by Terry Atkison

Created on: November 11, 2006   Last Updated: April 13, 2007

If you are one of the tens of thousands of people who own a website and are trying to use the Google Adsense Publishing network to make money, you must be vigilant in order to prevent your Adsense account from being deleted. Make sure you read through the Google Adsense Terms of Service at:

https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms

Bey ond this, you must be aware of what sort of activity can and likely will result in the cancellation of your account. Some of these activities can be caused by you inadvertently. Also, there are many ways for other people to get your account cancelled. Here are some important issues to know:

1.) Invalid clicks - This is the number 1 reason that Google Adsense Publisher accounts get deleted. An 'invalid click' is defined by Google as ANY type of click on an ad that comes from any source other than a legitimate visitor to your site. This means that you can generate an invalid click by making changes to your site layout and inadvertently clicking on one of your own ads. This can also occur if a friend or family member goes to your site and clicks on a few ads 'to help you out'. These clicks can also be generated if you sign up for ANY SORT of paid traffic or 'click exchange' programs, in which people are directed to your site by illicit means or as part of a 'pay-to-click' program. NEVER use any sort of paid traffic on your site. If Google detects multiple clicks coming from the same IP address, or if they detect a sharp rise in your clicks per day, you WILL have your account closed, typically with no questions asked.

More importantly, there is a growing trend amongst so-called 'blackhat SEO' practitioners to go and click multiple times on the ads on competitor's sites. You'd think that this would only help you, but Google isn't going to try very hard to distinguish whether or not the multiple clicks are coming from paid traffic or your buddy or someone else. All Google needs to see is activity that is out of the ordinary and you will likely be kicked from the program.

To protect yourself from invalid clicks, you must use tools available to any Adsense Publisher to protect yourself. If you have a highspeed internet connection, you can go to your Google Adsense account and enter your own IP address so when you go to your own site you won't see any ads. No ads equals nothing to inadvertently click. Also, there are third-party scripts that can automatically detect when multiple clicks are occurring from the same IP address, and then

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