Common wisdom is that once you get banned from Google AdSense, it is very difficult to get reinstated. Therefore, you want to be careful not to break any of the rules stated in the Google AdSense Terms of Service.
Here are some common mistakes that result in banning from Google AdSense. Make sure to keep a close eye on all correspondence from the Google AdSense team and take swift action to fix what they bring to your attention.
Ignoring their warnings will likely lead to banning.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 1
Generating suspicious clicks.
It is against Google AdSense TOS to click on your own AdSense advertisements or to get others to click on your advertisements. Note that it is also illegal to solicit clicks from your visitors either verbally, or through your writing.
Accidents may sometimes occur, however, and according to the Google AdSense Team, infrequent accidents will not get you into trouble.
Here is a list of common suspicious clicks questions and answers by Google.
Sometimes, you may also be sabotaged. A third party may decide to do a series of illegal clicks on your advertisements for the purpose of getting you banned. If you notice any suspicious clicks of this nature, Google encourages you to report it to them.
Use Google Analytics or other website statistics tracking software to obtain as much information as you can about the suspicious clicks. This will get them banned instead of you.
Instead of reporting the incident to Google, some people suggest that it is better to stay under Google's notice and to just temporarily remove Google AdSense advertisements from the locations where there is suspicious activity. After waiting a few days, you can reestablish your advertisements and hopefully your saboteur has found something else to do with his time.
It is also possible to both report the clicks to Google, as well as to disable Google AdSense temporarily so that the abuse does not continue to occur while you are waiting for Google's response. Here is a useful post on the Google AdSense forum on how to deal with click-bombing.
If your Google AdSense account gets banned because of invalid activity, you can appeal to Google using this form.
Note - It is also best NOT to 'reward other hubbers' by clicking on their Google AdSense advertisements as that can also be viewed as suspicious clicks.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 2
Publicizing your Google AdSense earnings information.
Opinions vary on this. Some people say that you are only not supposed to publish your Google AdSense CTR and eCPM figures publicly. Others say that you are not supposed to publish all exact earnings figures - including CTR, eCPM, number of clicks, and exact earnings numbers.
It is best to not publish a screenshot of your Google AdSense report page under any circumstances.
If you do screenshots of your other Google AdSense pages or of other Google tools (e.g., Google Analytics) make sure that none of your account information shows up in these screenshots - including your earnings numbers, your e-mail, and your Google AdSense ID. This is important for your own privacy protection, as well as to stay on the good side of Google AdSense.
Personally, I would not publish any of my Google AdSense earnings figures except as general aggregates, e.g. It took me about 4 months to get my first AdSense check, or I earned about $2 in my first month on HubPages.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 2 - Publicizing your Google AdSense earnings information.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 3
Stealing content.
Plagiarising content or copying content without permission are also against Google's TOS. Here are some common questions and answers about Google's copyright infringement policy.
If the content owner files a valid DMCA report on your online article, you will most likely get your Google AdSense account banned, with no hope of getting it back - ever.
Note that copyright infringement does not only apply to text, but also to images, photographs, and graphics, Do not include an image, photo, or graphic unless it is public domain or has an explicit public license (e.g. GNU). Make sure to follow the rules of the public license placed on the image.
Images that are not explicitly flagged as public are considered to be copyrighted by the original creator. Do not use any of these images unless you have obtained permission from the original creator. Always attribute all images (public domain, and licensed) back to their site of origin, and to their original author.
Note - copyright laws applies to videos, including youTube videos, as well as text and images.
Preserve your online legacy by only producing good and original content. This will also be the best way to get traffic and increase your Google AdSense earnings.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 3 - Stealing content.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 4
Generating fake traffic.
Do not try to trick Google by generating fake web traffic to your Google AdSense sites.
What is fake web traffic?
Fake web traffic is anything that generates false impressions on your Google AdSense advertisements, including -
- Participating in link farms or link exchange directories. Do not link to link farms or link directories or you may not only find your Google AdSense account banned, but also that you have been dereferenced by Google Search.
- Participating in rank exchange or rank purchasing activities. Do not try to purchase a higher Google search rank from another site. Google is good at tracking down these 'sellers' and when that happens, you will lose your money, your purchased rank, and also your Google AdSense account.
- Participating in traffic exchange programs.
- Using doorways, page cloaking and other similar techniques to get higher search engine rankings and to misdirect your visitors.
Here is a list of legitimate ways from Google on how to increase your Google AdSense traffic. Here is a list of things of avoid.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 4 - Generating fake traffic.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 5
Getting multiple Google AdSense accounts.
Currently, Google only allows one Google AdSense account per person or entity(e.g. company or organization). Some non-US publishers have reported that Google does not even allow two people from the same address to have separate Google AdSense accounts.
Trying to trick Google into giving you multiple AdSense accounts can get all of your accounts banned. If you have accidentally applied for multiple Google AdSense accounts, then it is best to write to them and apologize for your mistake.
Some publishers have gotten their AdSense accounts banned because it is related to another banned account. Be very careful where you place your Google AdSense advertisements and only include them in your own sites or a very trusted third party or business, such as HubPages.
Otherwise, you may get penalized for someone else's wrongdoing.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 5 - Getting multiple Google AdSense accounts.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 6
Showing pornographic material or linking to pornographic sites.
Google AdSense does not allow advertisements to be placed with certain types of content including adult, violent, and racist content. Content relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and gambling are also not allowed. For a full list of unacceptable content topics, refer to the Google AdSense Program Policies.
For this reason, do not distribute content, including website templates or blog themes that contain your Google AdSense advertisement capsules. Since you have no control over what others publish in their website using your themes or templates, you may end up getting banned because of what others are publishing. For even better protection, you can go to AdSense Setup >> Allowed Sites on your Google AdSense page to restrict your Google AdSense-ID to only trusted websites.
Some sites that support pornographic or other unacceptable content may point to your online site or articles. There is nothing you can do about that, so you will not be penalized for incoming links, just for outgoing ones. Be careful not to show pornographic material, use pornographic related text, or link to any pornographic sites.
Note - make sure that the comments that you receive on your online articles also do not contain any keywords or links that are against Google AdSense's content guidelines. These bad comments can also affect your Google AdSense account.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 6 - Content Issues
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 7
Modifying the look and feel of Google AdSense advertisements.
Understandably so, Google AdSense is very particular about advertisement tampering. You are not allowed to alter their advertisements in any way. You are not allowed to put competing advertisements that have the same look and feel in the vicinity. You are not allowed to place images close to your Google AdSense advertisements in an effort to draw your visitor's attention to the advertisements and increase your click through rate.
There are also restrictions as to where you can place AdSense advertisements. You are not allowed to put advertisements in pop-ups, emails or software.
Here are a list of common questions and answers about advertisement placement from Google AdSense .
If you are only showing Google AdSense advertisements through HubPages then you do not need to worry about these ad placement rules as it is taken care of for you by HubPages.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 7 - Advertisement Tampering
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 8
No privacy policy.
Google requires all AdSense sites to put a cookie disclosure notice in their privacy policy.
AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users' browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.~~ [Excerpt from Google AdSense Program Policies]
This only applies to AdSense publishers that run their own site, such as a personal website or a personal blog.
Publicly hosted sites such as HubPages, Blogger, and others have their own privacy policies, that will likely meet all the requirements of Google AdSense.
If you are not sure, scroll down to the bottom of your public page (e.g. hub) and locate where the copyright message is. Included close to the copyright message is usually a link to the website's privacy policy. Click on that and check to see if it contains all the elements stated by Google AdSense.
If you maintain your own website or your own blog, then it is important to include a similar privacy policy for every page that contains Google AdSense advertisements. It is easiest to include a 'Privacy Policy' link near to your website's copyright message as is done in most professional sites.
Refer to the Google AdSense Program Policies to determine what you should put in your website's privacy policy.
Failure to comply to this requirement could get your Google AdSense account banned.
Banned from Google AdSense Mistake 8 - No privacy policy.
Life After AdSense Banning
In the unfortunate circumstance that you do get banned by Google AdSense, here are some resources of what you can do to get reinstated.
- Google AdSense disabled account FAQ.
- What to do when you're kicked out of Adsense from Webmaster World.
All of them seem to require a lot of work and some luck as well, so it is best to just keep a careful watch of Google's TOS and program policies.
Reading Google's AdSense rules carefully may not be the most interesting thing to do with your time but it is necessary to keep yourself from getting banned for accidentally breaking a rule that you may not even be aware of.
Remember to always be polite and professional when corresponding with Google AdSense. Do not publicly bad-mouth Google, or otherwise alter Google's trademark.
