Banned from AdSense for Invalid Clicks: The Scoop

For many AdSense publishers, getting banned from AdSense can be a nightmare. Google click revenue has lined the pockets of millions of web owners since its launch in 2003. And if you’re one of the few who is actually making decent money, getting banned from AdSense for invalid clicks might be the death knell for that revenue stream.

According to Google Employee AdWordsEng Laura in this AdWords Support thread, it’s most likely that you’ve been banned for clicking on yout own ads or for encouraging others to click on your ads.

I don’t think there’s any connection between AdWords suspensions and AdSense ones. AdSense “invalid clicks” suspensions are usually just that: publishers clicking on their own ads or encouraging their visitors to do so. If you think you didn’t violate that policy, contact AdWords support.

Props to Barry Schwartz of SERoundtable for pointing me to that quote.

The good news is that you can file a reinclusion request if you’ve been kicked out of AdSense:
AdSense Invalid Clicks Reinclusion Request Form

Back in the day, one of my sites was banned from AdSense for encouraging clicks and it was difficult to find reliable information and the reinclusion request form. Since then, Google’s made it alot easier to  get info on why you were banned and what to do about it. But if you’ve flagrantly violated their terms with invalid clicks, it’s probably time to give up on AdSense and look for other forms of monetization like affiliate marketing.