Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I filled out the form Google provided explaining how this is obviously some sort of error on their part. I did not hear back from them so I sent it again since I didn't know if they received it. Shortly after that they sent me an email notifying me that my account had been reinstated. They didn't ask me any questions, or ask me to provide log data, etc. They simply reinstated the account. This seems to indicate that Google acknowledges they made a mistake.
Anyway, I am glad they reinstated my account, but when I logged back into my account I notice that they had deducted the $27.04 of ad revenue that my account had generated during the time between my last payment being issued on February 26 and my account being terminated. On the "Earnings and Payments Summary" page this adjusted shows up as "Adjustment - Invalid Clicks ($27.04)." I realize it is only $27.04, so it isn't that big of a deal, but doesn't it seem unfair that they would not automatically credit this money back to my account when my account should never have been terminated in the first place, and they basically acknowledge this by reinstating my account without any inquiry?
I emailed the AdSense team 4 or 5 days ago about their policy concerning situations like mine and asked how they could possibly think it would be fair to keep that money my account legitimately earned. I still have not heard back from them. I am not really impressed with their support system since it seems like you always have to contact them at least twice before getting a response.
Has anyone here gone through a situation similar to mine? I want to know if I can expect them to do the right thing and credit this $27.04 back to my account.
There are levels of termination scrutiny:
a) Low value account
b) Low value with suspicious traffic
c) Low value with suspicious account holder
d) Low value with suspicious account holder & traffic
e..h) Medium value ..
i..l) High value ..
Each of the above 12 levels gets treated differently
You perhaps fell into the auto termination with your account holder trust being normal, but your traffic or clicks being suspicious. Potential earnings value could be at play here too.
When your account was terminated, it was because of your traffic not you, and money was refunded to advertisers.
When you asked for a review, a human decided to give you another chance, but that still leaves the suspicious clicks that your site generated as fraudulent, thus not warranting an reimbursement.
If I were you, I'd create less waves and put all my energy into escalating the value of my traffic and clicks to a level where $27 means noting, and a comfortable level where few wrong clicks here or there won't cause my account to be terminated again.
Thank Google and get to work as Hobbs just said..
You got a second chance, make the most of it.
I don't think I would push Google to hard over $27.04, move on..
The truth is, while $27.04 is not a lot of money, it is still money. Though, I'm more concerned with the principle of the matter. I mean, what if you had $5,000.00 in there? What if you had more? Are their practices the same?
The only answer is in Google response, which we can't give you. It could be that the clicks were fraudulent and your account was auto-terminated, or it could be you haven't updated your site in a while, which could have forced a termination. In one case you deserve the money, in the other you don't.
Either way, although $27.04 may not be a lot of money to you, it is far less in Google's eyes, especially with a forecasted $1000.00 stock price in a few years.
Please do not take this lying down and let us know how things turn out.
Thank you,
vol7ron
[edited by: encyclo at 1:05 am (utc) on Mar. 31, 2008]
[edit reason] removed extra line-breaks [/edit]
If he had earned $5,000 he wouldn't be terminated for a few clicks.
Google doesn't treat low-earning accounts and high-earning accounts the same. Why should they?
If an account with very low traffic and earnings gets a few suspicious clicks, that's a lot of clicks relative to their activity. Why bother to keep them on the books? Terminated.
If an account with good traffic gets a few suspicious clicks, that's only a few relative to their activity. Deduct them and leave them in the system for now.
vol7ron, reread Hobb's post. I think it makes a lot of sense.
best of luck
Although it took a long time for them to respond, in the end they did the fair and right thing, even if it was only for a measly $27.04. Kudos to Google. I am impressed that they are making an effort to treat all publishers, large and small, in their program fairly.
Thank you for the responses I received in this thread.
[edited by: ilPadrino at 1:09 am (utc) on Mar. 29, 2008]
When Google flags clicks as invalid it actually hurts their own bottom line. This is because they refund the full cost of the clicks, including Google's own commission, to the advertiser.
Therefore there is no question that Google is being mean or profiting in any way for declaring clicks invalid, given that they are losing out too. They are trying to protect their reputation and quality of service for their advertisers.
I presume, then, that ilPadrino managed to get credited for those clicks before Google issued the refund to the advertiser. There's probably something like a 30 day grace period before they refund the advertiser.
You'll notice the terms of service state that Google may declare clicks to be invalid at any time, and this may even include other clicks made around the same time as the invalid clicks.
Perhaps it was too close to call and G decided to give it back.
The bigger question is why did they terminate his account in the first place.
I would of given them the $ 27.04 for a detailed explanation. As it is he has
to proceed without ever knowing what,if any thing, he did wrong!...KF
vol7ron, reread Hobb's post. I think it makes a lot of sense.
Sorry purplecape, but I read it just fine the first time. Maybe you should re-read it, especially the part about it not being anything official and pure speculation.
If an account with very low traffic and earnings gets a few suspicious clicks, that's a lot of clicks relative to their activity. Why bother to keep them on the books? Terminated.If an account with good traffic gets a few suspicious clicks, that's only a few relative to their activity. Deduct them and leave them in the system for now.
The other problem is that Google doesn't want to face a lawsuit. If you rightly earned the money, then that's yours. Basically, if they don't pay up, they will be paying a lot more than $27 in court costs and any awardance granted.
