Will Google get upset about this?

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Will Google get upset about this?

Someone 'overclicking' on my site!

steakaphagus

7:00 pm on Jan 21, 2009 (gmt 0)

Hi guys, my site is pretty new, and whilst I have adsense on most of my pages, v.low traffic means only very occasional clicks. In the last few days, though, someone seems to be clicking away at the ads.....I say 'someone', as I've narrowed them down to the same city each time (London).
They click about 10 ads a day which, by my standards, is a high number compared to the rest of my clicks. I guess they may be finding the ads a useful source of info, but can't see it myself...
Whilst this is all very nice, can Google think this is somehow linked to me trying click fraud?
I've put a heck of a lot of time into my site, and really don't want G to ban me for someone else's trigger happy clicking! (may even be someone I know trying to 'scupper' the site? - I like my conspiracy theories)

netmeg

7:13 pm on Jan 21, 2009 (gmt 0)

Make sure you keep all your log files. If it keeps going, you might let Google know, but they're pretty good about picking up patterns. You might see if you can figure out where these people are coming from - are they typing your domain in, are they coming from Google search, is there a link out there to your site? Knowing the source of your traffic will help.

steakaphagus

11:38 am on Jan 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Well, I've just been banned! Didn't get any clicks last night, but guess G has caught up with the last few days activity. Tried to work out who or why the clicks have happened - seem to definitely originate from London, but as I don't know anyone there I can only assume someone has done it maliciously.
Oh well, I've sent in my appeal with as much info as I could offer, so will see how it goes. Site is v.new, so revenue was just about nil and won't be a disaster - just really really frustrating as someone can get me banned and I can do nothing about it!
Ho hum. Anyone want to buy some newly-available ad space? LOL

AndyA

5:48 pm on Jan 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

I'm sorry to hear about your issue.

It is a bit concerning to think that a competitor could contact a friend or relative in another state or country (or in the city where your site is located), and tell them to click away on the ads of competitors in an attempt to get them banned.

It sure seems like Google would have something in place to guard against such things, as it would be very easy for competitors to impact the income of competing sites in this manner, giving them an advantage.

purplecape

6:20 pm on Jan 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

IMO Google wouldn't ban just because of those clicks. What's more likely is that they triggered a review, and the person doing the review found another issue with the site...

trillianjedi

8:21 pm on Jan 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

I've narrowed them down to the same city each time (London).

By what method ?

steakaphagus

8:35 pm on Jan 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Purplecape - I've tried to keep squeeky clean during my short web life....can't think of anything else to have caused probs, unless if G have identified something done by mistake - hopefully they will give a reason if my appeal is denied, but from what I gather, reasons don't/are rarely given....
Trillianjedi - quite simple really - the clicks were on a certain page of my site that only one visitor had been to! - according to analytics, this visitor (or server at least) was from London.

Not heard back from G yet - will let you know the outcome!