Friends clicking on Adsense - fraud?

[itistime]

Hey guys,

Some of my friends are aware that I make money per click from google adsense and they purposely click on the ads every once in a while because they know I benefit.

How frequently can they click on these ad without Google thinking that I told them to click on my ads. In other words, how does google know if the clicks are from people you told to click or whether they are genuine clicks....

Thanks,

[captivereef]

More then one time can raise suspicion with Google. I would tell them to never ever click the ads. Google is not stupid and has ways to detect this activity like logging IP addresses for one, it will bit you in the ass eventually if you do not stop it.

[mbealmear]

That is not a good idea. Google will figure out what is going on....then you will probably be banned from using adsense.
I would tell them to stop asap!
Like captivereef said it will come back to bite you in the butt!

[itistime]

But what if someone wanted you to lose money per say, and decides to constantly click on your ads in the hope that you don't make any money?

How does google differentiate between someone doing that to you or your friend clicking on your ads?

[captivereef]

your friends live in the same area as you. Looks real fishy. Bottom line is do not try to fool Google for a extra buck or two, they will ban your account and you will lose much more in the long run!

[remodeler]

Not to mention what it is costing advertisers. It's fraud plain and simple. Don't worry...Google will close your account down pretty quickly.

[Redcheeks]

I've had an adsense account for 2 years and I've never had a problem with friends clicking on my ads too much or even at all because we know that it's a great risk of getting banned for life.

I have a friend that was banned due to click fraud, but he reapplied and opened another account.

[Internet Stores]

Yeah, I would definitely make sure my friends wouldn't click on my ads. Actually, I would make it a habit of NOT even telling my friends the URL of my Adsense websites, so they wouldn't be inclined to click away! Then again, if you have friends who live in different countries than where you live, maybe, it may be possible to get away with it if your friends click on your ads? Although, the best thing to do is just don't tell your friends your URL, so don't encourage it either.

Thanks

[captivereef]

i go as far as to block my freinds and families IP address's. And never log into your adsense account from any computer but your home PC

[Oling]

Never ask your friends to click on your adsense ads cause Big G would eventually see what you guys are ddoing.

I will never recommend my friends to click on them so I can keep my adsense account with them

Thanks,
oling

[Evita]

Look, we're all here to make money.
How cool is it to have friends clicking on ads that the advertiser has to pay for?

Not cool. Not ethical. Not OK.

Maybe Google will shut you down... or should I say should?

I've been an adsense advertiser and the thought that someone keeps clicking on my ad to make money for the site owner is not a very good one. I can see how Google have to protect their advertisers.

Evita

[Kay King]

What this seems to be really saying:

I gave my friends the url of my website and told them that when someone clicks on my ads, I make money. How often can they do this without Google knowing about it?

You are not smarter than google - accept that. You are risking your adsense account for a few cents (not to mentioning cheating those who are paying for the ads) - and google doesn't listen to excuses after they ban you for violating the terms you agreed to.

kay

[derekwong28]

Exactly as Kay said. You are risking the potential to earn many thousands per month in future just for the sake of a few fraudulent clicks.

I do not give my urls out to any friends or relatives just in case they think they will help me by clicking on my ads.


Derek

[Internet Stores]

Originally Posted by captivereef

i go as far as to block my freinds and families IP address's. And never log into your adsense account from any computer but your home PC

Yeah, that's a really good point you make! Right, never log into your Adsense account from any computer but your own home PC. I hadn't even thought about this one.

Thanks

[sophiewarne]

I used to get my first couple of dollars that way to feel like I achieved something but don't ask since.

[markanthony04]

Three years ago I was banned by Google because my daughter thought she was helping me out by clicking on my adsense ads from her laptop in her bedroom. It took a lot of begging emails to Google to get me re-instated and I am absolutely paranoid about it to the extent that I do not tell anyone about my sites anymore (well,friends and family anyway!)

[PRandContent]

I guess it depends on where your friends are from. If they're in another country and they just click on the ads once or twice and if they click on the ads that are RELEVANT to them, then perhaps that can be an exception. Still, it's a big risk.

[inspir700]

It may seem like a "high" to earn that money and see that $1.00 you made that day but trust me.. when you get $1000 deposited in your bank account from google each month then you will realize that "high" is much better

[captivereef]

Yes it does feel good!

[Justinmg77]

I wouldn't ask them to do this for you. In time this could be identified as fraud, although probably not likely, it is not worth the extra couple bucks. Just work on re targeting your adsense to your coentent so you get some genuine earnings, and work on some seo and link building to get more traffic!

[captivereef]

plus it makes Google go after honest publilshers that much harder.

[Rich Currie]

Originally Posted by Evita

Look, we're all here to make money.
How cool is it to have friends clicking on ads that the advertiser has to pay for?

Not cool. Not ethical. Not OK.

Maybe Google will shut you down... or should I say should?

I've been an adsense advertiser and the thought that someone keeps clicking on my ad to make money for the site owner is not a very good one. I can see how Google have to protect their advertisers.

Evita

Well said! Bottom line....Just don't do it. Do you really need the money that bad to be banned? I think not.

[henzy]

Do not adopt this kind of practice as this one is against the TOS of Google. Why you are taking the risk with your accounts for few clicks. Just start building your own websites and you will get benefit more and more once you will start getting organic traffic.

[Kay King]

In time this could be identified as fraud, although probably not likely

In fact, it is highly LIKELY google will identify it as fraud. And it doesn't take long at all.

[valerieSONORA]

Google knows everything.

[dean mcevoy]

Originally Posted by annoyedgirl

Google knows everything.

rumer has it even god works for them

[Delanda]

I wouldn't recommend them clicking at all. Google has very strict policies and does quite a bit of tracking. You should let your friends know you appreciate them trying to help you make some money, but that you would rather them not click as it could hurt you (possibly losing your account) in the long haul.

[itistime]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses... But what if I bump into a site of a friend who I happen to not like, and I decide to click on his google adsense 5 times a day in the hopes he loses his google account.

How would google handle that situation? Would they kill the guy's google adsence because someone was trying to screw him over?

[feefondo]

Are you saying I can click the ads of all my local competitors and get them banned?

[david carr]

Originally Posted by Kay King

What this seems to be really saying:



You are not smarter than google - accept that. You are risking your adsense account for a few cents (not to mentioning cheating those who are paying for the ads) - and google doesn't listen to excuses after they ban you for violating the terms you agreed to.

kay

Well said Kay, listen itistime you might think your smart but your thinking of google like 1 person when its thousands(rough guess dont quote me on it) of THE smartest people like ever.

If they will ban advertisers who spend millions with them then whats your few clicks to them.

If you think they dont log IP addresses for suspect clicks then you have a surprise coming.

Just my 2 cents, which probably aint worth a damn

Regards

[learningstuff]

Originally Posted by itistime

Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses... But what if I bump into a site of a friend who I happen to not like, and I decide to click on his google adsense 5 times a day in the hopes he loses his google account.

How would google handle that situation? Would they kill the guy's google adsence because someone was trying to screw him over?

A "friend" you don't like? LOL. Ok, well in this particular case, google will probably just stop counting the clicks coming from your ip after some clicks. In the case where your friends do it for you from time to time, there are things google can check to see if any suspicious activity is going on. I won't tell you, as it will only give scammers things to watch out for. But if they catch on to this behaviour, which is unlike the scenario you describe above, you could get your account banned. I can think of things I would check to distinguish between malicious bahviour, and just scamming behaviour. Malicious behaviour will eventually be ignored, and scamming behaviour will get you banned.

[forumer147]

I guess you better asked your friends not to click your adsense ads more than twice since they usually tracked down PC through hardware and cookies so you might get banned because of them later on if they keep doing it

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by itistime

But what if someone wanted you to lose money per say, and decides to constantly click on your ads in the hope that you don't make any money?

How does google differentiate between someone doing that to you or your friend clicking on your ads?

The short answer is - they don't.

They suspend your account without warning. If you ask why, they tell you that the activity on your account represents a risk to their advertisers. Jump through the hoops, and you still get the 'risk to their advertisers' mantra.

Oh, and any money in your Google account? Kiss it goodbye...

I've told the tale of how I know this before, so I won't repeat it here, but it is indeed possible for someone who doesn't like you to click-bomb your account out of existence.

[DogScout]

As a content network advertiser your friends may be stealing from me or other fellow warriors....
something else to think about.

[Duleee]

Google track your clicks, and you can get penalized or even banned.

[Heidi White]

Originally Posted by Internet Stores

Yeah, that's a really good point you make! Right, never log into your Adsense account from any computer but your own home PC. I hadn't even thought about this one.

Thanks

I don't understand this. Logging into Adsense from a computer other than your own isn't the same as clicking on an ad? Why is this a bad idea. Does that mean I can't even use my iPhone to log into Adsense? Doesn't Google accept that business people travel and don't always take their laptops with them?

[tjcocker]

Nobody wants to mention the fact that if all of your clicks do not convert into sales for those advertisers you will be smart-priced by Google, and all the clicks for your entire account will drop to $0.01 per click? Good luck making any money after that. Just something to think about.

[Shoaib]

Just run a legitimate business and you have nothing to worry about.

Don't worry about your enemies clicking away on your ads to get your account banned. Google is smarter than that. Unfortunately, competitors clicking on each others ads to cost them money or get them in trouble is the norm, more so for Google than for any of us. So, for some weird reason, I think Google may have just a slight clue as to what they are doing in that area.

Also, if you ever ran a legitimate business and/or did PPC advertising, you would know how some of us who invest our hard-earned dollars into PPC feel about people like you, who think it is "fun" to get their "friends" to click on ads on your site to make a couple of quick pennies.

When I research my competitors on PPC, I actually copy/paste their URL into my browser, instead of clicking on their ad. I don't want to cost them money from someone who is not a prospect but just a competitor doing research.

Grow a consience and you may just succeed in AdSense and other businesses without the help of your friends contributing 27 cents to your profit 3-5 times per week.

Like I said, follow the AdSense TOS, run a legitmate business, and you don't have to worry about any of those things at all.

[Profit-smart]

Originally Posted by remodeler

Not to mention what it is costing advertisers. It's fraud plain and simple. Don't worry...Google will close your account down pretty quickly.

Exactly.

Google watches IP's you know; if they see the same people clicking ads on your site every couple of days or hundreds of times in a row they'll figure out whats going on pretty quickly.

[Kay King]

Some of my friends are aware that I make money per click from google adsense and they purposely click on the ads every once in a while because they know I benefit.

They know you benefit because you just had to show the site to them and tell them about it - right? And now you wonder just how many times each can click per day or week without YOU being caught....

Google has no patience for cheating and neither do the people who pay for those ads your friends are clicking. You need to read the terms you agreed to. If your account is closed - you won't get it back.

kay

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Shoaib

Just run a legitimate business and you have nothing to worry about.

Don't worry about your enemies clicking away on your ads to get your account banned. Google is smarter than that. Unfortunately, competitors clicking on each others ads to cost them money or get them in trouble is the norm, more so for Google than for any of us. So, for some weird reason, I think Google may have just a slight clue as to what they are doing in that area.

Also, if you ever ran a legitimate business and/or did PPC advertising, you would know how some of us who invest our hard-earned dollars into PPC feel about people like you, who think it is "fun" to get their "friends" to click on ads on your site to make a couple of quick pennies.

I hate to break it to you, but Google has more than a slight clue as to what they are doing. They know exactly what they are doing.

And rather than invest resources into trying to determine whether clicks are legitimate or not, and filtering for them, they simply claim that an account "represents a risk to their advertisers" and close it. No explanation and no real appeal. There is an appeal form, but I've never heard of anyone actually getting an account reinstated through the process.

As for how you feel about people who think a little casual click fraud is fun, I agree with you there...

[arttse]

If google suspects that a particular computer is purposely clicking on ads, google considers this fraud and will put a permanent ban on that computer from accessing google in the future.

If google suspects that multiple computers are clicking on the same ads, not only will they ban all the computers but most likely will close down your adsense account as well.

Finally, anyone involved in google related fraud, could easily be charged for criminal offences.

Google has set up tracking systems to catch out fraudsters otherwise their adwords business would not exist...and I doubt they would want to compromise their adwords business.

[bpeeps226]

Do not roll the dice with google, they will get you and your account will be terminated. I personally do allow friends and family to use mine but only genuinely, i tell them not to click any adds unless they are really looking for something. Never encourage clicking just to see that adsense account fill up!

[HCLee]

Google is smarter than you'll ever know. If you are serious about using adsense, you ought to protect your Google adsense account and follow whatever TOS Googles expects you to follow. Having such thoughts just means you don't take your business seriously.

[YanKirby]

Stay out of it. I learned it the hard way when I started out. Oh boy... It still never fails to put a smile on my face remembering the whole thing.

I got a friend of mine and we started adsense together, got approved together, and seeing that the blogger blogs were not making any, we came up with an "Ingenious" plan of clicking each other's ads.

Low and behold, after $24 (we were ecstatic at this point).

Long story short, we got banned together.

So the moral of the story obviously is, Google is Google. Dont mess with them.

[hlvasquez]

A very good friend of mine got banned because of his friends exceeded the clicks on his website.

I wouldn't ask my friends to click on my adds.

[McBrett]

if you do it once or twice don't worry about it. but it's pretty obvious to Google when things look suspicious. For instance, why do your clicks come within 15 miles of each other? Why does the same ip address come back every couple of weeks to click an ad?

Remember, Google will subtract $ earned from clicks that they feel are fraudulent. Even if your earnings are immediately recorded within the UI. With that being said, if you've only had 1 or 2 of your friends click an ad you should be fine. I wouldn't go as far as to block your friends, families, and second cousins ip addresses.

[ShanghaiTours]

definitely not a good idea, Google is not stupid and will find out, then you will suffer greater loss.

[natha]

The THINGS THAT Google Keep Track of....

IP Address
If the AdSense click is originated from the same IP Address as the one
used for accessing your AdSense account, your account is flagged.
Cookies
Most home users do not use static IP Address for Internet connection.
In most cases just disconnect and reconnect will give you a new IP
Address. But don't forget, Google has set cookies on your computer.
Remember to clear your cookies...
FireFox - (Tools->Clear Private Data)
Internet Explorer - (Tools->Internet Options->General Tab->Delete cookies)
Other Google Services
Thinking that you are safe just because you do not access your AdSense
account? Think again. This time, consider these: GMail, Google Earth,
Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Toolbar, Google Talk, Google
Sitemap, Google Desktop, Blogger, Youtube and so on, and so on. With the wide
range of services they provide, Google can trace the originator of
most (or probably almost all) clicks.
Click Pattern 1
Oh, why this computer / IP address / person is so trigger-click-happy
on this particular website but never click on the ads on other sites?
Click Pattern 2
And why is it that people accessing these sites direct (type-in URL or
from bookmark) tend to be very active ad-clickers compared with those
referred from search engine or other sites?
Click Pattern 3
And why the ad-clickers like to hit and run, compared with non
ad-clickers that surf a few pages before leaving?
Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
Your CTR may range from 0.5% to 10%, but if it exceeds a certain point
(probably around 10%), you are flagged.
Geo-Location
Used Urchin (Google Analytics) before? (i dont think you know that)
Then you should know that Google can trace traffics origin down to
the small town. Different IP doesn't mean much. Unless you site is
really targetted to one small geo-point, a high number of clicks from
nearby location will get you banned quickly.
Hardware address?
MAC address of the LAN card, modem, and router works almost like a
fingerprint. I'm not sure if Google can track this, but probably they
do. They have rocket scientist, remember?
Advertisers conversion rate
Ad click is one thing. But does it bring value to the advertisers? If
none of the clicks on your site translate to conversion to the
advertiser, you are in trouble. First the Smart-Pricing hits, then
your AdSense account disabled.
Search Engine Ranking
Your website is not indexed on any search engine, not linked by any
prominent website, but get consistently high traffic? That sounds like
something is in play. Regardless of whether it is an adware-embedded
software, spam, trojan clickbot, or intentionally installed
click-exchange network, it doesn't sound right.
Webpage design
How about the "click here" or "support us"? Google has the best search
engine in the world. Is it really that hard to find those words?
Combo
Each of these detection methods might seem rather weak. But combine
them together, and not many click-fraud can pass-through these
filters. Even the smartest clickbot will have a hard time.

[Sean D Kelly]

Yea I thought about doing this, just getting friends to do it randomly but I don't think its a good idea at all. Google can be super strict about its adsense fraud. Spend more time getting traffic and don't risk your nice adsense account