Google Adsense accounts being closed

[Warren Tibbotts]

I've recently built several sites that have a few monetization methods included on them including some adsense ads.

I have also read quite alarmingly about a numer of people who are running various sites, that have had their adsense account closed down (just prior to being eligible to receive their commissions)

The real problem is that these people seem to have no idea as to why they were shut down for supposedly violating Googles TOS. Many of them also claim they have never once clicked on the ads on their sites, and because of little or no communications from Google, they are out in the cold as to knowing exactly why they were banned.

This has all raised a few alarm bells for me, as my goal was to create quite a few of these mini sites, and profit from affiliate offers as well as adsense. But now having heard from a number of people (I'm sure this is only scratching the surface from what I understand) I have become very cautious about creating my empire of sites and future wealth and revenue where it involves relying on Google to large extent.

Any one offer advice regarding the reliability (long term) of earning gained through Google's Adsense?

[Newbie11]

I have read many of the post on being banned from Adsense and I am concerned as well. I just recently purchased some Adsense sites. I have added items from Commission Junction and Linkshare in order to make sure that I have multiple streams of income on one site.

[smwordsmith]

Well, as the saying goes, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket"!

I would never count on Adsense alone for my income. Even the big players took a hit with the latest Panda algorithm.

Just like your investments, diversify, diversify, diversify.

[BarryWheeler]

Stay within the terms of service and you'll have no problems.

[rosesmark]

Why Google disable the Adsense account.Any one know about the factors behind this?

[TryBPO]

Most people that are banned from AdSense fall under one or several of the following categories:

1. Clicking on their own ads. This would include having family/friends go through their sites and clicking on the ads, asking for clicks on social sites like Twitter/Facebook, participating in "click share" programs or exchanges, etc.

2. Previously banned from AdSense. So...they decide to sign up again under an alias, their kid/wife's name, etc. and then put the new account on their old sites, access from the same IP, etc. If you're banned, you're banned...that's it. Creating a new business might work.

3. GROSSLY going against the ToS. Putting ads on totally adult sites, tricking people into clicking the ads, etc...the kind of stuff where they know a warning wouldn't change the mindset of the person.

Whether or not they tell you about why they were actually banned is another matter...

[nwarrior]

I was banned as I broke their Adwords TOS apparently. Obviously they didn't trust me with Adsense.

[Fernando Veloso]

Just today I saw one site breaking a lot of the most basic rules: no content, difficult to distinguish ads from navigation, and so on. People must realize that Adsense is one monetization option for CONTENT sites. Otherwise a ban is always a possibility...

And yes, some folks get banned without any real reason.

[yukon]

Clicking your own Adsense Ads won't get you shut down.

I've clicked my own Ads, however, that's about 3 clicks spread out over 5 years, because of tech. problems.

Originally Posted by Warren Tibbotts

I've recently built several sites that have a few monetization methods included on them including some adsense ads.

I have also read quite alarmingly about a numer of people who are running various sites, that have had their adsense account closed down (just prior to being eligible to receive their commissions)

The real problem is that these people seem to have no idea as to why they were shut down for supposedly violating Googles TOS. Many of them also claim they have never once clicked on the ads on their sites, and because of little or no communications from Google, they are out in the cold as to knowing exactly why they were banned.

This has all raised a few alarm bells for me, as my goal was to create quite a few of these mini sites, and profit from affiliate offers as well as adsense. But now having heard from a number of people (I'm sure this is only scratching the surface from what I understand) I have become very cautious about creating my empire of sites and future wealth and revenue where it involves relying on Google to large extent.

Any one offer advice regarding the reliability (long term) of earning gained through Google's Adsense?

[Kay King]

But now having heard from a number of people

Let's get to the meat of it - the people you "hear from" are those who cannot get an adsense account or who have been banned.

There are thousands of people who have used adsense for years with no problem - I'm one of them.

We read "I did it wrong but I didn't know - how do I get my adsense account back" many times. Others try to get as close to the "line" as possible without doing something against the TOS - and forget google can move the line. Others claim "I didn't know my friends were going to click the ads so many times".

Build good, useful sites - do not tell family and friends about clicking ads - do not go near a traffic exchange or buy traffic "hits" - use your common sense and you should be fine.

Google does make mistakes but most often there is reason why an account is banned. Don't provide a reason.

It's not good to have adsense as your only income - but it is a good stream of income. Stop reading horror stories and focus on building more sites.

kay

[bikeswine]

I've used adsense since 2004 and have never had any problems with them. I got a letter of warning from them once because my wife was clicking on ads while she was at work - technically not clicking my own ads but I'll admit that it was pretty blatant and ongoing. Bad decision on my part but at the time I was also paying for an engagement ring so I needed the extra money.

Since I got a warning, my guess is that adsense is going to give established players some leeway and not ban them without warning. But these guys that are just about to get paid for the first time, they've only had their sites a month and if Google is already detecting fraud, they're not going to put up with that crap.

[Kurt]

Don't put Adsense immediately on every site you create. Instead, wait and see which sites are bringing in enough traffic to justify putting Adsense on them.

[36burrows]

Most people claiming to be innocent about the Adsense TOS aren't, not all though.

Google really does try and work with their publishers, these "horror" stories are full of lies and pity for the most part.

[yukon]

The first rule of Adsense (my own rule), NEVER tell anyone the url of your Adsense sites (NEVER)!

Friends & Family really do believe they are helping you, by clicking your Adsense Ads. It doesn't matter If you tell them not to click the Ads, In their mind they still believe they are helping you earn money.

Keep it simple & problem free, by hiding your Adsense sites urls from everyone!

Problem solved...

Originally Posted by bikeswine

I've used adsense since 2004 and have never had any problems with them. I got a letter of warning from them once because my wife was clicking on ads while she was at work - technically not clicking my own ads but I'll admit that it was pretty blatant and ongoing. Bad decision on my part but at the time I was also paying for an engagement ring so I needed the extra money.

Since I got a warning, my guess is that adsense is going to give established players some leeway and not ban them without warning. But these guys that are just about to get paid for the first time, they've only had their sites a month and if Google is already detecting fraud, they're not going to put up with that crap.

[momo1978]

So if you get banned and create another Adsense account, Possibilities are you will get shut down again even if you didn’t tell no one your URLS?

[bikeswine]

Originally Posted by momo1978

So if you get banned and create another Adsense account, Possibilities are you will get shut down again even if you didn’t tell no one your URLS?

Google isn't stupid. My guess is that if you put adsense up on the same sites again, they're going to recognize that it is on sites that were blacklisted so to speak. If you started new sites with a new account and told no one, then you might stand a chance with a new account but if you have the same address/bank account they can still catch on I'm sure.

[momo1978]

Originally Posted by bikeswine

Google isn't stupid. My guess is that if you put adsense up on the same sites again, they're going to recognize that it is on sites that were blacklisted so to speak. If you started new sites with a new account and told no one, then you might stand a chance with a new account but if you have the same address/bank account they can still catch on I'm sure.

I assume you are correct and I wasn’t planning on posting ads to that very site that got banned. It was my first site too as trial of making a niche mini site. I appreciate your input on this.

[JToneyUK]

I'm seemingly banned without any knowledge of misuse. I put some adsense banners on an old hobby site I ran, not very successfully. I never clicked the ads myself and no friends or family knew of the site. This is quite annoying as I was hoping to get at least some revenue from Adsense on my sites, but I guess it's back to the drawing board on that one!

[cintaku]

Getting our adsense account banned is bad but getting our site banned by google is worse...And i've experienced it lately..the result is my adsense earning decereased..

[smwordsmith]

There are a couple of clarifications that need to be made so that anyone who is dealing with AdSense understands the program better and has less of a chance in getting 'the ban'.

First, if you are accepted into the program, you not only need to keep up with and follow the ever-changing AdSense TOS and program policies, you also need to comply with Google's Webmaster quality guidelines.

Violating the AdSense TOS results in a lifetime-ban on your account.

Violating the Webmaster quality guidelines results in a denial of your application or, if you are already an AdSense publisher, results in a AdSense ban on the website that violates the quality guidelines.

Depending on the serious of the violation or in the case of multiple violations or if you repeatedly violate the quality guidelines, I am sure that Google would ban not only the violating websites but also your AdSense accounts.

If you want to accept AdSense money, then you need to follow Google's rules. And you need to know what those rules are- all the time, even as they change. Ignorance is not innocence in the eyes of Google.

If you use any artificial methods of backlinking to increase your page rank or use any artificial means to bring people to your site, you are violating Google's AdSense TOS.

If you lose your AdSense account because Google bans it, you don't get another one- ever.

If you lose the AdSense on one or more your website(s) but maintain your AdSense account, you have the opportunity to change your website to meet the quality guidelines and reapply for AdSense ads to be placed on the website.

I hope this is clear.

[Heidi White]

Originally Posted by smwordsmith

There are a couple of clarifications that need to be made so that anyone who is dealing with AdSense understands the program better and has less of a chance in getting 'the ban'.

First, if you are accepted into the program, you not only need to keep up with and follow the ever-changing AdSense TOS and program policies, you also need to comply with Google's Webmaster quality guidelines.

Violating the AdSense TOS results in a lifetime-ban on your account.

Violating the Webmaster quality guidelines results in a denial of your application or, if you are already an AdSense publisher, results in a AdSense ban on the website that violates the quality guidelines.

Depending on the serious of the violation or in the case of multiple violations or if you repeatedly violate the quality guidelines, I am sure that Google would ban not only the violating websites but also your AdSense accounts.

If you want to accept AdSense money, then you need to follow Google's rules. And you need to know what those rules are- all the time, even as they change. Ignorance is not innocence in the eyes of Google.

If you use any artificial methods of backlinking to increase your page rank or use any artificial means to bring people to your site, you are violating Google's AdSense TOS.

If you lose your AdSense account because Google bans it, you don't get another one- ever.

If you lose the AdSense on one or more your website(s) but maintain your AdSense account, you have the opportunity to change your website to meet the quality guidelines and reapply for AdSense ads to be placed on the website.

I hope this is clear.

Would you mind clarifying for the Newbies here exactly what you mean by 'artificial means to bring people to your site?'

Can you provide some examples of the types of artificial services NOT to use?

Thanks

[smwordsmith]

@MostlyHarmless: Sure.

Here are Google's "Link Scheme" Guidelines straight from the Google Webmaster Tool Help Section

Link schemes


Your site's ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity. However, some webmasters engage in link exchange schemes and build partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. This is in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact your site's ranking in search results. Examples of link schemes can include:

Links intended to manipulate PageRank
Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods on the web
Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")
Buying or selling links that pass PageRank
The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page's visitors?
It is not only the number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the quality and relevance of those links. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the buzzing blogger community can be an excellent place to generate interest.

Any of the programs designed to get hundreds and thousands of links is against the Google Guidelines, whether black hat or white hat. If the amount of linking you are doing can't be done by a single human in the course of a day, it is against the guidelines.


Google goes on to clarify 'buying' links for the purpose of advertising is ok. You just can't buy links for the purpose of increasing your page ranking.

So, my understanding of this is that, whether IM considers a program 'white hat' or 'black hat',:

• any links to your site that are not created from your actual participation in the web community, such as comments on related forums or blog posts, or
• any links that don't come from readers who like your content and link back to you telling others to check it out

are against Google's Webmaster guidelines and can result in de-indexing your site, a lower page rank or removal of any AdSense content on that site.

Hope this answers your question.

[terryd]

Don't worry about accounts getting banned, if you worry about what MIGHT happen then you will never get anywhere online.

Accounts have been getting banned as long as I've been online and they will continue to, if I had decided "nah it's too dangerous" then I would have lost out on thousands of dollars that Google have been depositing into my account for the last half dozen years.....

Just go out and do it, stick to their rules and as already has been said, don't show your sites to nobody.... none of my family, even the Mrs know my adsense sites......

[sunia]

One thing is confirm that if you will do some thing against the google policies then just simply say good bye to your account no matter's how much clever you are? other wise no power can disable your acount

[JohnnyC123]

My advice,

Use original content (don't pirate) restrict your sites in the security settings so that only your own ads on your own sites can be click.

Lastly, don't rely on Google.. there's lots of others which work the same as Google. Find them and find what works best.

Originally Posted by Warren Tibbotts

I've recently built several sites that have a few monetization methods included on them including some adsense ads.

I have also read quite alarmingly about a numer of people who are running various sites, that have had their adsense account closed down (just prior to being eligible to receive their commissions)

The real problem is that these people seem to have no idea as to why they were shut down for supposedly violating Googles TOS. Many of them also claim they have never once clicked on the ads on their sites, and because of little or no communications from Google, they are out in the cold as to knowing exactly why they were banned.

This has all raised a few alarm bells for me, as my goal was to create quite a few of these mini sites, and profit from affiliate offers as well as adsense. But now having heard from a number of people (I'm sure this is only scratching the surface from what I understand) I have become very cautious about creating my empire of sites and future wealth and revenue where it involves relying on Google to large extent.

Any one offer advice regarding the reliability (long term) of earning gained through Google's Adsense?

[markrob008]

Well, Google is very wise. In fact some people call it as "evil". You really have to follow their guidelines.

[dagaul101]

Adsense is becoming a little more stricter, in the beginning the major rule was not to click on your ads, but the rules have evolved that what someone might call the slightest infringement could be final

[dking1]

Google to me is not dependable.They have closed my account without anything that i know on my own part.You guys with your account not closed are just lucky.

[dking1]

Can somebody tell me what sort of traffic is not dangerous to google.Can you buy traffic?what sort of traffic can be bought for google adsense sites

[terryd]

Originally Posted by dking1

Google to me is not dependable.They have closed my account without anything that i know on my own part.You guys with your account not closed are just lucky.

Originally Posted by dking1

Can somebody tell me what sort of traffic is not dangerous to google.Can you buy traffic?what sort of traffic can be bought for google adsense sites

You are a prime example of the person that gets their account banned then comes here crying about how they got banned for no reason.

You said they closed your account without any knowing on your part and your next quote is "what sort of traffic can be bought for google adsense sites"......the answer is NONE because it will get your account banned if you do.........this is why your read their TOS and stick to them!!

[ARVolund]

Originally Posted by dking1

Can somebody tell me what sort of traffic is not dangerous to google.Can you buy traffic?what sort of traffic can be bought for google adsense sites

Purchased traffic never really converts well. I have tested different types of traffic on a lot of different niches and ad types, it is almost always a waste of money. Even so called targeted traffic converts very poorly.

You want visitors to come to your site because they want to be there, not because they were sent to your site instead of somewhere else.

[Tylos]

Yes stay with google's terms and condition's. it may be again. Also I have an ad scene a/c still on awaiting for approval.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by terryd

You said they closed your account without any knowing on your part and your next quote is "what sort of traffic can be bought for google adsense sites"......the answer is NONE because it will get your account banned if you do.........this is why your read their TOS and stick to them!!

I'm afraid you are an example of why people get banned. They refuse to actually
read google's adesense TOS, and just go with a myth.

Because if you did read google's TOS, you would know that they do not
ban buying traffic. Buying traffic is NOT against google TOS. Come on!
Google's whole empire is built on paid traffic!

Paid traffic, done the right way, is perfectly acceptable to google.

Why this myth goes on and on and on and on....who knows? I do.
Nobody reads the TOS. Go figure.

Paul

[terryd]

As far as I am aware arbitrage is not allowed on Adsense sites , are you saying this is incorrect,please show me on their TOS where they allow this??

Originally Posted by paulgl

I'm afraid you are an example of why people get banned. They refuse to actually
read google's adesense TOS, and just go with a myth.

Because if you did read google's TOS, you would know that they do not
ban buying traffic. Buying traffic is NOT against google TOS. Come on!
Google's whole empire is built on paid traffic!

Actually I should have elaborated further to dking1 as I was envisioning the old adsense arbitrage sites of yesterday which were crappy content and plastered with ads......that is against TOS or more like the site itself is.....

Originally Posted by paulgl

Paid traffic, done the right way, is perfectly acceptable to google.

You are correct but that is totally as long as the site receiving the traffic is within the guidelines or TOS.....

[paulgl]

You can run adsense sites on adwords. In fact, google gives you a case study.
It involves a plastic surgeon, who gets clients via adwords, but makes a few
extra bucks on adsense for those not interested in his service. That's how
it's done. Offer a main product, adsense on the side. It's a win-win situation.

Google allows paid traffic via any other means that follows their guidelines.

People just keep making blanket statements about paid traffic and adsense
somehow being against TOS. It seems to be one of the most popular myths,
but also points out the lack of knowledge people actually have, and their
refusal to read anything for themselves.

That's why people get banned.

Paul

[wfstin]

Originally Posted by paulgl

You can run adsense sites on adwords. In fact, google gives you a case study.
It involves a plastic surgeon, who gets clients via adwords, but makes a few
extra bucks on adsense for those not interested in his service. That's how
it's done. Offer a main product, adsense on the side. It's a win-win situation.

Google allows paid traffic via any other means that follows their guidelines.

People just keep making blanket statements about paid traffic and adsense
somehow being against TOS. It seems to be one of the most popular myths,
but also points out the lack of knowledge people actually have, and their
refusal to read anything for themselves.

That's why people get banned.

Paul

Agreed, the important part there is "on the side". When most people are sending paid traffic to an adsense page they stuff it with very little content, tons of ads, and make it as ugly as possible to force clicks. The adsense team isn't stupid, they've been fighting these MFA sites for years and know exactly what to look for.

[paulgl]

Absolutely agreed. Google does not want sloppy MFA sites on adwords. But...

For those of you who still can't believe google allows adsense and
adwords, here ya go. Straight from the horses mouth:
Using Google AdSense to Complement Your AdWords Account - Inside AdWords

As AdWords users, you know how effective AdWords can be in driving traffic to your website and how it can turn curious visitors into regular customers. But since not every visit leads to a sale, wouldn’t it be great to have other ways of making money from those visits?

Google AdSense is a free program that helps you earn revenue by displaying relevant ads on your site. We give you a piece of code to put on your site, you choose where to place ads, and you earn revenue when visitors click on them.

DesignerApparel.com is an AdWords and AdSense client that has had great success using these two products together. DesignerApparel.com offers premium designer clothes at affordable prices. They implemented AdSense for Content and AdSense for Search and specifically targeted certain pages within their site. DesignerApparel.com had complete control over what types of ads appeared.

Paul

[rajathss]

Originally Posted by Kurt

Don't put Adsense immediately on every site you create. Instead, wait and see which sites are bringing in enough traffic to justify putting Adsense on them.

I agree this one..And try to submit your site to maximum search engines.

[Jays80]

Originally Posted by rajathss

try to submit your site to maximum search engines.

where did you read this in adsense TOS?

[grlpub]

Originally Posted by ARVolund

Purchased traffic never really converts well. I have tested different types of traffic on a lot of different niches and ad types, it is almost always a waste of money. Even so called targeted traffic converts very poorly.

You want visitors to come to your site because they want to be there, not because they were sent to your site instead of somewhere else.

Sorry I don't see how this makes sense. If someone is typing "health insurance quotes" into a search engine and then clicks on a paid PPC ad that offers low cost insurance quotes, he's a pretty darn qualified prospect. He can convert well if you have a well matched offer.

[grlpub]

If you research the AdSense help forum you'll see that quite a number of people get banned for what appear to be fairly innocent things. Like not having a privacy policy page, or not including the disclosure statement about 3rd party cookies being placed on visitors PCs and the ways for visitors to control that through their browsers. Those are easy things to fix.

[grlpub]

Originally Posted by paulgl

I'm afraid you are an example of why people get banned. They refuse to actually read google's adesense TOS, and just go with a myth.
Paul

The truth is - there is a LOT more to the TOS than just the tos itself, that's a 16-clauses document. There is also Program Guidelines included by reference. Moreover, the Program Guidelines itself refers to several other documents like Webmaster Guidelines and Landing Page Guidelines and a few more things that this doc explands to.

In reality some of the definitions are so broad, vague and offer so much room to subjective interpretation, pretty much anyone could be banned. I suspect this setup is by design so that anyone can be banned, if Google decides so.

[Odhinn]

One thing that hasn't yet been mentioned, and that I see a lot of sites breaking each and every day, is that you need to have a privacy policy on your websites in order to display Adsense Ads. There are plugins for WP that will automatically generate them, and I'm sure you can find a few examples online.

[MarlboroMonkey]

New guy checking in. I got banned from Adsense a couple weeks ago. The only site I had it running on at the time was on a wordpress blog through the WPTouch plugin that supposedly inserts adsense for mobile. After getting banned I checked my analytics and I had all of 4 mobile hits. Of course I pointed that out to them but it didn't matter. Now I get to try out Chitika, etc!

[FrankRumbauskas]

Originally Posted by BarryWheeler

Stay within the terms of service and you'll have no problems.

Not necessarily.

I've been in the AdWords game long enough to know that people mistakenly get banned sometimes complete with the "never contact us again" message. It takes a lot of time and persistence to get the right person on the phone and get it fixed. But it DOES get fixed when you get someone with the authority to investigate and fix the issue.

Sometimes it's a robot error, sometimes it's a human error.

Mistakes happen and I don't doubt that it happens with AdSense accounts just as often as it does with AdWords.

[ureshii]

Originally Posted by 36burrows

Most people claiming to be innocent about the Adsense TOS aren't, not all though.

Google really does try and work with their publishers, these "horror" stories are full of lies and pity for the most part.

I agree. Most people don't really tell the real stories behind what happened. They're maybe telling you that they're 'innocent' and claiming they don't know the reasons they got banned, but most of the time they at least have an 'idea' why they got banned. Don't just believe everything that you read online.

All these stories about getting banned and stuff will eventually get into your head and makes you somewhat paranoia, in your mind you always expect to wake up one day to find that you are 'banned' from adsense. It slows down your growth! I used to be like that, i got an account with adsense, was making a decent amount from adsense, but was always paranoia about getting banned (not because i did BH method or anything, i believe i was an honest publisher, but like you, i read too much 'getting banned from adsense' stories).

One day, i found that one of my adsense sites was not displaying any ads, just blank. I was panic and quickly closed my account, without even waiting for a few more hours or trying to email Google to ask and didn't even try to ask people's opinion about it. I just closed the account because i heard that if you close your account you'll get the money but if you get banned you won't see a penny. It was the most stupid thing i've ever done, to act on impulse that is.

I later found out, after my paranoia mode had settled, that it was just what people called adsense monday syndrome or something (i don't really remember the exact name, it was a few years back, i'm not even sure if such thing still exists today, maybe not?), where adsense ads did not display for a few hours or so following Monday/Tuesday. I eventually applied for adsense again after that (after some time) and was approved but it took time to get back to what i was earning before (because of ad block, advertisers' bids on keywords stuff like that).

It was silly really, but it taught me not to listen too much to the 'stories' people are spreading online. Sometimes people are spreading certain stories for a purpose, you know, so you gotta know which information you should take in and which you shouldn't.

[fineholm]

it disable through invalid clicks

[ARVolund]

Originally Posted by grlpub

Sorry I don't see how this makes sense. If someone is typing "health insurance quotes" into a search engine and then clicks on a paid PPC ad that offers low cost insurance quotes, he's a pretty darn qualified prospect. He can convert well if you have a well matched offer.

You are not talking about purchased traffic in your examples. Search engine traffic (other than maybe adwords type traffic) is not purchased traffic. Somebody clicking on an ad is not really purchase traffic either. You are either buying/selling the leads or you are buying/selling the adspace on a website.

When I talk about purchased traffic I am talking about those people selling you 100k visitors for a specific dollar amount. Those visitors have been misdirected to your site by one method or another. They did not plan on arriving to your site by clicking on an ad or a link in Google. They meant to go somewhere else and landed on your site. Even the so called targeted traffic that are supposedly being redirected from sites similar to yours does not convert well.

[duit online]

Originally Posted by Warren Tibbotts

I've recently built several sites that have a few monetization methods included on them including some adsense ads.

I have also read quite alarmingly about a numer of people who are running various sites, that have had their adsense account closed down (just prior to being eligible to receive their commissions)

The real problem is that these people seem to have no idea as to why they were shut down for supposedly violating Googles TOS. Many of them also claim they have never once clicked on the ads on their sites, and because of little or no communications from Google, they are out in the cold as to knowing exactly why they were banned.

This has all raised a few alarm bells for me, as my goal was to create quite a few of these mini sites, and profit from affiliate offers as well as adsense. But now having heard from a number of people (I'm sure this is only scratching the surface from what I understand) I have become very cautious about creating my empire of sites and future wealth and revenue where it involves relying on Google to large extent.

Any one offer advice regarding the reliability (long term) of earning gained through Google's Adsense?

thanks for adsen info

[michgil]

I am sure there are many other people just like me that did not intentinally violate Googles terms. I have read all of the new changes they are forever making and done my best to keep up with them. I mistakenly clicked an add in the beginning when I was first learning, but never did it intentionally nor did I have friends or relatives click them.

About five years now I have been busting my butt on top of working full time trying to learn internet marketing and I was finally 1 cent away from reaching my first $100 with Google and got a notice this morning that they have closed my account. No warning, no reason to believe there was any issue.

I have spent a lot of time and money trying to learn internet marketing and with Adwords in the beginning. So, to all of you that have not actually had the experience or that make general statements about the people that have had their accounts cancelled....please stop! It could happen to you at any time too.

This is part of Google's statement:

"We've determined that your account poses a risk of generating invalid click activity. Because we have a responsibility to protect our Adwords advertisers from inflated costs due to invalid click activity, we've found it necessary to disble your Adsense account."

Doesn't every account pose the risk of invalid click activity? A very general statement that tells you nothing.