I Gotz Click Bombed!

[AgentProvocateur]

Some dick decided to get my Google Adsense account disabled, by fraudulently clicking Google ads on my site. It better not have been any of you!

It's a shame, because Adsense was working well for me, and showed future promise for increasing revenue. However, I knew how vulnerable it was to malicious competitors, with Google not caring about the source of the click fraud.

I'm in the process of switching over to Brokers Web. Sure Hits does not want me. Does anyone have any suggestions for replacement advertisers for my site?

Has anyone else been screwed by the big "G," in spite of their supposed guiding principle of not being evil? Someone should remind them evil triumphs when Google does nothing.

 

[Josh]

Ouch. I got hammered too. It's a real shame when that stuff happens. Good luck finding a replacement. I've found a few, but nothing compares to that sweet sweet adsense revenue.

Although it may not help now, you can switch to something when you own the offer. When the big G kicked me out I just focused more on my other stuff and frankly I think it worked out better, but that may just be the optimist in me.

If you're interested in doing non-insurance sites (which might be painful to think about right now), shoot me an email, [email protected]. Also, and you may want to keep this private, but why wouldn't surehits want you?

 

[AgentProvocateur]

Ouch. I got hammered too. It's a real shame when that stuff happens. Good luck finding a replacement. I've found a few, but nothing compares to that sweet sweet adsense revenue.

Although it may not help now, you can switch to something when you own the offer. When the big G kicked me out I just focused more on my other stuff and frankly I think it worked out better, but that may just be the optimist in me.

If you're interested in doing non-insurance sites (which might be painful to think about right now), shoot me an email, [email protected]. Also, and you may want to keep this private, but why wouldn't surehits want you?

Thanks for the sympathy, Josh. I've read other stories of people succeeding after being dropped by Google, and I'm glad it worked out better for you.

Who knows? Brokers Web may be better for me than Adsense.

Sure Hits did not like my site's lack of design, and suggested I re-design it similar to how insurance.com is designed. I don't want a generic-looking site like insurance.com. I'll admit I may have designed a site equivalent in sophistication to a child's lemonade stand, but I like it. Somehow, I think Sure Hits qualms about my site will disappear if my traffic reaches a certain level.

I do need to branch out and look at additional revenue sources, so I may e-mail you about non-insurance sites. Thank you for extending the offer.

 

[BlockO]

with Google not caring about the source of the click fraud.

You should hear google's salespeople talk about click fraud. "We can easily spot click fraud, and will not charge you for those clicks".

How many fraudulent clicks are we talking about here? 20? 50? 100? I'm not experienced with adsense but I assume they work similar to adwords.

If your website's analytics records ip addresses and locations, seems like it would be easy to prove to google what's going on. Have you tried to do that?

If the person has a static ip address, it will be real easy to show that the same person is doing all the clicking. If not, location will at least show that all the fraudulent clicks are coming from the same town.

Not sure how effective this would be but it's worth a try.

 

[AgentProvocateur]

You should hear google's salespeople talk about click fraud. "We can easily spot click fraud, and will not charge you for those clicks".

How many fraudulent clicks are we talking about here? 20? 50? 100? I'm not experienced with adsense but I assume they work similar to adwords.

If your website's analytics records ip addresses and locations, seems like it would be easy to prove to google what's going on. Have you tried to do that?

If the person has a static ip address, it will be real easy to show that the same person is doing all the clicking. If not, location will at least show that all the fraudulent clicks are coming from the same town.

Not sure how effective this would be but it's worth a try.

Thank for your input, Dan.

Yes, Google can determine click fraud, and it's good, for advertisers using Adwords, that Google fights it aggressively. But innocent website publishers often fall victim to Google's effort to limit click fraud.

I didn't track my clicks. I noticed a few days in a row, just before having my account disabled, a sudden jump in revenue in the evening for each day. However, the income made each day was not out of the ordinary, and I had recently adjusted my advertising, which should have lead to an increase in clicks/income.

I was aware of the vulnerability & consequences of click bombing, but I failed to look out for it, and I now know there were a few things I could have done to limit the possibility. However, anyone motivated to get your Adsense account disabled, can get you.

I could appeal and request my account to be reinstated, but even if I could prove I was not responsible, word on the Web is Google rarely approves an appeal.

The Adsense income was nice, but given how little control I have over it, if Google decides to take it away, I don't want my Adsense account reinstated. I would reconsider if Google becomes as committed to protecting honest web site owners, as it is to protecting its advertisers.

To be fair, it's easy for a dishonest web site owner to make it look like someone else is responsible for the click fraud. I wish Google would simply not pay for suspected fraudulent clicks, rather than disable Adsense accounts.

 

[Josh]

I couldn't agree with you more on the above. I was getting up to around $50/day in adsense revenue when they cut me off. Wasn't a lot, but it's more than a lot of folks make in a day for work that I didn't have to do much on, so it was great.

I have some amazon revenue but that's a lot more effort for a lot less of a payoff. A lot of what I was doing was just to test different methods without risking a money site and then I was getting paid for it, so that was helpful, but aw well. Move forward, right?

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

For us based mainstream insurance keywords, Brokersweb and Surehits kill Adsense in earnings from an affiliate pov. Maybe if you had a uk auto ins site, where the is no Brokersweb option, it may be valid, but here in the US, it sucks. Like the OP mentioned u can be click bombed 2 death, get ur earnings stolen by google, etc etc.

To the OP, your site sucks, so Im not surprised SH said no, have u looked at ur conversion numbers lately?

 

[AgentProvocateur]

For us based mainstream insurance keywords, Brokersweb and Surehits kill Adsense in earnings from an affiliate pov. Maybe if you had a uk auto ins site, where the is no Brokersweb option, it may be valid, but here in the US, it sucks. Like the OP mentioned u can be click bombed 2 death, get ur earnings stolen by google, etc etc.

To the OP, your site sucks, so Im not surprised SH said no, have u looked at ur conversion numbers lately?

UK auto ins site? Was that directed at me? I'll be using Brokers Web, so I don't know what you mean by a UK site being "valid," since BW is not an option there. What about my conversion numbers?

Please provide constructive criticism, so we can see if you have something useful to say. Plus, your writing style gives you the credibility of a tween.

Now that I told you why your post sucked, why don't you tell me why you think my site sucks, or what you recommend to improve it? Show me why I should care about your opinion.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

UK auto ins site? Was that directed at me? I'll be using Brokers Web, so I don't know what you mean by a UK site being "valid," since BW is not an option there. What about my conversion numbers?

I meant here in the usa, brokersweb/sh are the best pay per click options for a variety of reasons, and if u were in a market like UK or AU car insurance, the only option of per click payouts would be adsense. So my point is here in the US, why anyone would monetize an insurance domain with adsense is beyond me.

Please provide constructive criticism, so we can see if you have something useful to say. Plus, your writing style gives you the credibility of a tween.

ADD, my man ADD + OCD+Dyslexia+IBS, take ur pick....

your site sucks. Not an insult really, just an opinion from a guy who just sold a couple sites for about 30k, and who has ranked top 5 for some of the biggest health ins terms out there.

I think it would be obvious if you had are more compelling site, you would get more traffic (lower bounce rate) and higher conversions, and people would stay on ur site longer =more money.

Now that I told you why your post sucked, why don't you tell me why you think my site sucks, or what you recommend to improve it? Show me why I should care about your opinion.

you should only care if u wanna make ^^^$$$$$^^^^

 

[AgentProvocateur]

I meant here in the usa, brokersweb/sh are the best pay per click options for a variety of reasons, and if u were in a market like UK or AU car insurance, the only option of per click payouts would be adsense. So my point is here in the US, why anyone would monetize an insurance domain with adsense is beyond me.



ADD, my man ADD + OCD+Dyslexia+IBS, take ur pick....

your site sucks. Not an insult really, just an opinion from a guy who just sold a couple sites for about 30k, and who has ranked top 5 for some of the biggest health ins terms out there.

I think it would be obvious if you had are more compelling site, you would get more traffic (lower bounce rate) and higher conversions, and people would stay on ur site longer =more money.




you should only care if u wanna make ^^^$$$$$^^^^

Thanks for the partial clarification. As far as traffic, I do okay for a very competitive niche. Lowering my bounce rate is a goal, but it's the least of my problems now. Using my site for hours, and not clicking on an ad to get a quote, does not make me money. Spending 30 seconds on my site, finding the answer (or not finding it) for your specific insurance question, then clicking an ad for a quote, does make me money.

Do you create compelling websites, or are you a SEO rock star promoting sites adding no more value than an affiliate link? What's the addy for one of the websites you have sold? I'd like to see an example of a compelling website.

It's nice to know about your modest accomplishments. I'm sure I can learn things from you.

Selling a web site for 30k is pretty good, but keeping a website making 30k a year is better, in my opinion.