Don’t Use Google Adsense

I apologize for this personal post that I am about to unleash on you. But at this point, I just feel so powerless and frustrated, I don’t know what else to do.

A few days ago I received this email from Google Adsense:

Hello,

After reviewing our records, we’ve determined that your AdSense account
poses a risk of generating invalid activity. Because we have a
responsibility to protect our AdWords advertisers from inflated costs due
to invalid activity, we’ve found it necessary to disable your AdSense
account. Your outstanding balance and Google’s share of the revenue will
both be fully refunded back to the affected advertisers.

Please understand that we need to take such steps to maintain the
effectiveness of Google’s advertising system, particularly the
advertiser-publisher relationship. We understand the inconvenience that
this may cause you, and we thank you in advance for your understanding and
cooperation.

If you have any questions or concerns about the actions we’ve taken, how
you can appeal this decision, or invalid activity in general, you can find
more information by visiting
http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=57153.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

I was shocked – I have never clicked my own ads or bought any of those programs to increase my ad revenue/SEO. I had no idea where this was coming from. I immediately sent it to my friend Steve and he told me there was no reason this should have happened.

The only explanation he could come up with after talking to some of his blogger friends was that I could have been sabotaged – that someone purposefully went to my site and clicked the ads multiple times to have my account shut down …. I cannot really even bear the thought that this could be true.

So I appealed the claim and fought the best I could. Much to my utter dismay this morning, I received this next response from Google Adsense:

Hello,

Thank you for your appeal. We appreciate the additional information you’ve
provided, as well as your continued interest in the AdSense program.
However, after thoroughly re-reviewing your account data and taking your
feedback into consideration, our specialists have confirmed that we’re
unable to reinstate your AdSense account.

Please know that, once we’ve reached a decision on your appeal, further
appeals may not be considered, and you might not receive any further
communication from us. Note that AdSense publishers whose accounts are
disabled for violations of our Terms and Conditions are not eligible for
further participation in AdSense. For this reason, you may not open new
accounts.

Also, accounts disabled for invalid click activity will receive no further
payment nor any reissue of previous payment. Your outstanding balance and
Google’s share of the revenue will both be fully refunded back to the
affected advertisers. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

We understand that you may want more information about your account
activity. However, because we have a need to protect our proprietary
detection systems, we’re unable to provide our publishers with any details
about their account activity.

Pardon my french, but what a load of utter shit that response is. Sure Google, I am sure you took the time to review my account and I am sure you appreciate my response. I understand their need to protect the advertisers – but what about me? Their customer? Why do they feel no allegiance or need to protect me?

Google Adsense has basically stolen the ad revenue that I have worked hard to generate through building my SEO and reader base. They hold all the power and have given me none.

I intend to continue emailing them, everyday, to express my frustration, anger, and complete dissatisfaction with their policies and lack of concern for their users. At this point, I don’t know what else to do other than blog/Facebook/Tweet about it. I feel wronged, and I am just not the type of person that can let this slide.

Any advice/shared experiences/empathy would be greatly appreciated.