Making Big Money with AdSense, then . . .

[gettinthere]

A very disturbing action taken by google against a sailor making money with adsense:

Duckworks - All boat design is a compromise - Rubbish

[David_Old_Jersey]

Fired by a Computer. Ouch.

[gettinthere]

And ripped off for quite a bit of money too

[sailorF54]

are an epitome of British humor and sensitivity to sailing and Mother Nature.. I used to watch them in YouTube (I think) when he first started the series (after his offer to the BBC to turn them into an evening program was turned down).
Sad story...

[simonmd]

Does seem very harsh, he has clearly tried to keep things within the rules but it seems there are some that simply cannot be followed in the real world, take this example,

If your subscribers are clicking on adverts and not buying, then you are in breach. This is a new concept – do not look at an advert unless you intend to buy.

Google has obviously never heard of shopping around, rediculous!

[David_Old_Jersey]

My guess is that Google's magical "algorithm" contains part of the old Microsoft secret recipe..........squash the little people, pocket the cash and worry about the anti-Competition lawsuits etc later.

Well, it's what I'd do


A lesson I guess in not keeping all ones (business) eggs in one basket. especially not if that basket has the name Google on it.

[gettinthere]

they are, effectively, the only basket for this type of business

[boatman61]

So... lets spread the word and 'kill them'... this is one place where WE HAVE THE POWER if its possible to unite.... just don't use Google... they take the piss

[Shrew]

I find it interesting that it appears hit content is still being hosted and available for viewing on You Tube. If the guy's account has been disabled, where is the revenue going for the Add 'clicks'?

[gettinthere]

His youtube account was not disabled, only his adsense revenue account. But, youtube/google is still posting ads to his videos and keeping all the revenue.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

His youtube account was not disabled, only his adsense revenue account. But, youtube/google is still posting ads to his videos and keeping all the revenue.

LOL. I meant his Adsense account, but I guess I could have been clearer on that point. Thanks for the clarification.

[SaltyMonkey]

Since I have been in this business w/ search revenue and google, I can speak a bit about the issue at hand having developed web sites that leverage google advertisements. Demon clickers are an issue for google ad subscriptions that is almost impossible to stop or find a solution for. The algorithm can only locates bot or superclicker patterns, but determining how you handle them is complicated and google wants no investment in it. They just want to not piss off their advertisers or waste their money.

Ignoring these abusers by trapping their IP is ineffective since IP addresses are dynamically assigned to most users, and the range can belong to an ISP such as Comcast for example which means anyone can reuse the IP - abuser or not. Google therefore pushes that responsibility to the site owner to do something about it. Unfortunately, site owners are in the same pickle. They cannot block the IP address or hide ads for the individual based on this address, or know who they are since a login is not a requirement to use a site. They can try and educate their users (if they know who they are), but this is merely a futile exercise - especially if volume is high.

His biggest mistake was telling his users that's how he makes his money - incentive them to superclick. Bad mistake.

As for what he should do at this point:

- look for another advertising provider. There are quite a few out there that would be more than glad to put ads in banners or in his videos on the site. They also are aggregators - able to publish his videos to not only YouTube, but other revenue generating video online providers and sources. By going with a provider, he could actually end up getting a larger percent of the revenue per click than a similar deal with YouTube/Google since these aggregators have discounted deals with their publishing sources.
- post a "teaser" one minute version on YouTube and direct traffic to his site through that smaller trailer.

His site is probably at the point where he doesn't need YouTube anymore anyway.

[thinwater]

The story is unique only in scope. Many bloggers have started with Adsense accounts, and then removed the ads when they learned the game or got letters, like the ones described, that they couldn't really understand. Clearly, Google and their advertisers are still working this out. Really, how many people even look at the side-bar ads, let alone buy anything? I'm seldom even aware of them. I think the advertisers have figured this out too.

However, Google Blogger pages are free and they do have a relativity low-cost way to sell things (Buy-it-Now buttons) where Google gets its $$ with every click, guaranteed.

[SaltyMonkey]

im not totally sure how the imbedded video ads work in terms of share points.

[goboatingnow]

fundementally, this tale exposes Googles weakness, excessive ad clicks debase the whole system. Imagine if an advertiser had to pay every time you looked at a bill board, well thats Googles revenue basis and its a smoke and mirrors system.

Dave