PLEASE help - Adsense account disabled!

[LizzardQ]

Okay, so I just got this email from Google:

While going through our records recently, we found that your AdSense account has posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers. Since keeping your account in our publisher network may financially damage our advertisers in the future, we've decided to disable your account.

Please understand that we consider this a necessary step to protect the
interests of both our advertisers and our other AdSense publishers. We
realize the inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you in
advance for your understanding and cooperation.

If you have any questions about your account or the actions we've
taken, please do not reply to this email. You can find more information
by visiting
https://www.google.com/adsense/suppo...57153&hl=en_US.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

Even though they didn't specifically say so, when I followed the link it's all about fraudulent clicks. But obviously, I certainly didn't click any of my own ads and I know no one else I know could have done it by accident, so I'm really not sure what the heck is going on.

I'm pretty sure the problem is a new site that I just created. There is a new site site I created a couple weeks ago that has been getting an unusually high CTR, well over 50%. I created the site around keywords that had very little competition, so I was getting traffic straight from Google without any promotion yet. I would get about 8-10 visitors a day from Google, and usually at least half of those would be clicks. I thought it was just due to the low competition and good ad placement (I had the text links right in the left side bar, about the article links), but now I wonder if someone was purposely trying to get me banned. :-(

Obviously, I'm going to fill out Google's online dispute form, but I wanted to check to see if there's anything I need to know before I do....

Is there any way to check my logs to "prove" any suspicious activity and that it wasn't me or anyone I know that clicked on the links? :

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

[KirkMcD]

but now I wonder if someone was purposely trying to get me banned.

Probably.
Check your logs for unusual activity from one IP address.

[captivereef]

if you had adsense links units formatted to look like navigation links on your site that would be the reason.

Or if they were under any type of heading like "additional resources" or something like that adsense will ban you.

I had some sites last year that i set up like that and got a stern email warning from google and the sites in question were banned from adsense.

[captivereef]

did you have a privacy policy on your site? That could be another reason. They now require all site to have a link to a privacy policy and if you do not have one they may ban you for it.

[LizzardQ]

Kirk -- Thanks for your reply! I checked my logs and don't see any suspicious activities, but I think I'll just forward all that info to Google in my appeal anyways. I'm willing to turn over anything in order to get reinstated!

captivereff - Uh-oh...maybe that was the problem then. I did have the links "match" my navigation links and put them in the sidebar on several of my sites, but didn't think this was a violation. (I knew you could re-format the sites or use any heading like "additional resources" or whatnot...but I thought "blending" them in with the navigation was okay.) Also, even though all of my other sites had a privacy policy, I just set up one a couple weeks ago and forgot to include it on that one. I could kick myself for making such a foolish mistake!!! But still, I would think Google would give some sort of warning before just disabling an account over something like that! (Although the more I read about it, the more I seem like that isn't the case!)

Thanks so much for your thoughts, guys! I just sent them a very contrite letter bascially begging them for another chance, so we'll see what happens!

[Mark Brian]

Good luck Liz, I know Google loves to play God in Adsense. They can just shut you down and they don't care what you feel even if they don't give a concrete reason.

One tip I heard before to increase your chance of "pardon" is stating in your appeal that you are willing to give up any earnings made from any suspicious activities and that you attest that they are not from you. Although I'm not sure if that will instantly re-instate your account but it doesn't hurt to try.

[joe0074]

May be Google doesn't like paid traffic.
They prefer to have organic traffic to your site.

I have seen many people using arbitrage technique to make money from adsense and got banned by Google so far. May be this is the case.

Just my 2 cents

[LizzardQ]

Mark - Thanks for that tip! I definitely will keep that in mind. Like you said, it couldn't hurt, right?

Joe - I've actually met a lot of people who had their accounts shut down for that very reason! But luckily, that's one thing I know wasn't the case with me, as I have never done any paid traffic and all the visitors to the site were coming from Google itself. So hopefully that will be in my favor!

[lianwei]

Are you running any traffic exchange programs? If you are then it may be the cause, Google bans that!

Google is rather strict with this issue, its almost 0.1% chance that they are going to reactivate the account unless you have 200% rock solid evidence.

I feel so sorry to hear that... Its just unfair.

[steveweber]

From my experience, they understand there can be extremely high CTR's with low traffic sites. I have a number of very low traffic sites which get extremely hight CTR's on a regular basis.

I don't think that was your problem.

I am curious, how old is your account?

[Bruce NewMedia]

This is what concerns me about all Adsense accounts. ...

...using/depending on Adsense as a business model. Literally at the click of their mouse Google can end your revenue - and there;s probably nothing an individual site owner can do about it.

To me it just makes it such an unstable income.
Do any others worry about that?
______
Bruce

[clbnc]

Originally Posted by brucerby

This is what concerns me about all Adsense accounts. ...

...using/depending on Adsense as a business model. Literally at the click of their mouse Google can end your revenue - and there;s probably nothing an individual site owner can do about it.

To me it just makes it such an unstable income.
Do any others worry about that?
______
Bruce

It sure worries me. Fortunately affiliate programs may well make me more. I think it would be in my best interest to look at adsense as only one source of potential income.

[Richard Tunnah]

Originally Posted by brucerby

This is what concerns me about all Adsense accounts. ...

...using/depending on Adsense as a business model. Literally at the click of their mouse Google can end your revenue - and there;s probably nothing an individual site owner can do about it.

To me it just makes it such an unstable income.
Do any others worry about that?
______
Bruce

Hi Bruce,
I was put off from continuing to build adsense sites a couple of years ago after I heard Kirt Christensen speak at an event how he'd just gone from earning a multiple 5 figure income monthly to literally dollars a month after the first 'google slap'. It reminded me of a MLM company I invested a lot of time, effort and money in only for their European wing to have problems and for me to lose my 5 figure monthly income in weeks.
I like to have control over my own destiny to be honest now.

Rich

[Norma Holt]

Hi Liz, I also got shut down for no valid reason. They claimed invalid clicks but as I was not paid a cent in revenue for them that did not wash.

Since then I have looked elsewhere and have found other programs, such as Adland Pro, that has a ppc and others I could tell you about. Recently I have started using another that was developed by a guy who also got shut down and has invented this software to spite them. If you PM me I will give you a link