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Ranting About Google AdSense Click Fraud Allegations

Ranting About Google AdSense Click Fraud Allegations

Google is denying ‘dot.com millionaire‘ (I think I know about 50 dot com millionaires) Benjamin Cohen payment for the Google AdSense ads which were run on his Gay News site.

Seems Google thinks that there has been some click fraud going on despite the low amount of traffic and clicks on Benjamin’s sites. Cohen’s story was printed in the business section of the Times Online today, under the title “The nonsense about AdSense

Here’s a snippet:

I was informed by e-mail that my AdSense account had been terminated due to “click fraud”, and that I would receive no further payments and be unable to use Google’s advertising products again.

Click fraud is where people or programs – automated robots, or ‘bots – click on your to an advertising link in an attempt to defraud either or both the advertiser and Google. Click fraud experts tend to run up huge levels of traffic, generating thousands of clicks and each may cost a particular advertiser in excess of £10,000.

In my case, PinkNews.co.uk had received very little traffic and consequently very few clicks on advertisements. We’re talking in the region of £100 of advertising, hardly the sort of figure someone seriously engaging in click fraud would bother about.

After a number of e-mails to Google without replies and no response from their press office, I decided to cut my losses and concentrate on selling advertising direct to clients, thereby bypassing Google’s system.

A bit funny to see this kind of rant on the Times and not in the usual blog & forum communities. A sign of the times?

The last line is a bit interesting, bypassing Google AdSense and selling directly to advertisers. I’ve talked with a couple of publishers who have also gone this direction and despite the headache of handling sales, Insertion Orders, and payment models – they are quite happy with their choice.

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SEJ STAFF Loren Baker Founder at Foundation Digital

Loren Baker is the Founder of SEJ, an Advisor at Alpha Brand Media and runs Foundation Digital, a digital marketing ...

Ranting About Google AdSense Click Fraud Allegations

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