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> For years, AdSense has been transparent about the fee we charge for our service, which is consistent with industry rates. When publishers have chosen to use A

> For years, AdSense has been transparent about the fee we charge for our service, which is consistent with industry rates. When publishers have chosen to use AdSense to monetize their content, they have kept 68% of the revenue. Unless, of course, when you go to cash out you run into their absurd KYC that will arbitrarily get rejected (you only get 1 chance), or they cancel your account for reasons, and there is absolutely no recourse. They are happy taking your business before that though, of course.

_jal 3y ago
Yeah, the business model is remarkably similar to the credit card fraud reshippers. Keep your mules busy until is time to pay out and then ghost them.
_rrnv 3y ago
Happened to me too when i was a student, earned $300, tried withdrawing and they just froze my account, for "fraud clicks". It's Google's long tail business model to not filter fraud out on the go and instead just lead small site owner on. On a global scale I expect billions in additional revenue, but no global court to challenge Google with a class-action. Maybe someday...
- pests 3y ago
  I earned a couple hundred with them too when I was young. Never claimed it. They eventually released it to my states unclaimed property system and a decade later I got it from that.
- JohnMakin 3y ago
  They got me on a hobby site for about $5k. No real reason given, just rejected my ID verification with no appeal possible. hundreds of similar stories out there
  - miohtama 3y ago
    There was an era when Google’s slogan was ”Don’t do evil.” It was so long time ago that most of have not even heard about it today.
    - pie420 3y ago
      Don't be evil. Funny how even you don't really remember it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil
      - pixl97 3y ago
        Don't be [caught doing] evil. Someone just paraphrased that in the company memo.
    - olliej 3y ago
      Yeah it's not been a thing a google for at least a decade. When I went to work for them the onboarding did not have that phrase anywhere in any of the documents (onboarding, training, or orientation) - and I explicitly searched for it.
      - SquareWheel 3y ago
        They didn't ask you to read the Code of Conduct? It's been in there from the beginning. https://abc.xyz/investor/google-code-of-conduct/ https://abc.xyz/investor/google-code-of-conduct/
        olliej 3y ago
        They were noticed publicly removing it in 2018 (which was reported on), so I'm guessing I came on during a period it was gone, and they have since re-added it.
        jkaplowitz 3y ago
        Most of the public reporting was incorrect. The phrase never left the Google code of conduct, but it did move to a less prominent position, and the closest thing that has ever been in the code of conduct of the parent company Alphabet since its creation in 2015 is “Do the right thing”. “Less prominent position” does not mean “zero prominence”. A mention in the final sentence is not anywhere near as prominent as it was before the change, but that’s still more prominent than something like hiding it in the middle. Now, their adherence to the phrase has certainly decreased over time and was never perfect. That’s a separate matter. Disclosure: I used to work for Google, but not since before Alphabet was created (which was some years before this Google code of conduct change). I never had any involvement in the decisions over this motto or the changes to where it shows up, beyond of course trying my best to adhere to it in my own work.
  - plagiarist 3y ago
    I'd go to small claims over $5k.
- bpodgursky 3y ago
  > It's Google's long tail business model to not filter fraud out on the go Well the honest answer is that it's harder for clickfraud farms to hyperoptimize against detection algorithms on-the-fly this way. This makes it harder for them to figure out exactly what pattern is flagging the algorithm.
conradfr 3y ago
It happened to me for no good reasons in 2008. Nowadays I have a side projects with Adsense on it, using another Google account, which I have to use in incognito mode because otherwise it links me to the other account that I'm still using and rejects me. Also, for a service that processes billions, it still does not offer a developer mode so when your implementing the ad script: - You're not always getting ads so can't be really be sure your code and UI are OK. - You risk being penalized / kicked out because you click on an ad n times by mistake Edit: also there's a semi-scam that has been running on Adsense for years. Those "3 steps to get your video/software/etc click here" ads. There is a lot of variant. IIRC they trick people into subscribing to a fake service through your phone bill. They're very hard to block as a publisher as they come from A LOT of accounts.
tedivm 3y ago
This happened to me when I was in college and cost me a few hundred dollars. It caused so much stress, and no human was willing or able to help me. As far as I'm concerned Google robbed me.
- jacobn 3y ago
  Small claims court? May be too late now of course.
dumbfounder 3y ago
They have several thousand of my dollars. Every several years I get a notice from an auditor that I have money and I just need to login and get it. Except I can't login, and I can't get it.
- a_wild_dandan 3y ago
  All of these anecdotes smell like a class action lawsuit. Perhaps also criminal charges? It's theft. Felony grand theft, in your case. Maybe their pretext is enough to muddy establishing intent? IANAL, it just sounds absurd that Google can skate by while doing this.

_jal 3y ago

Yeah, the business model is remarkably similar to the credit card fraud reshippers. Keep your mules busy until is time to pay out and then ghost them.

_rrnv 3y ago

Happened to me too when i was a student, earned $300, tried withdrawing and they just froze my account, for "fraud clicks". It's Google's long tail business model to not filter fraud out on the go and instead just lead small site owner on. On a global scale I expect billions in additional revenue, but no global court to challenge Google with a class-action. Maybe someday...

pests 3y ago
I earned a couple hundred with them too when I was young. Never claimed it. They eventually released it to my states unclaimed property system and a decade later I got it from that.
JohnMakin 3y ago
They got me on a hobby site for about $5k. No real reason given, just rejected my ID verification with no appeal possible. hundreds of similar stories out there
- miohtama 3y ago
  There was an era when Google’s slogan was ”Don’t do evil.” It was so long time ago that most of have not even heard about it today.
  - pie420 3y ago
    Don't be evil. Funny how even you don't really remember it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_evil
    - pixl97 3y ago
      Don't be [caught doing] evil. Someone just paraphrased that in the company memo.
  - olliej 3y ago
    Yeah it's not been a thing a google for at least a decade. When I went to work for them the onboarding did not have that phrase anywhere in any of the documents (onboarding, training, or orientation) - and I explicitly searched for it.
    - SquareWheel 3y ago
      They didn't ask you to read the Code of Conduct? It's been in there from the beginning. https://abc.xyz/investor/google-code-of-conduct/ https://abc.xyz/investor/google-code-of-conduct/
      - olliej 3y ago
        They were noticed publicly removing it in 2018 (which was reported on), so I'm guessing I came on during a period it was gone, and they have since re-added it.
        jkaplowitz 3y ago
        Most of the public reporting was incorrect. The phrase never left the Google code of conduct, but it did move to a less prominent position, and the closest thing that has ever been in the code of conduct of the parent company Alphabet since its creation in 2015 is “Do the right thing”. “Less prominent position” does not mean “zero prominence”. A mention in the final sentence is not anywhere near as prominent as it was before the change, but that’s still more prominent than something like hiding it in the middle. Now, their adherence to the phrase has certainly decreased over time and was never perfect. That’s a separate matter. Disclosure: I used to work for Google, but not since before Alphabet was created (which was some years before this Google code of conduct change). I never had any involvement in the decisions over this motto or the changes to where it shows up, beyond of course trying my best to adhere to it in my own work.
- plagiarist 3y ago
  I'd go to small claims over $5k.
bpodgursky 3y ago
> It's Google's long tail business model to not filter fraud out on the go Well the honest answer is that it's harder for clickfraud farms to hyperoptimize against detection algorithms on-the-fly this way. This makes it harder for them to figure out exactly what pattern is flagging the algorithm.

conradfr 3y ago

It happened to me for no good reasons in 2008. Nowadays I have a side projects with Adsense on it, using another Google account, which I have to use in incognito mode because otherwise it links me to the other account that I'm still using and rejects me. Also, for a service that processes billions, it still does not offer a developer mode so when your implementing the ad script: - You're not always getting ads so can't be really be sure your code and UI are OK. - You risk being penalized / kicked out because you click on an ad n times by mistake Edit: also there's a semi-scam that has been running on Adsense for years. Those "3 steps to get your video/software/etc click here" ads. There is a lot of variant. IIRC they trick people into subscribing to a fake service through your phone bill. They're very hard to block as a publisher as they come from A LOT of accounts.

tedivm 3y ago

This happened to me when I was in college and cost me a few hundred dollars. It caused so much stress, and no human was willing or able to help me. As far as I'm concerned Google robbed me.

jacobn 3y ago
Small claims court? May be too late now of course.

dumbfounder 3y ago

They have several thousand of my dollars. Every several years I get a notice from an auditor that I have money and I just need to login and get it. Except I can't login, and I can't get it.

a_wild_dandan 3y ago
All of these anecdotes smell like a class action lawsuit. Perhaps also criminal charges? It's theft. Felony grand theft, in your case. Maybe their pretext is enough to muddy establishing intent? IANAL, it just sounds absurd that Google can skate by while doing this.