Click Fraud Example
 Custom Search Anyone who uses Adsense or Adwords is has probably heard of click fraud.This click fraud example may help you prevent from being a victim of well meaning family or friends. It is important not only to know about it, you need to protect yourself from losing your privilege to use Googles contextual ads. This story might help you. Knowledge may help you prevent a similar experience from happening to you. Click Fraud Example One day, a website owner told his mother-in-law about how he was making money on the web. He told her how every time someone clicked on one of the ads he made money. The well meaning relative thought she would help the web entrepreneur. So the next day she decided to go on a clicking spree. Perhaps she was well meaning. She probably did not think she was stealing. She probably did not think about it at all. Who's Fault Was It Well, Google held him responsible. They canceled his account. He wrote a letter. He tried to explain. He begged forgiveness. In the end, he still lost his income from Adsense. The story is not over. Once a website has been banned from Adsense, it is possible it may never be allowed to display adsense again. In this case, the site was sold and a several months later it was populated with ads from another adsense account and they were allowed. However, some have not been that fortunate. This identifies the due diligence required of web site owners. If you tell anyone about your web site, that you make money from the ads or any thing remotely related to it, you need to explain to them not to go clicking on ads thinking they will help you. Explain it could get you banned. I even go so far as to explain that it is actually a form of stealing. This is not just stealing a piece of gum from the candy store. It is the kind of stealing that could result in the police knocking on your door. Remember, the web crosses state lines and as such, now interstate and federal laws will apply. As such, if you become aware of it, you may be asked to help Google prosecute anyone who tries to perpetuate such a fraud. There is a big difference when federal laws are broken. Note One time I was victim of identity theft. The first use of my credit card was not followed up by local law enforcement. I was told there was nothing they could do. On the second use and because of now federal laws applied, the attorney generals office was very interested to find that I had collected all the info, yes everything, including IP of the offender. If you are developing a web site, on choosing a domain name, check to see who owned it before you and if there is any problems associated with the name. Be a good web citizen. If you were paying for Adwords, would you want someone to be clicking on your ads and running up your bill if they had no intention at looking at your product. Why would you treat anyone else that way. By being good web citizens we can help make the web a better place. There will always be bad. May this click fraud example help keep us from being part of the bad. Go to Assist2web: The Click Fraud Example Resource |