AdSense Account Disabled ?

AdSense Account Disabled – What Should You Do?

So you try to login to your AdSense account today and find it’s disabled. You frantically try again with no luck and then check your email to find Google’s contacted you to let you know your AdSense account has been disabled. Ugh…
We’ve had some readers and listeners email us about the fact that their AdSense account was disabled and were wondering how we continue to operate with such a potential risk looming. We were even called out in the comments section on Joseph Archibald’s blog about why we might be avoiding the topic or not sharing those risks with our readers.
While we did write a post about the risks of online publishing, we didn’t address this issue directly and I thought I’d lay out some of our thoughts here in this post. If you’ve found us vague on this subject in the past it’s mostly because it’s something we haven’t dealt with directly.
Most of our content is focused on building niche sites and AdSense monetization, so if you no longer have that as an option there hasn’t been much to say. Still, it’s a pretty serious issue for those affected and we wanted to give them the options that we know are available and would use if such a thing were to happen to us.

Are you sure your AdSense account was disabled?

Some have found that their ads were not appearing on their website, but they still had access to their AdSense account. This may be due to the fact that AdSense has been disabled for that particular site, but their account is still active. (Alternatively, it COULD be that there’s a lack of advertisers in your niche, although less likely)
The best thing to do would be to check other sites to ensure ads are appearing or you could try adding someone else’s AdSense account to the site to see if the ads appear for them.
When your account is disabled, Google sends you an email stating as much and puts a general answer as to why the account was disabled. Google will likely NOT elaborate on the specific causes of the ban as that would give away specifics about their internal workings they’d rather not release.
You can read more about their through Google’s disabled account FAQ.  They also have a forum dedicated to disabled accounts that you can check out.

Why does Google disable AdSense accounts?

In reading and talking with many (not all) people who have had their AdSense accounts disabled it becomes apparent that most understand exactly what it is they were doing wrong. For those that were not aware, it becomes pretty obvious after just a bit of discussion that they’re blindly unaware about what is and is not allowed under Google’s ToS regarding AdSense accounts.
It’s extremely important for Google to protect their advertisers and they’ve obviously made that a priority within their system. If the advertisers aren’t comfortable they’ll be receiving legitimate and useful traffic, all of the advertisers would dry up and us publishers would be left with a system that doesn’t pay nearly as well.
Even if we don’t always get credit for clicks, get lowered value due to smart pricing, etc…we’re thankful Google is protecting the long-term viability of the AdSense program.

Here are the primary reasons Google will ban AdSense accounts:

1. Fraudulent Clicks – Google is extremely good at determining whether clicks are legitimate or not. Some publishers have thought that by contacting friends and family, having them search for their site, find, and then click on the ads keeps them in the clear but this is a huge risk and not at all worth the minimal rewards you might receive. Others have attempted to cloak their traffic or use automated software that will click on the sites for them which, of course, is unacceptable.
2. Fake Traffic – Publishers will either purchase loads of traffic from often-shady sources or will buy websites where the majority of traffic is coming from shady sources. (Note: When I mention shady sources I’m referring to traffic that may be incentivized or directed to sites through traffic shares, social media, etc.) Often this traffic will have no interest in the particular subject, but does results in clicks that cost the advertiser money. This type of traffic is harmful to advertisers…they’re paying for traffic that will, ultimately, not convert for them.
3. Previously Banned Account – Sometimes publishers that have previously been banned will attempt to sign up for another account by changing their name, using a friend’s contact information, etc. Google is very adept at catching this and will shut you down when caught. Instead of signing up again yourself, consider the options we give below.

There is a 4th option that seems to happen much less, but does get reported from credible sources. Some have claimed to have done none of the above and still had their accounts disabled. It’s tough, because there’s always a nagging question as to how truthful they are being about what they’ve done with their account and their sites.
I think, in some cases, they’ve ended up having problems with their account because they have told others about sites under their control. Whether to help or to harm, it’s possible that others went to their sites and were clicking on their advertisements. (It could be a function of readers of theirs going to their sites and trying to “help” their revenue by clicking on their ads or it could be jealous competitors doing it to cause problems with their sites.)

How can I get my AdSense account back?

The only way to get your account back that is accepted by Google is to file an appeal. You can file an appeal here or check out this article or this article about bloggers that appealed and were successful.
While the appeal process is the only way to legitimately reinstate your personal account, Google also allows legitimate businesses to apply for and join the AdSense program.
Many top AdSense earners intentionally setup and run multiple businesses (corporations or LLC’s) to diversify their AdSense income across accounts or to take advantage of smart-pricing rules and policies. No matter the reason, it’s important that these companies ACTUALLY be separate entities, both from a legal and banking perspective.
It’s also important to remember that whatever it was that got your AdSense account banned from the sites you had it on previously may again affect you if you decide to put that AdSense code on the same sites. If those sites had previously put the advertisers at risk, it’s somewhat safe to assume that another account may be considered to pose the same risk to those advertisers.

What alternatives are there to AdSense?

If you do find your AdSense account disabled, your appeal denied, and are not interested in setting up a company specifically for AdSense, all is not lost. While AdSense is known to have the best RPU (Revenue Per Unique) when compared to their direct competitors, you may be able to recover some of your lost income through the following AdSense alternatives:

1. AdBrite – Fairly competitive payouts. Arguably the best alternative, less ad layouts and advertisers.
2. Chitika – Relevant ad placement and a good compliment to banner advertising.
3. Bidvertiser – No tax info required and great ad design flexibility.
4. Infolinks – In-text advertising that compliments the others listed.
5. Kontera – Been around a long time, easy to use, harder to get accepted.

Another approach would be to take a hard look across your sites and focus on those with the highest revenue and see if you can closely match them with products at Amazon.
The problem for most of us would be the fact that the content would have to be changed significantly to be written more as pre-sale content, but interesting studies have been done that show Amazon or affiliate advertising, pound for pound, is a better earner than AdSense anyway…you might end up making more money on a few of your sites if you can get this down.
Switching monetization strategies from AdSense to the Amazon affiliate program is an interesting strategy anyway. If you can get this down you can carve out a niche for yourself purchasing AdSense websites and strategically converting them to Amazon. (Or…best case would be to find AdSense sites and find a way to sell your own product directly.)
You can also check out the exact “disaster plan” we have in place including an in-depth review of your AdSense Alternatives here.
Having your AdSense account disabled can be extremely difficult and frustrating.  If this has happened to you, we hope the above information helps you decide which route you should take next by giving you the options you need to recoup some revenue.
Disclaimer: We are not speaking for Google or anyone working in the AdSense department. Additionally, we are not legal experts. Any advice given regarding AdSense or legal issues should not be construed as legal advice. Consult legal counsel if you have any questions regarding the advice above.

AdSense Alternatives – The Disaster Plan

I should state quickly that our AdSense account HAS NOT been disabled.  Still, there are AdSense publishers that have been getting banned recently…many of them have had their accounts for quite a long time.  Particularly disturbing is that Spencer from NichePursuits.com just recently posted that his AdSense account has been disabled.
This is quite distressing for us…we’ve looked to him for tips on building niche sites and have been “growing up” with him in the niche site space over the last year or so as both of our blogs and businesses have matured.
Spencer mentions some of the reasons he thinks he might have been banned, including having too many sites, but the template email he received was the same that others had in their inbox…talking about a potential risk to Google Advertisers.  What does that mean exactly?
That’s a pretty broad statement and leaves the door wide open for them to ban people that haven’t yet had a problem but might, potentially…some time in the future.  Ugh…not very encouraging.
There are plenty of others that have found themselves receiving this same notice from the Google AdSense team that their account has been disabled.  Have ALL of them broken the rules?
It doesn’t seem likely, especially after having followed and spoken with some of these well-known and respected bloggers.  If they did break Google’s ToS, it seems that many of them sincerely didn’t understand where it is they went wrong.  Because of this, we wanted to lay out our disaster plan and the exact steps we would follow should we have our AdSense account disabled similarly.
Before we did anything, we’d freak out… this would probably include a bit of screaming at the laptops, gnashing of teeth, complaining to our friends, etc.
After that, we would take a step back, relax, and try to avoid doing anything rash.  Most likely, being in the Philippines, we’d go relax on a beach somewhere (Boracay?  Palawan?) with a fruity drink in hand and think about where it is exactly we want to go moving forward.  We’d adjust our marketing strategy but, more importantly, we’d make some serious adjustments to our process, as laid out below.

Step 1: Appeal The Disabled AdSense Account

The first step we would take would be to appeal the ban on the AdSense account, but before doing that we would look very closely across our various niche sites to try and determine why it is that our account was banned.
Tip: Once your AdSense account is banned you no longer have access to the data in your account.  Make sure you are making regular back-ups of the data so that you can go through it in case of an emergency.  If you see any major changes in your traffic, earnings, etc. make sure to document that, consider shutting down ads on that particular site, and let Google know right away through this form.
The templated email that goes out doesn’t give you much to go on, but they do tell you that your account was posing a risk to their advertisers.  That’s fairly general, but there are some things we can look for:

• Have their been any significant increases/decreases in earnings over the last few weeks in the AdSense account?  From which sites on what days?
• Review the Analytics on the site that had the changes.  Has the traffic sources or keywords searched changed significantly?  What about the time on site?
• Have you recently started a new linkbuilding campaign that’s driving traffic?
• Have you released your sites or niches to any 3rd party that might be causing you problems?  (While we think it’s unlikely your AdSense account would be disabled due to linkbuilding, it does seem likely if that linkbuilding has become a significant source of traffic for you)
• Have you had any major disagreements or run-ins with competitors in any of your niches?  Have you had documented communication with them?
• Have any of your sites been linked to or mentioned online, especially in any internet marketing communities?  (Try searching for your URL to find any mentions on blogs, forums, etc.)  Did any significant traffic come through that link?

You need to document anything out of the ordinary from the above questions and prepare your message to the Google AdSense team.  I would attempt something like this:

• State your name, account, and the length of time you’ve been an AdSense publisher
• Explain briefly the events leading up to and after the banning of your AdSense account.
• Keep it brief and factual.
• Explain clearly the steps you took after learning your AdSense account was disabled, including any answers you have to the questions above and any thoughts you have about why this might have happened.
• Your call to action: State that you would like your AdSense account disabling to be reviewed and your account reinstated.
• Include a mention about how it is your intention to provide their advertisers the best, most-targeted leads and conversions possible and you will abide by the AdSense ToS in the future.

Do:

• Be brief Keep it factual
• Lay out your best guess as to why this has ocurred
• Ask for the account to be reinstated

Don’t:

•  Use emotional appeals, be passive aggressive, or be disparaging in any way towards Google or the AdSense program
• Write a novel (Ok, I know I tend to be a bit wordy, but I would cut this down so that it actually gets read by someone on the AdSense team)
• Be dishonest (Google knows a TON about you.  If they find you being less than truthful about anything, why would they believe anything else you have to say?)

While there are instances where these appeals have been approved (link to a pretty random approval story here), it seems more likely that the appeal will be denied.  If you’re an experienced publisher and know what you’re doing with AdSense, you may consider appealing again after the first was denied, but Google does state pretty clearly that the first appeal is the only one they guarantee to consider.

Step 2: Remove And Replace with AdSense Alternatives

While AdSense is well known to be the best when it comes to set-and-forget advertising on your site, there are other AdSense alternatives you can consider signing up for.
We mentioned a few of the different alternatives to AdSense here, but the companies I think we would setup immediately would be a combination of Media Net and InfoLinks.
While there are some less than exciting reviews about Media Net, I’ve also seen some from people I trust stating it’s a viable alternative.  The InfoLinks would serve as a top-up option for us, hopefully helping to earn a bit more to help close the gap between Media Net and AdSense.
Unfortunately, Media Net is not nearly as large as AdSense and doesn’t have near the number of advertisers, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the ads aren’t as closely contextually targeted as some of our AdSense ads have been.
We would rank our sites highest to lowest in terms of AdSense earnings, Pageviews, and recency of creation and start going down the list.  Our thought is that we would switch out the monetization from AdSense to Media Net and Infolinks for:

• The top 50% of site earners
• The top 50% of pageviews (any that weren’t included in the top earners)
• All sites less than 3 months old (any not included in the first two points)

We’d be hopeful to recover 50%+ of our earnings and relatively happy if we were able to recover 70%+ because we think it very likely that, across the board, we wouldn’t make nearly as much as we were making with AdSense directly.  A silver lining might be that a changed monetization strategy might actually improve the earnings on a few individual sites, even if the average earnings across the board went down.

Step 3: Research Improved Monetization Options

Some of our fellow bloggers remind us regularly that AdSense is not the only game in town and that there are plenty of alternatives outside of AdSense itself.  Some of our sites lend themselves well to affiliate offers through Amazon, Commission Junction, etc.  Other somewhat informational sites might be better monetized through a Clickbank info product.  Here’s what we would do:
Targeting the same qualifications listed in Step 2, Joe and I would go down the list, looking for the most closely matched affiliate offers we could find.  We’d split up the work…one of us would take Amazon, another would take Clickbank, and a third would go after smaller or more specific affiliates. 
We’d lay out the best options from all three in a spreadsheet first and then pick the one that’s most closely related to the niche sites we have.  This would be a ton of work and might end up taking several weeks to complete with everything else we have going on.  That’s ok…we’d like to give a bit of time to review the results from Step 2.

Step 4: Decide And Make Changes To Individual Site Monetization

About two months after switching to Media.net and InfoLinks, we would review individual site performance and decide on a new monetization strategy for each niche site.  Any of the site we found to be earning MORE with Media Net and InfoLinks we would most likely leave alone.
With the rest, we would lay out our process for the switch and assign two-man teams of our Virtual Assistants to go through the site(Including one site-creation agent and one Content Manager), changing the monetization and content where necessary.  During this process, all new site creation would be put on hold while we make these changes to our sites.
I think it highly likely that some of these sites would ultimately see quite a bit of improvement individually and, potentially, we’d see a bump in income across the board.  We would take several weeks to implement and several months to review the success of this campaign.
Depending on how the sites have performed after the switch, we may make a few more adjustments to a few of the sites down the road on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether we thought there was enough value or ROI on it or not.  Tweaking our sites has not been a part of our process in the past and I’m hesitant to get into that game with the volume at which we’re creating sites, but if the returns with alternatives were worth it then this is something we’d be willing to add to the machine, of course.

Step 5: New AdSense Accounts Through New Companies

I’m hesitant to give this advice, as I’m not entirely sure what the rules are here with AdSense.  (If you can point to reliable resources talking about this, please let us know…but make sure you’re referencing and that it’s not only opinion!)  My understanding is that once you’ve had an AdSense account disabled, you are no longer allowed to participate in the AdSense program.
In our case, that would mean our corporation would no longer be able to participate.  Since businesses are viewed as entities (wouldn’t they be in this case?) I can’t see why creating a new company would not be viewed as its own, separate entity.
Our plan would be to create two completely separate corporations or LLC’s.  These would most likely be based in separate parts of the country (world?) and would have everything separate.  (Including addresses, bank accounts, incorporators, Google accounts, pen names, etc.)  Nothing would be attached or connected with these separate companies and we would most likely be forced to be a bit more vague with our income reports, case studies, etc.
With the first company, we would setup an AdSense account.  Once approved, we would go through each of the sites that fit the qualifications in Step 2 and that have NOT been improved in terms of earnings for Step 3 and Step 4 and add our AdSense account to those sites.  We would monitor them regularly to determine their success and the viability of this plan laid out in Step 5.
With the second company, we would wait and, should something not work out with our account with the first company, we would use the second company to only build out new niche websites that have no attachment to our previous sites.  We would continue to build out our niche sites with this account, but it’s likely that our process would change dramatically and we would include considerably more randomness to the process to better protect our investments.
Lastly, I’d mention that this is probably not a strategy many publishers could or should consider.  If you’re only making a few hundred per month, you have to consider a good amount of time, effort, energy, and money would have to go into a plan like this…and it simply might not be worth it. 
If you’re at our income level or Spencer’s, the lost revenue is significant and well worth a detailed and costly adjustment to recover that lost revenue.  I’m not sure what the legality or rules are with this step, I’m reserving the right to edit, modify, or remove Step 5 in the plan as I find out more information about its viability!

Wrap-Up

While this plan would help us to mitigate our AdSense revenue losses and explore alternatives to Google AdSense, we’re unsure as to what this would do to site sales, our multiple, etc.  Some of the benefits to selling AdSense sites include:

• A platform that is widely recognized and used – There are tons of people that are AdSense publishers and it’s relatively easy to sign up for an account, as opposed to some alternatives.
• Using monetization methods that are less well-known would limit our buyer pool to some degree.
• Lower end of the monetization spectrum allows for easy improvements and improved ROI – As it stands, all of our sites are built and monetized on the AdSense platform, allowing the buyers to explore other forms of monetization including Amazon, info products, drop-shipping, etc.
•  If we explore and monetize with those other options we’re leaving less upside to buyers.
• We may be earning more per site, but we may see a drop in multiples on the sales because of this.
• A much more trusted platform – If some of our sites are on some less well-known affiliate platform, it may be harder to trust the data coming from that platform or the affiliate company we’re using overall.  What if they were to close up shop or end their affiliate offer?
• This is less of a concern with Amazon and the like, but definitely something to consider if we’re using the smaller, niche-specific affiliates.

This is a very disturbing topic to discuss to say the least.  I have to say that, knowing this is currently something Spencer’s going through, I now can see how frustrating this must be for those who were legitimately playing by the rules as they understood them. (If you get a chance, do stop by his site to offer some encouragement or advice for alternate strategies away from AdSense.)
I do sincerely hope this is not something we have to ever go through, but I’d like to have a disaster plan in place we can follow if this happens to us.