BurntheFat: Adwords Permanently Suspended

by mda1125

Posted: 13 years ago 27 replies

I woke up Christmas morning to my Adwords account permanently suspended due to continued violations.

Confused, I quickly wrote to Support asking why this would be since all my ads and campaigns have been inactive for quite some time.

******* E-mail Conversation *******

Google: I've researched why your account was disabled, and found that this action was taken for the following reasons:

o The URL(s) cited for a very poor-quality landing page experience is: burnthefat.com
o The account was disabled because this URL is: a Unacceptable Business Practice - Inaccurate or Misleading Claims site

Pausing or deleting ads related to the disabled sites will not automatically re-enable the ads nor remove the violation history.

Me: I completely understand and wish to adhere to the terms set forth in the TOS.

As such, I have gone thru my Adwords Campaign and deleted all ads, keywords and groups associated with this site. I'm starting fresh. All ads and such should be removed.

Now that this is complete, is there a possibility my account can be reinstated? I did not wish to violate the terms and will do anything else necessary to fix the situation.

Google: As mentioned earlier, deleting or pausing ads will not remove the account violations. You will need to make major changes to the site 'burnthefat.com' to be considered for a re-review.

Me: I think there must be some misunderstanding... the site that is in violation of the terms of service, the burnthefat.com ...

That is not my site. I do not own the site. My ads that were running some time ago, were approved for advertisement of the site. But I am not an owner of the site.

There is no way I can do anything but remove the ads as I cannot make changes to the site below as I am not the owner.

What else can I do to fix the situation.

***** Awaiting Google Response *****

So that's it then? I advertise for a great site (I do like burnthefat) and because that site violates some TOS, they permanently ban my account for even being affiliated with the site?

Nevermind Adwords once approved all my ads to this site.
Nevermind that none of my campaigns have been running for 12 months.

Nice to know I'm held personally accountable for the TOS for a site I don't own.

#adwords #burnthefat #permanently #suspended

paulgl

13 years ago

I assume you just came here to rant.

What makes you think you can be trusted in the future? You are asking
google to do this.

Advertising for a site just because "it's a great site" is fishy.
There is no reason to use adwords for sites you don't own or have
no stake in. Fishy.

Maybe you are looking for a little type-in traffic to said site(?)

I'm not even going to look.

Paul

Thanks
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mda1125

13 years ago

Google should support their long standing, paying clients. Not just ban them and offer nothing in terms of fixing the issue.

I'm a small business owner who is more than willing to fix my Adwords issues to comply with their TOS. I'm fine with whatever they say.

But to ban me, for a site that isn't mine and then tell me so far, there's nothing I can do except to fix the site in question when I've made it clear I simply want to start fresh... makes no sense.

I came to rant to a group that is capable of understanding the issue.. Nothing more.

I don't assume Google will fix it nor do I assume anybody where will either... merely wanted to vent to a reputable group in this industry.

[ 1 ] Thanks
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WealthWithin

13 years ago

Originally Posted by mda1125

If you're a 'small business owner', send traffic to YOUR site which you have control of.

Google doesn't like affiliate sites just because there's nothing you can do to fix campaign issues. (i.e improve landing page and user experience etc.)

Thanks
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mda1125 13 years ago

At the time.. it was an affiliate style link but to the domain in question. Never a direct link. I'd only direct link to my own sites.

I did a quick check and it appears that nobody else is using Adwords anymore for this site. Since this appears to be an older issue, I wish the site owner mentioned there might be trouble.

I'm on his affiliate list, still promote the product via other sources and communicate on a semi-regular basis. I had no idea Google was banning vs. just disapproving ads to sites they didn't like.

If I were to use Adwords again, I'd only direct traffic to my own site, which I have control.

Since I have about 1000 services with Google and they pretty much have my phone number, mailing address and gmail account.. it would have been nice to get a few email warnings before just a ban.

I'd be on Adwords at least once a week without any issues and then.. RED BAR.. your account has been permanently suspended.
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matchoo77 13 years ago

join the club, your lucky you lasted this long before being banned by G
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- mda1125 13 years ago
  
  I just don't understand what I did wrong to be banned.. :-)
  
  Seriously... I think that's my main pain point. My lack of understanding. I feel punished for something I cannot control.
  
  So the site in question violates the TOS. Fine. Then don't allow me to advertise for it. But don't approve my ads.. then a year later, ban me and tell me I need to change the site in question.
  
  To be honest, the "banning" part burns me.. I have no and had no intention to continue to use Adwords.. I just dislike the Red Banner box when I go to Adwords to get to Analytics and other resources.
  
  That's the honest truth.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  cjshu99 13 years ago
  
  Google doesn't like affiliate sites. They banned me a year ago with very little warning on sites that I had been running. I had already quit all the shady stuff that was being promoted. I think they just started going through accounts and looking for issues or questions and banning them. Been struggling ever since to get my income back up.
  
  Thanks
  
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FrankBowman 13 years ago

If as you say you didn't own the site then were you direct linking to an affiliate site? If so that is a BIG no no is G's eyes. If you were direct linking I'm surprised the ads got approved to begin with.
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- WareTime 13 years ago
  
  So presumably the site you pimped ads for has NO one doing adsense for them as of the day of you were banned, correct?
  
  I mean, it should work the other way as well. All campaigns for a domain that you got suspended for should be stopped by Google as well, no?
  
  Somehow I don't think that will be the case. Interesting.
  
  Thanks
  
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Vikram73 13 years ago

I think AdWords is on a jihad against Clickbank and eBooks in particular. Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, The Truth About Abs and all that appears to be dead to them. Actually, most things Clickbank related appear to be dead to them now.

I stopped promoting CB stuff in AdWords months ago and managed to save my account.

ClickBank has some info on their site about it but I feel most of it is outdated:

Avoiding the Google Slap | ClickBank Blog

Do a search for any popular CB eBooks in fitness/dieting and you might see an ad or two. Those ads won't be there for much longer.

The AdWords support forum is just filled with contradictory information regarding Clickbank products (even from Google employees).

It's a shame really - nothing has converted as well as AdWords in my experience.

Anyway - if you want to promote CB - you still have yahoo/bing/facebook and organic SEO (article marketing, linking etc..) to use.
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tryinhere

13 years ago

Originally Posted by mda1125

The URL(s) cited for a very poor-quality landing page experience is: burnthefat.com
o The account was disabled because this URL is: a Unacceptable Business Practice - Inaccurate or Misleading Claims site.

This would be most if not all click bank style pages, that deem snake oil, or hype where every player wins and why the account was suspended.

Now that this is complete, is there a possibility my account can be reinstated? I did not wish to violate the terms and will do anything else necessary to fix the situation.

to late, the system has slammed the door shut, i still do not understand why it is done this way or who made the call to do it, I like Google but the way they call this is very left field ? - there has to be a better way for sure - many many people are not trying to game the system and are burnt at the cross - google do have a section where they claim they are not against affiliates and that would be true - but there is a black hole where affiliates are slammed and no body wants to look into it - each looks the other way.

Google: As mentioned earlier, deleting or pausing ads will not remove the account violations. You will need to make major changes to the site 'burnthefat.com' to be considered for a re-review.

that is very correct / from what i understand there is a black book of death on domains and if a domain is added to that book of death, the grim reaper wipes every account that ever promoted that URL ( as best i understand it / and why an account that has been suspended will not be reborn by just deleting the ads, the history shows a banned domain in the ads )

Me: I think there must be some misunderstanding... the site that is in violation of the terms of service, the burnthefat.com ...

you are correct again , in simple terms google on see's the destination URL not the link and as such does not know if you are an affiliate or not.

That is not my site. I do not own the site. My ads that were running some time ago, were approved for advertisement of the site. But I am not an owner of the site.

yes wrote about this several times now, the vendors over at clickbank offer sem as a creative / most know its crap but the continue to allow affiliates to promote the crap in the vain hope of gaining some more sales, this is the part of the black hole, every one walks away unhurt but the affiliate.

* note this is not at the vendor of this site in question or any vendor in particular / many vendors are responsible to their affiliates.

There is no way I can do anything but remove the ads as I cannot make changes to the site below as I am not the owner.

What else can I do to fix the situation.

you can speak with the guys and inform them that you are not a person who breaks rules nor is it / was it your intention.

you could also refer them to the vendors affiliate page where they openly promote to use google as a sem option

3-line text ads (google ads)

again the only person hurt here is the affiliate and where the system is a little left of center.

***** Awaiting Google Response *****

So that's it then? I advertise for a great site (I do like burnthefat) and because that site violates some TOS, they permanently ban my account for even being affiliated with the site?

the site you advertised was in violation of g terms for advertising / yet they allowed and misrepresented the curatives to you, i would also use this and post links to this crap to google in your defense, if they have a affiliate option for it (as they do as above) so use that

Nevermind Adwords once approved all my ads to this site.
Nevermind that none of my campaigns have been running for 12 months.

Nice to know I'm held personally accountable for the TOS for a site I don't own

that is also a grey area, surly if there is a black book it should be able to stop people placing ads, and if a site is added surly it can just stop those ads running, again not sure why g is doing things this way, but that their call.

Go in calm put your information together properly and dig in - and go from there / lets hope the system changes a little moving forward for the betterment of all.

* for any affiliate lessons here are simple, if you are going to promote affiliate products, always, always always, run the promotion through a site that you own or have control over.

this will allow you given the current understanding of the wording used by google You will need to make major changes to the site 'burnthefat.com' to be considered for a re-review to edit your site should you ever get suspended and offer a doorway to hope, even if it meant stripping a site down to a how to knit a jumper to clear the suspension so you can swing the cat again another day.

for now affiliates will continue to be eaten by the black hole of affiliate doom, where everyone but the affiliate looks the other way and says it not me.

Thanks

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| > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |

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mda1125 13 years ago

*** Update ***

Google:

Thank you for your email. I can appreciate where you're coming from however for us to re-review your account changes will have to be made to the site otherwise we cannot consider your request.

Since the site is in violation and was advertised in your account at sometime, your account is also in violation.

Appreciate your understanding.

*** End Update ***

So that's it then. It was approved by Google at one point. Then the campaigns was stopped because it expired ... but since the ads were still in my account with the domain they no longer liked, they banned me.

No warning, no phone call, no email.. just banned.

Google has taken the "Customer is always right" and changed that.

Great comments here... I SINCERELY appreciate the responses. I just wanted to vent. I was doing other stuff the last year, no running ads and had no idea. I find it offensive on Google's part that I'm trying to work with them and there that's it.. no options.

Door shut.

Go home. Really is confusing being an affiliate. If I ever do advertise again with any sites (Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook) you better believe it will be only for my own domain for which I have total control.
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- tryinhere 13 years ago
  
  [QUOTE=mda1125;3118805Door shut.
  .[/QUOTE]
  
  No Marc, go back with supporting evidence / ask to be reviewed by a senior personnel, explain
  
  . you did not in any intentionally disregard googles rules
  . you as best to you knowledge complied with all rules known to you at the time (your ads were approved)
  . you were guided by the site in question that using google ads was a valid and approved option
  . you would like your account restored
  
  all of these new hyper rules are recent, these shut downs are recent, your claim that it was good enough to place the ads ago stands strong
  
  changes made since this time have no been notified to you at least you could have been given a heads up.
  
  it may not pass but rolling over is not good if you really want that account back, this part of the system needs fixing and if people walk away each time it will never be fixed.
  
  o/t that video in cb is worth a bag full of holes.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
  
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mda1125 13 years ago

Okay. I will. I've gone this far and it's just e-mail. Nothing to lose but everything to gain. I will do the above. Report back any significant progress.
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- tryinhere 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by mda1125
  
  Okay. I will. I've gone this far and it's just e-mail. Nothing to lose but everything to gain. I will do the above. Report back any significant progress.
  
  Good luck with it, stay polite, but firm, be well prepared in / provide a link where that says promotes the google ads as a creative, explain that your not here to go against rules / the whole gammit.
  
  important to also ask to speak with the person who makes decisions not the daily wicket keeper.
  
  the system needs changing that is for sure - if it gives any hope my account was suspended for life due to CB crap like this and I am one of the handful of people ever to get my account unsuspended so it can be done.
  
  again this whole sad story happens all of the time still and needs fixing, as it stands it is yes cleaning the crap out but i have to many times where genuine people who only intend good get slammed and that makes it a flawed system in place, it should not operate as it is and needs fixing to a better way.
  
  hope all turns out for you
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  Signature
  
  | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
  
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  cturner002 13 years ago
  
  Hey, don't mean to be a butt about it, but consider it part of education cost and go get another adwords account. Most of us have been banned before, it happens. Google's a dictator, get over it.
  
  Thanks
  
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mda1125 13 years ago

See.. I won't do that. I'm one of the few that votes in this country because I feel it's a privilege and a right. I'm also one who thinks giving away all your privacy is not okay.

Most people.. take it up the wazoo, bitch and keep on going.

I don't expect Google to do anything. It is a dictator.

But.. I will write them back with the options above for my own personal sanity AND I will tell as many marketers as I can about this in hopes I cost Google a few dollars. I won't open another account as Adwords was a waste anyway (for me).

There's so many other free methods including putting quality content on my own site. Unless I ban myself, I'm safe! :-)

Will it matter? Probably not but I can sleep at night knowing I did whatever I could to stand up to the man. Then I'll get over it and move on with life. :-)
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EricGiguere 13 years ago

Yeah, it looks like burnthefat.com got banned for doing something (I'm not sure what -- I've always thought they were the most legitimate weight loss product on ClickBank) and they've gone and banned anyone who placed an ad for "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" as a consequence. (Yes, I've lost my account, too, because of this.)

There seems to be no appeal/reinstatement available.
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- mda1125 13 years ago
  
  Upon taking the advice given here.. I attempted another round of correspondence.
  
  *********** UPDATE ************
  
  Me: First off, I appreciate all of your help in this matter. I must say, that your attention to this case has been beyond my expectations.
  
  If possible, I would like to have my account reviewed by senior personnel. There are facts in this case that I feel warrant some special consideration.
  
  I did not in any way intentionally disregard the Google Terms of Service.
  
  To the best of my knowledge, I complied with all rules known to me at the time (my ads were approved by Google).
  
  I was guided by the site in question (burthefat.com) that using Google ads was a valid and approved option. See the following link for proof.
  
  (took out link as not to spam this forum)
  
  At this time, I would like my account restored for the reasons mentioned above. Additionally please keep in mind the following.
  
  All of these Google TOS changes are recent, these shut downs are recent.
  
  My ads were approved by Google. I've received no notifications of these changes and considering Google has much of my personal information, I could have been given a warning via e-mail or phone call before this action was taken upon my account.
  
  I appreciate the continued attention to this matter.
  
  Google: Thank you for your email and the good feedback.
  
  Although Google regularly warns advertisers whose accounts may be in violation of our policies, we reserve the right to suspend accounts without warning in cases where the behavior is considered an egregious violation.
  
  We routinely review our advertisers’ landing pages as part of our commitment to making the AdWords experience safe and effective for our users and our advertisers. We suspended your AdWords account after a review of your landing page quality, because we believe that advertising policy violations create a seriously negative and/or harmful user experience.
  
  Please understand that the decision to suspend your AdWords account was not taken lightly.
  
  You can review our Advertising Policies here:
  ( yada yada)
  
  You can review our Landing Page and Site Policies here:
  ( yada yada )
  
  The information provided about AdWords on burnthefat.com has neither been approved by Google nor is official Google information.
  
  Ads may have been approved by Google, however since our system is dynamic, it may find violations at anytime and consequently disable sites/accounts. As noted in our advertising Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to refuse ads or disable ad campaigns when deemed necessary. To view our Terms and Conditions, please visit ( yada yada yada).
  
  We appreciate your cooperation in this matter and apologize for any inconvenience it may cause.
  
  ********* END UPDATE *************
  
  This is principle only at this point. And I'm not feeling so good about it. If I wanted to advertise, I understand I could create another account or use other services.
  
  I especially love the part about how they reserve the right to not warn people who they feel the behavior is considered an egregious violation.
  
  Keep in mind -- My ads were NOT running and have not been running for quite some time. Apparently that makes no difference as to the state of the ads. The fact that they were in there and Google hates this site.
  
  I plan on another e-mail. Going to try and put myself in this person shoes. They must get 100 people like me a month.
  
  There's gotta be an angle here.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  tryinhere 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by mda1125
  
  There's gotta be an angle here.
  
  that response does not seem to come from a senior person - as to a better angle - i think many many people are frustrated with the process at the moment - it is flawed and needs fixing
  
  all i can say is keep going as your account can be unsuspended, i think many of the problems also come from a system that is very basic, in that G can not set a date or look at timing, it just throws blankets over a domain and slams it shut regardless of how long ago you promoted a product / very broad and outdated -
  
  Seeing a new run of people this really now opens up to just about anyone who has promoted clickbank to having accounts shut down / if not most at least.
  
  Again the only unjust thing here is the only person who is awarded damages is the affiliate.
  
  - stay with it, there needs to be some common sense applied to this but not sure it will happen or even the thinking behind this method.
  
  The silly part about all of it is that people who honestly have in their best intentions to do the correct thing have no alternative to now do what they do not support or act like and that is to be dishonest and set up a new account with false details.
  
  The honest people wont do that, so they suffer and the only people who move on are the very people they are trying to prevent ? makes not one bit of common sense in the world.
  
  Further more if the technology is there now to identify anyone running a black book domain, why can that tech simply stop those ads / campaigns from running ?
  
  People learn to promote properly or not at all and it saves the whole black market trade in new accounts being drawn up and problems with people being banned.
  
  end / chill pill - hope it pans out buddy.
  
  Thanks
  
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  | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
  
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BaloneyTony 13 years ago

Honestly, I am really surprised you lasted this long. Most of the fitness/weight loss affiliates were banned from AdWords several months ago. Any new advertisers are usually up for a few days and then get promptly banned.
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Ronaldonyc

13 years ago

Hey guys!
Does someone know about this ebook, unbanned google?
I did not but it yet, but I would like to know if someone here has bought this ebook.
I've been banned from google days ago.
I contacted them, but as you guys know, nothing happened in my favor.
Horrible situation.

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

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RahulNag

13 years ago

Burn The Fat - I have bought the e-book. It is comprehensive and detailed at 300 pages plus.

However, just to be sure, I have deleted the two BTF affiliate e-mails I had been sending to my customers

Thanks
2 replies

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tryinhere

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Ronaldonyc

Ron, my guess is every single person who ever promoted that guide in G is now on the scrap heap of yesterday's hero's, the only way you will get that reversed is if the owner of that site fixes it, maybe if people email them it may happen but i doubt it.

Originally Posted by RahulNag

Burn The Fat - I have bought the e-book. It is comprehensive and detailed at 300 pages plus.

However, just to be sure, I have deleted the two BTF affiliate e-mails I had been sending to my customers

Rahul, if your promoting it in a responder there is no real dramas with that / that i am aware of and probably how people will need to more promote cb type products ? it is only G ads that is slamming the door shut

Thanks

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Nutrifitness

13 years ago

Originally Posted by RahulNag

Burn The Fat - I have bought the e-book. It is comprehensive and detailed at 300 pages plus.

However, just to be sure, I have deleted the two BTF affiliate e-mails I had been sending to my customers

Why would you do that? that has nothing to do with adwords...you are promoting a very good product from a reputable trainer...nothing wrong with still affiliating thru autoresponder.
This whole Google adwords thing with clickbank products has me upset...while there is crap products everywhere there are also some high level products...I cannot understand why CB can't work something out with adwords/google.
I also cannot wrap my head around how this is even legal for google to do this to legitimate businesses...meaning make vague accusations,offering no real direction or explicite directions on what's wrong ,how to change on per case basis and shut down accounts,consequently may even shut down businesses.....uh?
and no one ,even multi billiion dollar companies have filed a law suite or class action or something??
I am totally not comprehending this....from a legal standpoint.

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mda1125 12 years ago

Update: Sometime towards the beginning of 2012, I noticed the RED "permanently banned" was gone. This was after my last round with Google in which they replied exactly the same as before.

One day I logged in to use Analytics and noticed the huge red banner gone. I'm now able to create Adwords.

I guess permanent is only true in so far as to when Google needs more money from Advertisers.

I'm still not wasting my time there with Ads but it's good to know that as quickly as it can happen, it can un-happen for no real rhyme or reason.

I never stopped promoting Burn the Fat via any other method other than Adwords and I've never received any complaints from subscribers.

Whatever.. happe to be Unbanned!
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- ahefner33 12 years ago
  
  for some with the misunderstanding of affiliates and Adwords
  
  What is Google's affiliate auction policy? - Advertising Policies Help
  
  http://support.google.com/adwordspol...n&answer=45068
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  Adam Hefner
  
  http://foodgawker.com/ - Warning - Don't go to if you are hawngry
  
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BurntheFat: Adwords Permanently Suspended

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