Now that they have a list, and a way to identify the Malicious sites, will they also do the right thing and remove them from the SERPs also?

Back to Watching
WW_Watcher

They have! (sort of)

This is one of the best things they have done (assuming good descent sites don't end up getting the scarlet letter).

I came across one site that had this right under the SERPS link:

This site may harm your computer. [google.com]

Note: Link points to Google Help Pages

[edited by: Kufu at 4:03 pm (utc) on April 29, 2007]

Google identified and canceled AdWords accounts displaying ads that re-directed users to malicious sites.

Does this mean they banned all innocent victim's AdWords accounts too which are reported hacked here [webmasterworld.com...]

This is what I'm wondering. Some sites don't "sneak" a driveby download, but offer a toolbar (to very non-tech "grandma" types, the one I saw this week) that they make sound very attractive. What that site isn't saying is that their toolbar is one of the worst spyware offenders around, and is very hard to get rid of.

Does it make a difference if an account was hacked yes they need to come down till it is cleaned up otherwise how will it end.

[webmasterworld.com...]

incrediblebill I feel is one of if not the best informative posters here so what I am about to say is nothing against him..

Bill it is impossible to compare the work you do to Google they have technology far beyond your means and personal to get this taken care of. This should have been nipped in the bud now it is gotten out of hand and as a poster pointed out one bad experience and he will never click on another ad , and will most likely switch to another search engine. I have told all our employees about this so now none of them will click on a Google ad.

It doen't take many bad releases and it will spread like the Geogia fire and the money begins to dry up.

I wonder if it hasn't already getting that way checked my adsense acount over the weekend did 1/2 of what we normally do.

Is this just Google's issue? Is Yahoo and MSN as well showing ads that are hacked? I really never click on sponsered ads so I have not looked into this deeply but am now.

Will the sites which displayed these Adwords ads in Adsense retain the earnings, or will their fees be deducted?

[edited by: Tapolyai at 4:57 pm (utc) on April 30, 2007]

Tapolyai
One of the problems and ease this exploit has taken place is every body that has a website can display thse ads. This is the real root of the problem. There is really no standard nothing and thus the weakness.

Should they be able to keep money that caused person harm lost bank accounts and stolen identities.

No I believe not and I really hope Google can begin a process to have a higher standard of who gets in and who doesen't.

Is this just Google's issue?

No.

europeforvisitors
any proof of that statement as I can't find any reports on the same issue in Yahoo or msn.

I wasn't talking about Yahoo and MSN specifically. I was responding to the question about whether this is solely a Google issue, which it isn't. I've heard reports of similar problems with other major major ad servers.

Also, IncrediBILL had the following comments on the problem in response to some hysterical postings on the AdSense forum:

It's not just an AdWords/AdSense problem, it's an INTERNET problem.

I'll hazard a guess that some advertisers don't even have a clue because it could be their shared hosting company that is hacked, not the individual advertiser.

For instance, I've been tracking one particular shared hosting company for almost a year now and it's absolutely filthy with hacked customers, people complain all over the 'net about them, but it never changes and they MAY be using AdWords and probably don't know they have malware in their account.

I run a directory with about 35K listings and people using it started to send me a little hate mail with a few of my listings had malware in them. Guess what, it was the above mentioned hosting company that had those hacked sites, which are still hacked. However, I evaluated the sites with the problems and added some basic virus detection to my link checker so now I automatically disable the sites until the viruses are removed.

Since I did it, could Googlebot, Media-partners and the AdsBot-Google check for malware?

Of course they could.

Could the sites being checked, if indeed it was malicious on the site owners behalf, spoof a clean page to Google?

OF COURSE THEY COULD!

I think Google should do virus detection and drop infected sites until they are cleaned but there is no way for Google to ever be 100% sure everything is clean, nor can they crawl fast enough to check everything often enough, nor should they be required to do so.

So the problem becomes a liability issue that if Google does claim to check for viruses and misses some, as the malware code mutates quickly to avoid detection, that they could be open to lawsuits so the best strategy is to be hands-off.

That's why I don't claim to check my directory listings for malware, but do so silently so it's not a claimed feature. I don't even notify the infected parties as it's not my job to get involved except to provide "quality listings" as best I can. But Google, being a big public entity and scrutinized as they are, would be quickly caught when unwittingly infected webmasters on massively infected hosts were penalized and someone figured out what they all had in common.

If Google starts policing the web then companies like McAfee with SiteAdvisor will cry foul as it puts them out of business.

Why?

Because if Google polices AdWords for malware then people will scream they don't police AdSense, then people will scream they don't police the SERPs, the newsfeeds, and on and on, an endless battle.

It's the job of products like McAfee SiteAdvisor, Norton AV, etc. to PROTECT CUSTOMERS from MALWARE, that's why we pay them.

Let each company do it's respective job properly and stop witch hunting for deep pockets to sue because someone gets a silly idea that the bigger fish should expand their role as 'net police and start stepping on the AV companies toes.

Does it make a difference if an account was hacked yes they need to come down till it is cleaned up otherwise how will it end.

Agree by default, but by raising the question i was hoping to see what will be the future of these innocent advertiser accounts? Once Google recognize them as innocent will they offered any compensation or even a help to recreate exactly same campaigns again in their new AdWords account? They might have spent hours in fine tuning those accounts.

europeforvisitors

What this is the real problem you have every mom and pop out there with ads on blogs, any and every website, etc and etc and truth be know 65% of them are unprotected....
I am posting a link to verify claim of unprotected computers. Maybe it will stand to confirm the problem...
[harrisinteractive.com...]

"Also, IncrediBILL had the following comments" europeforvisitors Please look up a couple post I as well answered that post so I assume I read it as well... Yes some other small companies might be infested but it is small potatoes to Google with 66% of the searches please There is no comparison none dita..

"It's the job of products like McAfee SiteAdvisor, Norton AV, etc. to PROTECT CUSTOMERS from MALWARE, that's why we pay them."

Truth be know 65%% of the websites with Google ads, Yahoo ads or any ads have no protection what so ever so how do you trust each company to police their own stuff...this will never happen and will only make the problem worse..

"Let each company do it's respective job properly and stop witch hunting."

There is no witch hunt there is a responsibility "If a company is making money off these ads it is their issue"

Ford builds a car it has an issue is it the dealership's problem to deal with NO it is the Maker's Problem Ford this is the exact same their is no difference.

If a website uses the Proprietary ads from the owner with permission the owner is and will be held accountable for the actions of the host.

Plain and simple this isn't a witch hunt but the time of everybody and anybody having the right to post ads on their site if rapidly coming to a close....

Below kind of sums up the whole mess and the rush of Google to get all involved...Now they have to deal with it...

I am not bashing Google all of them are rushing into this and it will hit the brakes and I see a more through search of a person's background before they are allowed to have permission to host ads for another company...

1 Timothy 6:10
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief's."

You know, if this was a Microsoft problem, it would be on the frontpage of papers for days, and there would be about 700 posts on here.

Google should be nailed for allowing this to happen in the first place.

Let's see - russian companies buying terms like 'better business bureau' or whatever one of the examples was.....doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on.

Let's see - russian companies buying terms like 'better business bureau' or whatever one of the examples was.....doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on.

Unless I've misread the title of this thread, Google did figure out what was going on. :-)