Banned From Google Adsense

Recently, I’ve noticed a number of budding Internet entrepreneurs getting banned from the Google Adsense monetization program like Kumiko’s Cash Quest. I’ve been a Google Adsense publisher since 2005 and currently serving slightly over 1,000,000 impressions a month. Here are some tips, including a tool, that can hopefully help you avoid getting banned.

Before we go into the details, it’s good to note that Google made US$2.69 billion from Adwords (search and contextual) and paid out US$1.04 billion to publishers via the Adsense program in Q3 2006. Hence, Adsense is serious business and Google constantly employs the best minds in the industry to protect their interest.

With that said, don’t think that you can out-smart them by:
- clicking on your ads, either directly, from Internet cafes or using web proxies with different IPs.
- encouraging your visitors to click by compensating or misleading them.
- using a cheap automated script to help you do the job.

Google is smarter than that!

Next, make sure that your ads comply with the Google Adsense TOS. Some of the don’ts are:
- do not change the Adsense code, e.g. trying to hide “Ads by Google”.
- do not place competing contextual ads on the same page, e.g. Yahoo ads.
- do not mislead by aligning images next to the ads or adjacent text other than “sponsors”, etc.
- do not place ads on pages with offending or possibly infringing materials, e.g. nudity, mp3, etc.
- do not place excessive ads on 1 page, e.g. more ads than content.
- do not attempt to stuff the page with keywords to serve higher earning ads.
- do not publish complete information like your Clicks, Page CTR and Page eCPM.
- do not create more than 1 Google Adsense publisher account.

Also for each page, you are allowed a maximum of:
- 3 ad units and 1 ad link.
- 2 search boxes.
- 2 referral buttons/textlinks.

The rules above are common sense if you put yourself in Google’s shoes. Clearly Google:
- doesn’t want to be associated with bad websites.
- wants to protect their advertisers by preventing click fraud.
- discourages publishers from creating made-for-Adsense websites.
- wants to protect their business by keeping the competitors out.

And apart from the complex fraud detection technology that Google has, anyone (e.g. jealous competitors) can easily report the possible violations to Google. If your account gets closed, you’ll lose your outstanding earnings and banned from rejoining the program - I read that Google actually tracks the postal address.

However, there are situations that maybe beyond your control. For example, competitors clicking on your ads to get you banned or over-supportive visitors trying to help you make money. There’s a FREE script called AdLogger that you can use to control the ads, e.g. block ads for specific IP addresses or allow only a certain number of clicks/day. The program also provides detailed reporting, including notifications via email. Once you notice anything unusual like a sudden increase in CTR, inform Google immediately.

As long as you play by Google’s rules above, you should be ok.
Good luck! Don’t worry! Make money! :)

*Revenue Numbers from SEJ - Google vs Yahoo: Earnings Report Comparison.