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If you have ever direct linked to Clickbank read this

by Sam Sinopoli
20 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Back in 2003-2004 I did some direct linking to Clickbank products in my Google Adwords account. Low conversion so I deleted all of the campaigns and forgot about it. I also stopped direct linking.

Last week my Adwords account was suspended indefinitely and I pushed to find out why. The reply I got is amazing.

They listed 7 urls from Clickbank products and said that these site were out of compliance with their terms and policies. They said when I brought these sites into compliance, they would un-suspend my account.

I pointed out to them that these were not my sites and that I had no control over them and in addition I had deleted the campaigns.

They reinterated that when I brought these sites into compliance, I could have my Adwords account back.

It seems that if you have ever direct linked to a Clickbank offer, Google wants to ban you. I don't think this is an isolated case, I would bet this is happening to a large number of affiliate marketers.

I will rejoice when Google is finally brought down to size by Facebook or whoever eventually eats their lunch because someone will because of the stupidity over there.
#clickbank #direct #linked #read
  • Profile picture of the author weblink29
    I had my adsense account suspended a few years ago. I had an idea but before proceeding I contacted support and asked them if it was permissable to do it. They replied with an email that stated it was permissable. A year later they suspended my account. I saved the original email that they sent me stating it was permissable and sent it back to them. They didn't care. It's another example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author bretski
    There are always options to Adsense and Adwords. I also agree that it's only a matter of time before something big happens whether it be Bing or FB or another player yet undiscovered.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sam Sinopoli
      Originally Posted by bretski View Post

      There are always options to Adsense and Adwords. I also agree that it's only a matter of time before something big happens whether it be Bing or FB or another player yet undiscovered.
      I agree, I am already doing FB successfully, in fact I have been rather inactive on Adwords for about 6 months, because it is getting harder to make something work because of the cost.

      If they had just said you don't spend enough money, I would have been okay with that, it is just the maddening, bureaucratic and corporate way that they approached it. Really no class.
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  • Profile picture of the author bretski
    Originally Posted by Chris Kent View Post

    This sort of thing rarely happens in real bricks and mortar business. Being suddenly shunned by a supplier etc.
    I have to agree. It's not like someone is going to march down to Google Headquarters. I have fired clients before though when I had a brick and mortar business, which usually blows their mind!
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesGw
    That's pretty screwed up. I hope you can get your acc reinstated eventually.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Duncan
    Sorry to hear about your account...

    That's really messed up if that's the whole story.

    They didn't even used to have a problem with direct linking back in the day, and it's even weirder if you had deleted those campaigns.

    Did you do any direct linking more recent than 2003-2004?
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    • Profile picture of the author Sam Sinopoli
      Originally Posted by Jack Duncan View Post

      Sorry to hear about your account...

      That's really messed up if that's the whole story.

      They didn't even used to have a problem with direct linking back in the day, and it's even weirder if you had deleted those campaigns.

      Did you do any direct linking more recent than 2003-2004?
      That is the whole story and no I haven't directed linked since then.

      I actually had one guy in the AdWords Energize team trying to help me get re-instated. The AdWords Energize team had contacted me the week before the suspend email to see if they could get me re-started because I used to spend quite a bit of money (not like a corporate account though) with them.

      I contacted him when I got the email suspending my account and asked him what it was all about because they don't tell you what you did wrong in the original email. Because of his efforts I got an email direct from the compliance division of Google explaining why I had been suspended.

      I replied with the information that I didn't control or own those sites and his reply was, it doesn't matter, we won't reinstate your account until those sites are in compliance, which they know I can't do.

      Like I said, I don't think this is isolated to my account. I will bet that there are a lot more accounts that are suspended that are linked to Clickbank products, even if the campaign is deleted. I think their issue is with Clickbank and anyone who is involved with them. And I do have to say that I haven't promoted Clickbank products in a while because of the low quality of many of the products.
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  • Profile picture of the author mrtrabajo
    Yes i too have had a adsense account disabled for no good reason. Seems they just do whatever they feel like at the time?:confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    Been going on for awhile now.

    Google Bans 11-Year-Old Adwords Account Over Deleted Ads - Everstatus
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    • Profile picture of the author Sam Sinopoli
      Originally Posted by LB View Post


      Interesting article. It somewhat parallels my situation, I used to spend a good deal of money and went dormant for a period of time. They then banned me for something done years ago in deleted campaigns that wasn't against their rules then.

      I'm really not a rude or vindictive person, but it is really hard not to root for the demise of such a conniving company. I love their slogan "Do No Evil", what a joke. I think George Orwell would love this company.
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      • Profile picture of the author Honest Abel
        I've seen similar things happen with several clients and friends with regards to Adsense. In fact, I recommend to people to NOT use them for this very reason. I like Google in general but the Adsense program is very poorly run in my opinion and logic does not always seen to prevail.

        My advice would be to just move on to more productive methods.
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  • Profile picture of the author Smokin Joe
    Google is the Devil.....Sooner or later they will pay. And I will laugh.
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    • Profile picture of the author 1lov1
      google is crazy. they banned a guy recently for adwords domains he ran campaigns on 2years ago that he didnt even own anymore that were blatant parked sites with domain registar with ads on them. he told them that he isnt even the owner of those domains anymore and they didnt care. they definitely dont like clickbank at all or review pages so has to be opt-in funnel
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      • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
        This is not an isolated incident.

        Years ago Google was more than happy for IMers to test their new service, try this and that to get it going, etc. Now years later they pull the plug with this B.S.

        Personally, I think Google is committing fraud as they are clearly targeting direct linking to ClickBank products without disclosing this important fact.

        Vague generalities in their TOS won't cut it for this type of action. Unfortunately, Google has the right to terminate its relationship with anyone, just as you have the right to stop advertising on Adwords at any time - so the fraud issue is really moot.

        Rule of thumb: do not direct link to anything potentially 'shady'. That means make money fast, lose weight fast, debt relief, **** berry, white teeth fast, almost all CPA offers, etc.

        Hopefully you can figure that list out.

        If the merchant is a Fortune 500 company it should be fine.

        .
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        • Profile picture of the author LB
          Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

          This is not an isolated incident.

          Years ago Google was more than happy for IMers to test their new service, try this and that to get it going, etc. Now years later they pull the plug with this B.S.

          Personally, I think Google is committing fraud as they are clearly targeting direct linking to ClickBank products without disclosing this important fact.

          Vague generalities in their TOS won't cut it for this type of action. Unfortunately, Google has the right to terminate its relationship with anyone, just as you have the right to stop advertising on Adwords at any time - so the fraud issue is really moot.

          Rule of thumb: do not direct link to anything potentially 'shady'. That means make money fast, lose weight fast, debt relief, **** berry, white teeth fast, almost all CPA offers, etc.

          Hopefully you can figure that list out.

          If the merchant is a Fortune 500 company it should be fine.

          .
          If you look at my link above there are some interesting things that stand out.

          Google made several legal agreements with the French regulation authority including promising to warn advertisers before banning them and clearly defining changes to their policies at least 3 months in advance. While these were only legally binding in France, they promised to apply them worldwide.

          Google is not giving warning before these retroactive bans go out, and the idea of a retroactive ban is new territory for Google.

          Google swore up and down they gave me warning, but when pushed admitted no warning was ever given- just an instant ban because it was "egregious". How can an 8-year old deleted ad that sent 1 click be "egregious"?

          This is just another way Google is thinning the herd. I wonder if their investors know how they decimate small business and then leave them to deal with outsourced $5 per hour customer service reps? What other company would do that to a six-figure account?
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        • Profile picture of the author Sam Sinopoli
          Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

          This is not an isolated incident.

          Rule of thumb: do not direct link to anything potentially 'shady'. That means make money fast, lose weight fast, debt relief, **** berry, white teeth fast, almost all CPA offers, etc.


          .
          I agree with you Rule of Thumb but unfortunately this linking happened 8 years ago and is not currently my business model. Even though I deleted these campaigns, it doesn't matter.

          8 years ago I was a newbie and never envisioned this happening and Google was happy to take my money. Now, I'm a bad guy (even though I paid for the privilege to be a bad guy).

          You can't write fiction this stupid, nobody would buy it (or believe it). It is the true "got ya" type of mentality with a whole bunch of arrogance in there for good measure.
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        • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
          Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

          Rule of thumb: do not direct link to anything potentially 'shady'. That means make money fast, lose weight fast, debt relief, **** berry, white teeth fast, almost all CPA offers, etc.

          Hopefully you can figure that list out.

          If the merchant is a Fortune 500 company it should be fine.

          .
          I've used Adwords for many years and still do successfully, this is great advice for anyone still using Adwords.
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          'If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.' Vincent Van Gogh.
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  • Profile picture of the author gefflong
    Originally Posted by samsin1 View Post

    Back in 2003-2004 I did some direct linking to Clickbank products in my Google Adwords account. Low conversion so I deleted all of the campaigns and forgot about it. I also stopped direct linking.

    Last week my Adwords account was suspended indefinitely and I pushed to find out why. The reply I got is amazing.

    They listed 7 urls from Clickbank products and said that these site were out of compliance with their terms and policies. They said when I brought these sites into compliance, they would un-suspend my account.

    I pointed out to them that these were not my sites and that I had no control over them and in addition I had deleted the campaigns.

    They reinterated that when I brought these sites into compliance, I could have my Adwords account back.

    It seems that if you have ever direct linked to a Clickbank offer, Google wants to ban you. I don't think this is an isolated case, I would bet this is happening to a large number of affiliate marketers.

    I will rejoice when Google is finally brought down to size by Facebook or whoever eventually eats their lunch because someone will because of the stupidity over there.
    I'm in exactly the same boat. I posted on here a few weeks ago.

    They banned my account a couple months ago and I've been arguing with them about it ever since. I does not matter how many times I contact them or how I contact them. Always the same response...

    Until I get the 5 sites they don't like in compliance with Google, nothing can be done. Doesn't matter that they aren't my sites and when I advertised them (direct link) 5 years ago, Google was happy with them.

    And actually, one of the 5 sites they don't like anymore I didn't even run an ad for. I wrote and ad, but I never ran it. Doesn't matter... just as damning as an ad that actually ran.

    I've tried contacting supervisors but when you try to do that via phone, they refuse and say supervisors can only be contacted via email. They claim to "forward" my info to a supervisor and I will get an email about it, but it never happens.

    It sucks to just be a statistic. No actual thinking person at Google has the "authority" to correct a known flaw in their monitoring software. It cannot distinguish whether an ad was written and/or ran 5 years ago or 5 minutes ago.

    That's what I was told anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cee
    Originally Posted by samsin1 View Post

    They listed 7 urls from Clickbank products and said that these site were out of compliance with their terms and policies. They said when I brought these sites into compliance, they would un-suspend my account.

    I pointed out to them that these were not my sites and that I had no control over them and in addition I had deleted the campaigns.

    They reinterated that when I brought these sites into compliance, I could have my Adwords account back.

    Yup. Same thing happened to me. Like you can just waltz up to the affiliate site owner and tell them to bring their site into compliance with google adwords because your account has been suspended. :rolleyes:
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