I just recently had my Google Adsense account disabled after having it been active for over eight long years.
The reason?
Google sent me one of those canned auto emails below:
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Hello,
After reviewing our records, we’ve determined that your AdSense account poses a risk of generating invalid activity. Because we have a responsibility to protect our AdWords advertisers from inflated costs due to invalid activity, we’ve found it necessary to disable your AdSense account. Your outstanding balance and Google’s share of the revenue will both be fully refunded back to the affected advertisers.
Please understand that we need to take such steps to maintain the effectiveness of Google’s advertising system, particularly the advertiser-publisher relationship. We understand the inconvenience that this may cause you, and we thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.
If you have any questions or concerns about the actions we’ve taken, how you can appeal this decision, or invalid activity in general, you can find more information by visiting
http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=57153.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
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What do they mean by my account “poses” a risk of invalid activity? I think basically it means that I have not violated anything, but my account poses some sort of risk of generating bogus clicks. The email doesn’t even tell me which of the dozens of sites I have running Adsense ads is causing the risk. But Google is known for not telling much of anything when they ban advertisers and publishers.
At first when I saw this email, I was a bit annoyed. But after a few minutes I just chuckled because I couldn’t believe how badly Google treats their advertisers, publishers and customers. It could be very easy for one of my competitors to come to one of my web sites and generate bogus clicks on the Adsense ads. Would that be my fault?
Since my Google Adsense commissions generated about 0.000001% of my yearly revenues, it really doesn’t mean anything to my overall online business.
Now, if you are using Google Adsense as your primary source of online revenue, then you better think twice about switching over to a better revenue model.
With a business model revolving around Google Adsense, you have absolutely no control. They can literally shut you down overnight whether you are making $1 or $100,000 a year in Adsense commissions.
I have heard horror stories of people having their Adsense account shut down and losing tens of thousands of dollars in commissions (Google doesn’t bother sending you any past commissions).
Over my long Internet marketing career, I learned that the best way to build a successful online business is around a model that gives you a lot of control.
I love paid traffic because it is controllable and predictable.
I create my and sell my own products because I control the front-end and the entire back-end.
I have built dozens of email lists in various markets because I want to have control over my prospects and my customers.
You can’t have any of that if your business model revolves around another company or individual that can close you down.
My advice:
1. Buy targeted traffic
2. Build an email list (if anyone tells you that email is dead, get off their list!)
3. Sell your own products (that add value) to your email list.
Build a business around this business model and I guarantee you will be successful.
Does it require a lot of work?
Yes! There are no push button solutions to building a long sustainable business. Just dedication, persistence, motivation and good old fashion hard work.
I think having my Adsense account may be a blessing. It will allow me to work on other parts of my business that are more rewarding and profitable.
If you are currently making money with Google Adsense, you should continue to work on it – but only as a supplimental source of revenue (i.e. filling in excess ad inventory).
You never know when you might get the same email.
Feel free to share your own Adsense story.
Cheers
Gauher Chaudhry
