Free MP3s Killed my Google Adsense Account

You hope it's going to last forever. Then *poof* it's gone.

I'm talking about Google Adsense. This exciting program allows you to put text ads on your website. The webpage owner gets paid each time someone clicks on one of those ads.

How much? It depends on how much advertisers are bidding. So the amount varies from 5c to a couple dollars for really popular ads.

Unfortunately, due to the extensive abuse of such ads several years ago, Google created a formula to stop potential abuse. And they told no one what that formula is. You can read their policy and terms. But I don't think that'll help. Why? Because today, I was banned from the program.

Hello Marc,

It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on the ads on your web pages. We have therefore disabled your Google AdSense account. Please understand that this step was taken in an effort to protect the interest of the AdWords advertisers.

A publisher's site may not have invalid clicks on any ad(s), including but not limited to clicks generated by a publisher on his own web pages, clicks generated through the use of robots, automated clicking tools, or any other deceptive software.

Practices such as these are in violation of the Google AdSense Terms and Conditions and program policies, which can be viewed at:
https://www.google.com/adsense/terms
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies

Sincerely,

The Google Team

Obviously, there are no details. Just I was banned.

So why? Have I been trying to boost the clicks to my website? Nope.

I mean, I'll admit to clicking occasional ads that look interesting. But knowing what happens when people abuse clickthru programs, I refused to do much more than something occasional. And 3-5 clicks a month ain't much. Usually, I tried copying the URL listed and pasting it into my address box.

So the other options: robots, automated clicking tools, deceptive software?

Man, I create generic webpages and that's it! I'm an idiot at anything more advanced.

So what then? My guess is I was getting too much traffic to one of my webpages. The page, Free Music Downloads - free ezine of mp3 free music downloads. That one page has done Extremely well in the search engines. It alone generates about 400 unique visits per day.

Before I removed the ads, which were in a 120x600 pixel box on the right-hand side of the page, the site was optimized for bringing in people interested in free music downloads. The ads were well-highlighted. I think I was getting about a 15-20% click-thru ratio with those ads, and earning decent money.

Now, Google did mention that you shouldn't put ads on webpages that thank you pages, or just passing through pages. So mayhaps this is legitimate. Course, if that were the case, I'd be HAPPY to remove the ads from that page if I could stay in the program.

Alas, it's too late.

Google Adsense Suggestion

So if you're using Google Adsense, take a warning. If you're getting more than a 10% click-thru ratio on your ads, Google will probably take that as a potential excuse to disable your account.

And of course, if you do offer Google Adsense ads, don't click them yourself. The system's setup as it is for a reason.


How to Make Money with Google