How Getting Banned from Google Adsense Can Be a Good Thing

Written by Zac Johnson
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It’s been a few weeks since I first wrote about Google Adsense banning my account and graciously taking the money that I was earning in my account. It wasn’t much, but money is money and it’s always nice to have…. however that isn’t the topic for this post. Instead we will discuss how getting banned from Google Adsense can be a good thing.

It’s important to note that I really hadn’t been using Google Adsense for the past several years to generate any significant income. The sad part is that my account was super aged and had more personal meaning than anything else. It was one of my first big money accounts, with over six figures in earnings over the past decade and was loaded with tons of great stats and memories… nonetheless… we move on.

Instead of sulking and being sad, as internet marketers, web site owners and people in general… there is a gold lining it nearly everything, which is the end focus of this post.

How Getting Banned from Google Adsense Can Be a GOOD Thing!

Granted… there is nothing good about getting banned from anything, especially if you had owed money in your account and that also gets taken away. However, with more and more internet marketers and site owners coming out with their own stories every day about how they are getting banned from Google Adsense, it an lead to some improvements in your every day business life. Instead of looking at the negatives of getting banned from Google Adsense and potentially looking at just giving up, here’s a complete spin on the concept…

With so many different options out there now for running coupon sites and content heavy sites that serve a lot of ad impressions, there are now more ways to make money with content than ever before. If this is something you’d like to learn more about, you might want to look through some of the best Google Ads scripts out there, to see how you might be able to further optimize ad content within your sites.

Share Your Stories and Become a Voice

Since going live with my first post a few weeks back, I’ve had a lot of people email me and even link back to the site from several articles across the web. Heck, I was even listed on Problogger today as a result of the story. I’ll gladly take that type of exposure any day. Back to what I was getting at… the accounts getting banned from Google Adsense is nothing new, and many people wouldn’t know this unless people were making this public and sharing their stories. Spencer Haws was another well known name who was doing a nice amount of volume with Google Adsense, then had his account banned as well. Behind just the few of us, there is a long tail of names going through the same experience with Google.

Remove the Clutter, Increase the Gain

I must admit… For years I’ve had a massive amount of domain names and niche web sites floating around the internet. This would result in most of the Google Adsense revenue that would trickle in, but it would also result in hundreds to thousands of dollars every month to renew all of the domain names. Once my Google Adsense account was banned, I simply said “Screw it!”… I no longer wanted to waste time with all the little sites and ideas I had over the years, and if there wasn’t any PageRank associated with the domain names, I simply let them expire. The result? A lot less headaches and annoyance, while also allowing me to focus on the projects that matter.

Better Monetization and New Partnership

This one goes out to the many other people who were running Google Adsense, or still are. There are plenty of ways to monetize Google Adsense, and if you are willing to lose your traffic for just a few pennies, you really need to learn about better ways to monetize your traffic and site content. As mentioned, since I was banned from Google Adsense I also removed a ton of the clutter and smaller sites I had laying around. This allows me to focus on bigger long term monetization, such as product build and working with direct advertising and branding.

Life After Google Adsense…

As the terms and conditions say, once you are banned from Google Adsense you are pretty much banned for life. IF you have a serious business and were chugging out mega money with their platform, you have two different options. The first is to create a new company name and business, then sign up for a new account… but don’t associate it with your sites in your banned account. The other option is to move on (like I did), and just forget about Google Adsense and find better options that allow for better profits and growth for your sites.

The bottom line is, Google Adsense is going to make millions of dollars every day for millions of people around the world… and their business is legitimate and makes it EXTREMELY easy for any web site to start making money without any marketing knowledge. With that said, there is a reason why Google Adsense is so stupidly easy to use, and that is because they are taking a huge chunk of the profits. It’s up to you to decide how you will monetize your sites and if you would rather be lazy and make a few dollars with your current ad system in place, or put in the time and work to make more money and grow your web sites and business to new levels.

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58 Replies to “How Getting Banned from Google Adsense Can Be a Good Thing”

  1. Good post Zac. I'm glad it didn't represent a major part of your income. I've seen some guys who devoted years to building up adsense income and then had their 5 figure monthly cheque disappear.

    I don't like the way Google goes about it. For one, the ban is software driven and it seems that very few people get allowed back on. I also think that it's poor that Google don't pay out the final cheque. This means you could make $20,000 in a month and then google says there was some strange activity on your site and not pay you a penny…so a few dollars worth of invalid clicks would invalid your whole cheque. I can't think of many industries where a company can get away with doing that.

    I'm trying to develop my income. I am a bit concerned about people being banned though from what I've read, most of the people who have been banned have had numerous domains/websites (and many used link building services). I'm trying to focus on 3 or 4 websites. Though there are some people that don't fit this profile and still got banned…that's concerning to me.

    1. Thanks, glad you liked it. The part about Google taking the earnings is just hardcore, no one wants to see that happen. Even in affiliate marketing, if an advertiser goes bad, the network will flip the bill for it.

      For anyone who is looking at Google Adsense as their main source of income, these recent reports of bannings can be quite scary, and once an account is up for ban, it's nearly impossible to get back.

      I think it's safe to play around with Google Adsense on your main sites, but make sure that once you start pushing four figures a month, you either have a backup plan in place or extremely careful with where and how your Adsense spots are running.

  2. Zac, I have I similar issue, I have a bunch of sites that I own in all kinds of niches that make a few cents a day. I own around 30 domains and make no more than $10 bucks a day.

    So should I just delete all of my sites from my server and start from scratch?

    Also what should I do, affiliate marketing? (google.com hates affiliate sites) or should get advertisers to sponsor my sites?

    Just give me some tips, it just feels like google controls the whole internet and if you do not work for them there are no more options.

    1. If the sites are costing you more time than they are worth, they might be worth getting rid of. If they are making any decent money, throw them up on Flippa and see if you can get anything for them.

      Affiliate marketing is still a great way to make money. You just need to stick with your method of how you are going to promote ad campaigns. (ie: mobile, social networks, email, search, ppv, web sites). Keep playing around until you find something that works, then keep killing it til you see some nice numbers and stick with it.

      1. That's a good suggestion.

        One technique that I've seen many sellers do is group domains and websites that are not making much together. For example, say you have 50 adsense websites that make you $150 a month. Individually they might not be worth much but by selling it as a package you will be able to attract a lot more buyers.

  3. Good to hear you're keeping on. Adsense is really the bottom of the barrel as far as profits go online. People make good money at it but there are plenty of other ways of making more money with that same traffic. Not losing that traffic to other sites for a buck a click but getting a real conversion that earns something.

    Looking forward to seeing what you'll be up to in the future.

  5. +1 on that one Zac
    Out of every adversity comes the seeds of equal or greater success
    My recent post Hello world!

  6. Interesting post Zac, definitely a timely reminder that it's not a good idea to have all the eggs in the same basket…

  7. I'm also looking to earn money online and first thing comes into my mind is using Google Adsense, though your earning remain limited but it's useful if you've relatively new site with low traffic. But once you start getting more traffic then you can move on to try affiliate marketing which certainly gives huge opportunity to earn big in quick time and I'm sure then you won't think about Google Adsense.
    My recent post ecommerce Website Development

    1. Sure, I would use it again, the same way I use it before the ban… which was rarely and not as a substantial revenue generator. For anyone that is going through the same ordeal and wants to monetize older niche sites they might have, they can just as easily throw contextual marketing on the site, which can bring in decent revenue.

  10. I first start my Career with Google adsense on blogspot site but unfortunately my account banned on $300 and when I request for reason Google didn't give any support.
    My recent post IBS studies

  11. Hello,

    I know many people who were banned from Google Adsense but to tell you the truth and to encourage people who have been banned that there are many ways to make online income. This post is very helpful for people who have given up when they come across with ban

    Thank you,
    Zouras

  13. Yep…this stinks! I got banned as well and was owed over 6K for 1 month and plenty more for the current month.

    I notice accounts always seem to get banned around the same time as well, mine was March 16 2012.

    Anyway, life after adsense comes with a lot of creativity and opportunity. Forget life without adsense, how about life without depending on a search engine.

    Now that sounds great to me.

    -Omar
    My recent post Having Trouble Finding Quality Articles? Let Us Write For You!

  14. I am currently building two authority sites and may add a niche site sometime next year, so the information I see posted here is very valuable.

    I'm not sure why Goggle has made changes, but you can be sure that it has to do with their bottom line. I haven't had much Adsense income, so my focus is on affiliate marketing through content, building, sidebar & Text ads and marketing to email lists. Google is similar to an affiliate account, it can be gone tomorrow with no explanation which has happened to me.

    But one thing I do know, I own my sites. So if Google changes the game, I'll figure out a way to earn income by working around the changes. If one affiliate account goes south, there are others. Building your brand is the only way to go. And quality content seems to be the major trump card in any game hand.
    My recent post Audible.com upgrades its Free trail membership offer

  15. I was banned by adsense about a week ago. Guess what? I felt relieved, on one side, and I am now making more money, on the other. This way everyone is happy.
    My recent post Email Marketing a la Howie Schwartz

  16. It's amazing the amount of people that were actually effected.

    I'd like to find out exactly how many customers of the targeted link building/blog networks were banned from Adsense. I have a feeling that after Google took down those networks, they marked many of the sites using their services as spam, resulting in the large amount of account bans that we've been hearing about lately. I don't think it's some coincidence.

    It's definitely going to challenge a lot of people and I think it's going to be interesting to see how creative people get with their monetization strategies.

    My recent post 18 Tips on How to Lose Weight Fast

    1. It would be interesting to see the actual numbers, and the reasoning behind all of the recent bans. Google is taking out the link building networks and anything else they feel like demolishing. Waiting to see what's next…

  17. I think to you, getting banned from Google adsense makes you more focused on affiliates marketing, your biggest income stream, that's why that thing can be a good thing, Jack 🙂
    My recent post How to Start a Blog That Will Generate Income?

    1. Definitely. There are many options that are much better than Google Adsense out there. Just a matter of looking and making the necessary changes.

  20. Hi Zac, you are looking on the other side of it. It can be disastrous for your website and will fade your interest in blogging if you get adsense ban here. Because in India, there are much less monetizing opportunities then in other countries like USA.
    My recent post Security on the Internet- Using VPN Service

    1. I'm sure there are a lot less options in India, but there has to be better monetization methods than Google Adsense out there. Even direct selling will probably yield better earnings if you have nice traffic and put the work in to contact advertisers directly.

  21. I think that having a broader selection of traffic generation strategies is the safest approach – I personally would not be able to sleep at night if I had to rely on Google for putting food on the table, they could put you in the poor-house in the blink of an eye.
    My recent post Adf.ly Campaign Draws to a Close

  22. Like you say Zac it’s “never good to be banned”, from anything!

    Reputation is everything and it’s a very difficult prospect for most to start earning online. I have just seen a massive down turn in my traffic because of the latest Google search updates. It’s never a great prospect to cope with the changes Google makes, in the end of the day they are setting the tone and putting all your proverbial eggs in the Google basket is never a good idea?
    My recent post An introduction to CSS3

  23. Although I did not actually get banned, I had a pretty close shave with AdSense last June when I got one of those "you have 3 days to make changes to your site" warning emails. It turns out that one of my sites that was using the BlueSense theme (variant of ProSense theme by Dosh Dosh) was flagged for "format mimicking" and "encouraging accidental clicks" because the theme layout had the post title links placed too close to some of the AdSense links. Also, one of the link units called for by this theme was judged to be too similar to a normal navigation bar and could therefore encourage accidental clicks on the ads.

    Fortunately I managed to quickly fix this problem by simply switching to a different WordPress theme, and this seemed to avoid the ban. So if any of you are still using a ProSense-styled theme, watch out!

    P.S. — It seems that there may be a small mistake in the article text. In the sentence "There are plenty of ways to monetize Google Adsense, and if you are willing to lose your traffic for just a few pennies, you really need to learn about better ways to monetize your traffic and site content." it would make more sense to insert the word "besides" in between "monetize" and "Google AdSense". 🙂
    My recent post Internet Marketing According to Amazon Mechanical Turk

  24. Great article. I am in the same situation. Google noted me that my account has been suspended and they get my money. Now I can find better monetization methods 🙂

  26. Very interesting article, i have never read this kind of post on adsense before. Many people do not prefer Adsense because it will steal your precious customer for only few cents. so some times its better that you try some other methods.
    My recent post Alertpay is Gone – Got new Name Payza

  27. Google AdSense is quite a loss. But I am curious as to what other sites can be used to make money on your blog? I am a prolific writer and really want to know how to blog and how it can generate revenue for me. Thank you for posting!

  29. Hi, I am also suffer with this situation but i never feel frustration about this there are plenty of adsense alternatives are their .using them i paid by them.
    My recent post How to handle Human Resource department during Economic slowdown.

  30. Its really scary that big sites too get banned from adsense. Seems like they really take their TOS seriously no matter how old or new your account is. Other people are saying that there is a warning before they ban. Others share that it was immediate. Good thing there's also Chitika, Infolinks, and Kontera.
    My recent post Cebu Pacific Promo Fare from August 2012 to March 2013

  31. Great info! I started my first site on Dec 2010, started Google Adsense later that month, and by Jan. 2011, I was banned for life. i was moving too fast. I didn't read the strict guide lines and I figured it was ok for me to click on a ad if I was interested in the product or service. I was clicking on about 4 ads per day and checking my daily earnings. I had generated about $70 and before I could get paid, I received the infamous email that my account was banned. I was new to the whole website thing and I was only getting about 5 to 25 visits per day. Today, I'm getting a few thousand unique hits per day and I am unhappy with the results I'm getting from Chitika Ads (An alternative to Google Ads). Hopefully I can find my nitch and start generating more profit from sponsorship and advertisement.

  33. Hey Zac, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. It seems plenty of people are feeling the heat from Google. It's simply appalling how they don't pay out revenues made from sites to website owners though. Like you write the best thing is to keep positive and look for alternatives. Did you write an article on alternatives already? I'm running a small blog and I'm using Komoona (https://www.komoona.com) as my ad service. Things are rolling nicely, and as you point out, maybe being banned from Adsense was a good thing after all. 🙂

  34. You didn't really say how you overcame being banned. You let go of some of your domain names — well ……

  35. Great article. I was banned today and I had actually wrote to them to let them know that someone had put a google adsense in between my posts and I had no way of removing it. I had actually informed them about this and two days later they no longer want to allow me to place their ads on my blog. This is so unfair to be honest I do not want to do business with them anymore. I feel they do not care because they are making so much money.I never took it for granted that I was allowed to have them on my blog they have a great thing going, however I too am a person just like everyone else I followed all the rules (always removed them before I surfed) I had respect for them,I will continue to stay positive and for all our fellow bloggers chin up keep posting.

  36. Hi there tell me I see these sites that you can get free or pay for traffic. I am already banned from Google after 1 week. You promote your site all over the net launch it start to get 1800 odd hits a day make some money and they stop you like that. Anyway if you do buy traffic would you get banned from the rest of the Affiliate ad groups like Clickbank, Comission Junction, Clixgalore, Infolink?
    My recent post Motorcycle fatalities up in Maine – Portland Daily Sun

  37. Great post. I was banned by Adsense for invalid clicks. I had been clickbombed. When I got the dreaded email from Google my heart sank. I tried the alternatives but they all sucked. I now have affiliate ads which actually perform better. Losing your Adsense account is not the end of the world!
    My recent post Life After a Google Adsense Ban. Alternatives are not looking good.

  39. I got Banned too….I taught the world was going to end and now I can not make any money online…But that's was not the case. I still make money online even more. I really thing google sucks. Even thou I did not mind using adsense, but boy their policy is crazy, I was thingking of sining up with my moms name but not really interested aany more. too many ways to ear cash here…
    My recent post VIAIR 400P Small Portable Air Compressor For Car Tires Van And Trucks Reviews

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