Google terminates thousands of Adsense accounts.

[Tim Franklin]

I feel compelled, to share this with you, if you operate ad-words accounts, Adsense, or you use other Google Services, you should be very aware of any changes, in the Google TOS that might effect your business.

I have been operating as a consultant for more than 20 years and I can tell you that what you "Think" you know about google is about to change.

There has been a developing trend in how Google (Allegedly) reviews accounts, some of them are outsourced, some of these methods are automated, if you see a catpcha, code, that is displayed instead of what you expect to see, Do not, I repeat, Do not, fill that data in, it will automatically terminate your adsense account and your ad words accounts.

I have clients that have contacted me and each time the story was the same they were using the Google keyword tool, or they were using another google service and then suddenly a captcha field showed up where it should not have appeared.

They filled in the field, and kept on using the tool or the service, the next morning they got emails saying that their adwords account was suspended permanently.

Then they received an email stating that their adsense account was terminated and that all their earnings were to be refunded to all advertisers.

I have several clients all with the same story. Just be very aware that something is happening inside Google and it is not good.

You cannot reach google, you cannot contact them, when you email them you get an email back from someone with a name like Jakatta or Micatta or some other name that is not an American name, nothing against the names, it just tells me that no one in the USA is working on these accounts.

When you have someone that is not connected with the parent company what you have is a recipe for disaster.

Avoid using any Proxy service…

Google is now suspending accounts that appear to be using a proxy server.

Avoid using any software on your website that uses a proxy service.

There is hope that things may change in the future but for now be very aware that the do no Evil thing, not happening at Google...

Fair warning, you can ignore this and continue on your way, but at least you have had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others.

[Spock1]

It sounds ominous but if you don't fill out the captcha what then? You won't be able to do anything without that step will you?

[BigNorm]

Easy fix, don't use your Adwords account for keyword research, create or buy multiple accounts.

[Tim Franklin]

Actually that was just one client that said it happened that way another said they were using an automated keyword tool, and before they realized what had occurred it was too late, they are using some kind of automatic IP busting software, so just be careful, it may not just be limited to one particular service.

It could be a new thing they are doing, I just know that I am not seeing other people talk about this as well there are also signs that something big is about to happen inside Google itself.

[dp40oz]

Originally Posted by Tim Franklin

there are also signs that something big is about to happen inside Google itself.

What signs might these be?

[Tim Franklin]

Originally Posted by Spock1

It sounds ominous but if you don't fill out the captcha what then? You won't be able to do anything without that step will you?

From what I understand, this works as a measure to detect people using a Proxy service, when you attempt to use your account it will pop up a captcha notice, before you can continue to use any Google services.

When you do that, (allegedly) someone in a far away place will get an email to look at your account, and since they do not fully understand how to tell when an account may or may not be in violation they just terminate the account, that way not matter what happens they are not wrong.

What I am saying is that something is rotten and it taint in Denmark its in Google itself, so just beware, the moon is dark...

[Tim Franklin]

Originally Posted by dp40oz

What signs might these be?

Have a look at this article, then look at the stock price, About the only time that a big corporation that gets so out of touch with its consumer base "Wakes up" is when the stock prices begin to go south, sadly it is usually too late to do anything about it, but know this,

Google faces antitrust calls over search shake-up | Regulation | ZDNet UK

This is not an empty thing here it is something very serious, heads will roll over this deal, you can take that to the bank.

[BigNorm]

It'll be interesting, no doubt there will be a new KW tool in the WSO section next week for $97.00 which can scrape KW Tool without the need of logging in....lol. Everyone elses loss is always a few peoples gain.

[yukon]

Why would anyone use a real GKWT account when researching keywords?

Some people bring on their own problems.

Research with one account, business with another...

[FreeMeal]

I just noticed I new pop-up in google when i was about to do a search saying "Important update to our TOS - You must read this". It wasn't there half an hour ago. Maybe this mentions something to do with what you have been seeing?

Also Market Samurai are having "Major Issues" with retrieving google data (nothing new there I suppose!), it's completely down at the moment.

[nik0]

I never get a captcha inside my Adwords account but I do get captcha's all the time when I normally search in Google cause I had software running before without proxy's, so after each 5 pages that I browse I get this captcah thing. I always fill it in and my Adsense and Adwords account still work like they always do. I bet I filled in a 100 captcha's by now.

I do all my keyword research in my real Adwords account for over a year. Never a single problem. I must say I was a pretty active Adwords user for PPC campaigns years ago so maybe I have some more credit with Google.

[Tim Franklin]

Yes, thanks for that post, it looks like Google is going after scrapers, and bots, they have in the past but it appears they are on a "Mission"

I think we will begin to hear more on this soon...

As they say there is blood in the water and the sharks are swimming...

Originally Posted by FreeMeal

I just noticed I new pop-up in google when i was about to do a search saying "Important update to our TOS - You must read this". It wasn't there half an hour ago. Maybe this mentions something to do with what you have been seeing?

Also Market Samurai are having "Major Issues" with retrieving google data (nothing new there I suppose!), it's completely down at the moment.

[ldbjr]

I also have never had a captcha inside my Google Adwords account. Now I know if I try to use the free Google keyword tool without logging into my account, I get the captcha.

[outwest]

just dont log into google kw tool from a proxy

[patrich]

Originally Posted by Tim Franklin

I feel compelled, to share this with you, if you operate ad-words accounts, Adsense, or you use other Google Services, you should be very aware of any changes, in the Google TOS that might effect your business.

I have been operating as a consultant for more than 20 years and I can tell you that what you "Think" you know about google is about to change.

There has been a developing trend in how Google (Allegedly) reviews accounts, some of them are outsourced, some of these methods are automated, if you see a catpcha, code, that is displayed instead of what you expect to see, Do not, I repeat, Do not, fill that data in, it will automatically terminate your adsense account and your ad words accounts.

I have clients that have contacted me and each time the story was the same they were using the Google keyword tool, or they were using another google service and then suddenly a captcha field showed up where it should not have appeared.

They filled in the field, and kept on using the tool or the service, the next morning they got emails saying that their adwords account was suspended permanently.

Then they received an email stating that their adsense account was terminated and that all their earnings were to be refunded to all advertisers.

I have several clients all with the same story. Just be very aware that something is happening inside Google and it is not good.

You cannot reach google, you cannot contact them, when you email them you get an email back from someone with a name like Jakatta or Micatta or some other name that is not an American name, nothing against the names, it just tells me that no one in the USA is working on these accounts.

When you have someone that is not connected with the parent company what you have is a recipe for disaster.

Avoid using any Proxy service…

Google is now suspending accounts that appear to be using a proxy server.

Avoid using any software on your website that uses a proxy service.

There is hope that things may change in the future but for now be very aware that the do no Evil thing, not happening at Google...

Fair warning, you can ignore this and continue on your way, but at least you have had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others.

Sounds like a bunch of hogwash to me.

Google reviewing accounts, outsourcing work overseas, etc., is nothing new. They have been doing this for some time. They have also stated their dislike of proxy servers for as far back as I can remember and people use them all the time without issue.

The captcha's are implemented for possible automated queries, a user pulling too much data and again, they have been using these for quite some time now.

It wouldn't make any difference if you filled the captcha out or not. If they know you are using proxies, or running automated queries which triggered the captcha, then they obviously don't need you to fill in the captcha to ban your account. If you are auto pulling data from your adwords account, logged in, then again, the captcha wouldn't make any difference, because you are logged in and they already know who you are and what you are up to.

---
In regards to your above comments:

Yes their stocks dropped, because their earnings in the fourth quarter of last year were down. If their earnings this quarter are down as well, which they most likely will be, then they will have to make changes. However, those changes are more likely going to benefit us, because much of the changes will be to revert back to the way they were handling things previously.

Why? Because all of the algo changes, account bans, etc., have killed their adsense income. Adsense being down is causing their earnings to drop. The constant algo changes is causing users/investors to lose faith in the company.

The only way to for them to get earnings back up and again get trust in their investors is to revert. They tried to increase adwords earnings which basically cannibalized their adsense income. Then they tried to increase earnings in the mobile market, which basically cannibalized their adwords earnings. It is a vicious cycle and they are going to have roll back and rethink, or they will suffer the wrath of Wall Street.

[outwest]

Plus bing/yahoo now gets 30% of the traffic because people are tired of Google slapping so many ads in their search results

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by outwest

Plus bing/yahoo now gets 30% of the traffic because people are tired of Google slapping so many ads in their search results

Like...um....yahoo is ad-free?

LOL!!! Yahoo is in a shambles at the moment. I guess people
just don't read the news....google crossed the $10 billion mark
for the first time. Bing? Still trying to stop the bleeding. Yahoo?
They'll either be bought, and turned into soup, or go belly up.

I remember when people said facebook will kill google.
Facebook will kill, but it won't be google. Facebook might have
a lot more going for it than myspace. But remember when
myspace was going to slaughter everyone?

Google canceling thousands of accounts? Nothing new.

I'll wager google cancels thousands of users every day of the week.

I still cannot believe the nonsense spewed by people and their adsense
accounts.

I mean seriously, where do you people live? What in the heck do
you do all day long?

Shouldn't you be out on a ledge somewhere?

Still rings true: A fool and his adsense are soon parted.

Paul

[GeorgR.]

Originally Posted by BigNorm

Easy fix, don't use your Adwords account for keyword research, create or buy multiple accounts.

Lol. This is exactly what WILL get you banned.


Edit: On a side-note...now i understand why Market Samurai doesn't work at the moment!

[GeorgR.]

On another side-note...i think the REAL issue here is using external tools where you need your adwords account info as login - software like MS etc. which use the Adwords account for scraping keywords.

Maybe this is what's going on here.

[nik0]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

On another side-note...i think the REAL issue here is using external tools where you need your adwords account info as login - software like MS etc. which use the Adwords account for scraping keywords.

Maybe this is what's going on here.

That could very well be teh case indeed, this MS - Adwords access, never liked that feature. I do all my KW research manually, most reliable way.

[matchoo77]

The reason the stock got hit after the earnings release is due to falling CPC's. Must be less people willing to pay up for keywords...it's about time. I made some serious coin bidding on foreclosure keywords many years ago and sending that traffic to foreclosure sites on clickbank....it became a problem when those keywords went from .16 a click to $10 a click.

[danlew]

Ouch! This is bad. Good thing that I'm not really serious with Adsense, because you can't predict when they will terminate your account without any reason. But for now, my Adsense account is still fine.

[dp40oz]

Originally Posted by Tim Franklin

Have a look at this article, then look at the stock price, About the only time that a big corporation that gets so out of touch with its consumer base "Wakes up" is when the stock prices begin to go south, sadly it is usually too late to do anything about it, but know this,

Google faces antitrust calls over search shake-up | Regulation | ZDNet UK

This is not an empty thing here it is something very serious, heads will roll over this deal, you can take that to the bank.

Hmmm, so what you are saying is Google is losing money and their answer is to kill off tons of adsense and adwords accounts that make them loads of money? Doesn't sound accurate to me.

[Mike Anthony]

Is google banning these accounts because they filled int he captchas or because they happen to be doing things with proxies that both cause the captchas to come up AND to click their own ads. There can be correlation without causation.

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by dp40oz

Hmmm, so what you are saying is Google is losing money and their answer is to kill off tons of adsense and adwords accounts that make them loads of money? Doesn't sound accurate to me.

Technically google only really makes extra money when a site has traffic that does not originate with Google. For sites that get all their traffic from google getting clicks from them actually is lower income than if the searcher just clicked the links to the right.

Adsense was really created to get traffic originating from sites outside of google into the mix.

[sam770]

My conclusion:
Do NOT rely on google
Do NOT rely on google
Do NOT rely on google
Do NOT rely on google
Do NOT rely on google
Do NOT rely on google

[grexley]

Originally Posted by outwest

Plus bing/yahoo now gets 30% of the traffic because people are tired of Google slapping so many ads in their search results

Google instant drove me to Bing. The fact that you can turn it off, but Google turns it back on a day later was as insulting as Google instant is annoying.


Thanks Tim for this post. I had stupidly put my adsense account email into Market Samurai. Could have had an issue down the road.

[John Romaine]

I wonder if this is why Market Samurai isnt working at the moment?

[lukedidit]

There goes Market Samurais core functional element.

[ChristineCobb]

I got this post from a friend on my Facebook page which is totally relevant to this thread and a thumbs up to sam770:

"Use Google... but don't let them use you!"

[dp40oz]

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

Technically google only really makes extra money when a site has traffic that does not originate with Google. For sites that get all their traffic from google getting clicks from them actually is lower income than if the searcher just clicked the links to the right.

Adsense was really created to get traffic originating from sites outside of google into the mix.

Well thats only if you assume everyone searching on Google would have clicked on google ads if your page didn't exist. Google makes a lot more money having adsense on publishers sites rather then not, regardless if in "theory" they are making less then they would per click, the amount of clicks they are getting due to publishers is astronomically larger. If Google did away with all Adsense accounts the company would crumble in no time.

[bmcgoff]

So Google has a problem with third party programs like MS using their tools? It would be nice if MS let us in on what's going on. I wonder why the Rank Tracker isn't working...

It's days like this that make this business seem so vulnerable.

[davidrightnow]

Here we are, soooooo voilà ----> BUILD A LIST!!!!!!

........even if is not your business model? Yes!!!!!!!!!!


Google can be a BIG BIG pain in the Axxxxxxxxxxx

[yukon]

I do a few site:domain.com "keyword" manual searches per day & have noticed within the last month or so that even on a regular browser search that I get more captchas before I can complete a search on Google.

What I'm saying is, Google search has gotten pretty trigger happy with captchas. I'm fast at doing manual Google searches, but I'm not fast enough to be considered a keyword bot, lol.

[dminorfmajor]

I use the same AdWords account that my AdSense is attached to and my super old (crappy, low quality) adsense sites are still up and running.

[troybh]

What a bunch of crap. If your using proxies then your up to no good so that is the reason your getting banned. Google banning accounts for using MS what a bunch of more crap. Every person who uses MS uses the rank checker and there have not been any bans. Filling in a captcha gonna get your account banned. What the hell have you been smoking.

[John Moore]

You know there are other ways to make money online apart from adsense, unless you enjoy earning $0.01 per visitor.