As you will be aware I recently recieved a ban from the Adsense publisher program. So i would like to let everyone know the ways you can avoid the same fate as me.

Just a few quick notes on how a typical ban happens…

You will get an email out of the blue which will have obviously been automatically generated by Googles system as soon as your site has triggered some red flag.
From that point onwards you can forget about getting back into your account and so all the stats in there that would help you identify the problem for them are hidden from you.
You have chance to appeal and even if you submit log files and swear it cant have been you it WILL get denied, there are no further appeals after the first has failed.
All the balance that was sitting in the account at the time of the ban is also now gone, supposedly returned to the advertisers (That means the whole balance good clicks and suspect clicks alike).

So how can one avoid such a fate? Heres my top 10 tips on keeping your account alive: -

1. Dont place your ads on any site that will be visited by anyone who even thinks they know what clickfraud is
2. Never ever no matter how tempting share the url of one of your sites with anyone
3. Dont enter into revenue sharing or ad rotation deals with anyone
4. When testing ads or targetting etc do not use your own publisherID use someone elses. This isnt as nasty as it sounds simply use one at random or even better pick a site that obviously generates very high adsense income and use theirs, they wont get an auto ban from Google.
5. Make sure you only ever use one account on any one site, never mix the accounts
6. If you have more than one account make sure they are never mixed, do not even log in from the same pc to both accounts
7. Develop a system of disabling the adverts after a number of suspect clicks. Scripts like the free Adlogger system can do this for you and will help prevent the accidental user tripping a ban
8. Monitor your stats on a regular basis and swap out the ads at the slightest suggestion of horseplay
9. Make sure you can control the ad distribution from a simple central place so swapping out ads is quick and easy
10. This ones obvious but of course nobody should ever ever click on their own ads, I have seen people canned for just one click.

I know it seems like obvious advice but there are scenarios you just cant protect well against. If someone with intent tries to get you they will. You can try to prevent multiple clicks but if they simply proxy jump whilst clicking you youll get a ban no matter what you did to prevent it. Dont assume that the ‘Team’ over at Adsense will even talk to you let alone help.

Good luck people!

Just noticed this forthcoming story at wired.com

Spam + Blogs = Trouble
Splogs are the latest thing in online fraud – and they could smother the Net as we know it.
By Charles C. Mann
[ Coming September 5 ]

Apparently they say it could smother the net as we know it! Dont make me laugh… I have lots of blogs and they are all valuable contributors to the blogosphere in their own advert powered way…..

Well it may be the beer talking but…. I have decided to push a few fun products….

Introducing the MouseMatt !

Call me what you will but theres something comforting to click on Matts face….

BUY NOW

CNN are reporting that they are looking for gold bars buried at the home of famous email spammer Davis Hawke’s parents. Davis Hawke was one of the main spammers featured in the book ‘Spam Kings’ – one of my favourite books ever.

Whilst we all hate email spammers you gotta chuckle at the fact that this guy has been a high profile email spammer for years and hastnt been caught despite his penchant for burying his ill gotten gains whenever he could.

BTW Thanks to Pilkster for blogging about this first !

Not a single day goes by without someone emailing me about a new membership scheme or site. The whole world seems to have gone membership crazy…. Well caution people caution, like everything in life making money online is all about hard work and commitment. You get nothing for free, even if your paying the site owner a fee each month.

The only site im going to join is JasonD’s forthcoming membership site, I have seen whats going to be in there and I know why hes doing it. The difference with Jason is that he will be giving you access to some tools and his vast experience but at the end of the day your success will still be directly related to the amount of effort you put in.

I urge anyone looking at some of the membership sites starting now to hold off for Jason, I have complete faith in him delivering the best package by far. Its the one the smart people (And at least one Idiot) will be betting on and it will be worth every penny when it arrives (Very Soon – watch this space)

Above all remember effort will equal: -