A DigitalPoint Forums thread has a funny recount of a back and forth between an AdSense publisher and Google. I'll quote the back and forth below, but in short, Google tells publisher, that he has invalid clicks. The publisher responses, what can I do to stop it since I am not doing this myself. Google responds to the publisher that he has invalid clicks and they will disable the account if it continues. Publisher responds back asking Google again, what actions can he take to stop the invalid clicks. Google responds that they have disabled his account due to invalid clicks. Kinda funny.
From Google:
It has come to our attention that invalid clicks or impressions have been generated on the Google ads on your site(s) through users of third-party programmes paid or provided with other incentives to visit your site. Such programmes may include, but are not limited to auto-surf, pay-to-surf, pay-to-read or pay-to-click sites.As a reminder, any method of generating invalid clicks or impressions is strictly prohibited by our Terms & Conditions and programme policies:
https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?hl=en_GB https://www.google.com/adsense/policies?hl=en_GB
If we continue to detect invalid clicks or impressions from these services on your ads, we may disable your account to protect our advertisers.
To Google:
Hello Google Adsense Team,I use none of the programs you mention. How have you come to the assumption this is what is happening? How can I combat it happening in the future?
From Google:
As you know, Google treats instances of invalid click and impression activity very seriously. Due to the proprietary nature of our algorithm, we cannot disclose any details about how our monitoring technology works or what specifics we found on your account. However, we can assure you that we have thoroughly re-reviewed your account and have confirmed that your account violated our programme's Terms and Conditions.For your reference, we are including some guidelines to help prevent future invalid clicks and impressions:
It is against our programme policies for website publishers to click on the ads on their own web pages or to encourage others to do so. Note that some programmes including, but not limited to, auto-surf, pay-to-surf, pay-to-read or pay-to-click services may provide incentives for generating traffic resulting in invalid clicks or impressions.
Finally, please be sure to review and remain in compliance with our Terms and Conditions and programme policies:
https://www.google.com/adsense/terms https://www.google.com/adsense/policies https://www.google.co.uk/support/adsense.
We have implemented these policies to help ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for our publishers as well as our advertisers. As mentioned, if we continue to detect traffic to the Google Ads that violate the Terms and Conditions and Programme Policies, we may disable your account to protect our advertisers.
We appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely, The Google AdSense Team
To Google:
Hello,I am genuinely keen to resolve this issue! But I feel I am left between a rock and a hard place. You've 'confirmed' my account has violated your tos but you're not telling me how.
I've done nothing intentionally or indeed by accident to my knowledge. I certainly haven't clicked my own ads.
If there's anything else specific you can tell me, it will aid me in preventing further instances of this problem.
As I say, this is a genuine concern to stay within the guidelines.
From Google:
As you know, Google treats instances of invalid clicks very seriously. By disabling your account, we feel that we have taken the necessary measures to ensure that invalid clicks will not continue to occur on your site. Due to the proprietary nature of our monitoring system, we're not able to disclose any specific details of these clicks. [snip...]
Hmmm... Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.
