clicking on the site's own ads. Just how many click-throughs are needed to get a site banned isn't exposed, but Google Adsense watches for multiple clicks from the same domain. One person was banned who clicked twice from the same domain within a 24-hour period. That doesn't mean that is Adsense policy, because Adsense appears to place suspect sites on watch status until the action is duplicated. Spikes in click-through percentages are hefty red flags. Those are the changes worth becoming proactive over by emailing Google Adsense. A site that rises from a consistent 1% click-through rate to a 10% click-through rate on one day could become suspect. The actual percentage that creates the flag isn't made public for obvious reasons. What's the safest way to protect an account? Don't click on the site's own ads ever. Deceptive practices work for a short time, but they always come back to hurt the originator. |
