I can't come up with a reason why someone would want to do this.

The only reason I can imagine for someone to "acquire" AdSense revenue in advance is if this person is in reality acquiring the website and calculating the price based on a certain number of months/years that both parties agree.

Perhaps this other interested party needs different domains to later run their code, or buy fake clicks and later say something was wrong with the deal and ask for money back after having pocketed the monthly revenue, or some other scam...

it might be legit. i suppose it could be a way of earning ad money without having to go through the bother of creating a site.

but it would only be worth his while if he knew that the earnings were going to rise after he paid the money. so either is going to promote the site himself, or he's going to get some kind of fake traffic and clicks.

From the Terms of Service, point 5 about payments:

Unless expressly authorized in writing by Google, you may not enter into any type of arrangement with a third party where that third party receives payments made to you under the Agreement or other financial benefit in relation to the Services.

netmeg said: I can't come up with a reason why someone would want to do this.

freitasm said: Perhaps this other interested party needs different domains to later run their code, or buy fake clicks..., or some other scam...

londrum said: ...either is going to promote the site himself, or he's going to get some kind of fake traffic and clicks.

lammert said: From the Terms of Service, point 5 about payments:

Unless expressly authorized in writing by Google, you may not enter into any type of arrangement with a third party where that third party receives payments made to you under the Agreement or other financial benefit in relation to the Services.

I'd written a reply to my friend, saying that I couldn't think of how the process would work, that I was pretty sure it wasn't "legal" (in Google's eyes), and that I couldn't conceive of any "white hat" reason for the offer.

With the confirmations y'all have provided, now I can hit "Send" with much greater confidence. Thank you! ;-)

-Eliz.

Here's what is going on. Someone who is, or thinks, they are very experienced at Adsense management contacted a publisher about their site. They think they can do a much better job managing the Adsense campaign; which may very we'll be true. They are guaranteeing to pay them what they are currently averaging in revenue and are looking to pocket the increased earning post optimization. I contact people all the time about managing their adsense accounts. Sounds like what is being proposed here.

avalon37 said: ...I contact people all the time about managing their adsense accounts. Sounds like what is being proposed here.

Dunno 'bout that. The solicitor hasn't said one word to my friend about providing any sort of service for him, whether management, SEO, or otherwise.

-Eliz.

The solicitor hasn't said one word

So legal advice has already been sought?

I think "the solicitor" was a go-between deals broker.

RedBar said: So legal advice has already been sought?

Not that I'm aware of. My friend had only just started looking into the "offer" with which he'd been solicited. Now that he's confirmed Google's AdSense policy, he has no plans to go any further.

-Eliz.

And there ya goes...Mention "solicitor" in the UK and the first thought is "lawyer", unless one's in a red light district!