Does AdSense Ban for Low Conversion Rates?

Forum Moderators: martinibuster

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Does AdSense Ban for Low Conversion Rates?

internetheaven

8:28 am on Jun 29, 2013 (gmt 0)

Have Google ever stated (or strongly hinted) that they use the Adwords conversion data to monitor Adsense accounts?

Most Adwords advertisers (the source of Adsense adverts) track conversions. Therefore Google obviously knows which Adsense accounts are converting and which aren't.

Would Google ban an account for low conversions? In my gut, the answer seems obvious to me - "yes!" But my gut doesn't always track Google's actions so well.

Have Google ever stated that they do this? And if so, what does it come under if you've been banned? Invalid clicks? Or would Google be less specific about it e.g. "we think you're a risk, so we've disable your account".

internetheaven

8:43 am on Jun 29, 2013 (gmt 0)

P.S. to clarify, I worked with many people that have had adsense accounts banned in the past. sometimes Google does not give a reason. they just say "we've decided you're a risk". I wondered if this could be the hidden reason.

jbayabas

2:58 pm on Jun 29, 2013 (gmt 0)

No.

IMO, Adsense ban you mostly for your unusually high CTR. They can also detect where your traffic is coming from. That's why they make sure you place a Privacy Policy on your site because they follow each visitor and have a sophisticated tracking system to check if the visitors are legit or not.

martinibuster

3:38 pm on Jun 29, 2013 (gmt 0)

I agree, you can be banned for unusually high CTR. But if those clicks are converting, do you still think a site will be banned?

jbayabas

10:56 pm on Jun 29, 2013 (gmt 0)

From what I know, Adsense has a team dedicated to detecting invalid activity using several specialized tools and a wide variety of techniques based on extensive experience tracking and monitoring user behavior and analyzing scenarios. So it does not matter if the conversion rates are high or low. As long as the clicks and traffic are legit, there's no reason for Adsense to ban your account.

ember

11:08 pm on Jun 29, 2013 (gmt 0)

But if those clicks are converting, do you still think a site will be banned?

No. What would be the point of that?

martinibuster

12:17 am on Jun 30, 2013 (gmt 0)

What would be the point of that?

That's what I suspect, too. A high CTR by itself does not always lead to a ban.

So it does not matter if the conversion rates are high or low. As long as the clicks and traffic are legit...

It is possible that conversion rate is one of the signals of whether traffic is valid or not. Take a look at what usually constitutes bad clicks, none of which converts:

Accidental clicks
Click farm clicks (where people are paid to click ads)
Clicks that are incited by phrases like "Support this site, click our ads"

Clicks that do not convert are characteristic of invalid clicks. I suspect that a certain threshold of zero conversions might raise a flag for automatic scrutiny to determine if a site is responsible for invalid clicks. If that's true, then conversion rate could be one of several signals, but not necessarily the only signals.

What do you think?

littlecubpanda

5:34 am on Jun 30, 2013 (gmt 0)

"That's why they make sure you place a Privacy Policy on your site "

They don't make you put any kind of "privacy policy" on your site.

[edited by: martinibuster at 3:48 pm (utc) on Jun 30, 2013]
[edit reason] Edited for TOS. [/edit]

jbayabas

7:35 am on Jun 30, 2013 (gmt 0)

AdSense require you to have a privacy policy on your website if you display their ads. Failure to have a privacy policy could see your account being closed and all earnings forfeited.

phranque

10:15 am on Jun 30, 2013 (gmt 0)

They don't make you put any kind of "privacy policy" on your site.

as it's not that long - i'm surprised you haven't yet read the Google AdSense - Terms and Conditions:
http://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?hl=en_US [google.com]

You will ensure that at all times you use the Services, the Properties have a clearly labeled and easily accessible privacy policy that provides end users with clear and comprehensive information about cookies, device-specific information, location information and other information stored on, accessed on, or collected from end users� devices in connection with the Services, including, as applicable, information about end users� options for cookie management.

Required content - AdSense Help:
http://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1348695?hl=en [support.google.com]

ember

3:59 pm on Jun 30, 2013 (gmt 0)

device-specific information

Is that new? Does it mean having to describe the policy for mobile devices, laptops, etc.?

internetheaven

10:38 pm on Jul 1, 2013 (gmt 0)

The debate about what you can and can't be banned for is a long one. That was why I tried to be very clear about the actual, single question I was looking to discuss.

Sadly, as with many threads, the original question is not being discussed and even if we started it now, the discussion would probably be buried under an avalanche of theories about what gets you banned.

This thread seems to be about CTR and privacy policies.

So maybe the mods could change the title of the thread and I can start a new thread where people discuss whether Adwords conversion data is used by the Adsense team to monitor and ban Adsense accounts.

ken_b

10:49 pm on Jul 1, 2013 (gmt 0)

discuss whether Adwords conversion data is used by the Adsense team to monitor and ban Adsense accounts.

I'm not sure anyone here would have that kind of info. I'd image G wouldn't be likely to confirm it one way or the other.

But...

... considering how many have been banned for presenting a "risk" to advertisers, I think I'd be inclined to believe they do.

Especially if they can track the source of the clicking traffic to what they consider to be a suspect source.

.

netmeg

12:46 am on Jul 2, 2013 (gmt 0)

Nobody knows that, internetheaven. AdSense is a black box - which you well know yourself.

Now what might happen if Google actually confirmed that information? You might see a whole new kind of arbitrage pop up, with people faking small value conversions and gambling that AdSense earnings would turn out to be more. It would be very easy to do.

I don't see Google being up for that.