How to appeal an AdSense ban for invalid traffic?

If you’ve landed here, chances are you’ve just received the dreaded AdSense ban. It might seem like the end of the world, but all is not lost yet.

In this post, we’re going to show you the steps you can take to help appeal your AdSense ban for invalid traffic. We’re also going to highlight how you can prevent invalid traffic from ruining your business.

Identify why your AdSense account got disabled for invalid traffic

If you are going to appeal correctly and protect your account in the future, it’s best to understand the AdSense program policies. AdSense rules and content policy guidelines can be tricky for publishers to follow. This is where many publishers make costly mistakes and get into trouble with their advertising partners.

Advertisers are especially cautious when it comes to invalid traffic. Publishers who don’t understand it and haven’t put measures in place to prevent it will risk getting significant revenue clawbacks and full account bans.

Although there is a long list of policy violations that can put your account in bad standing the majority of infractions generally boils down to invalid traffic and policy violations.

Invalid traffic

-Invalid traffic is a catch-all term for the many different types of ad fraud that can happen.

-Invalid traffic primarily relates to sophisticated bots that view and click on your ad inventory.

Policy violations

Policy violations can include a range of content-related violations.

-This may include illegal, adult, copyrighted or any other types of content that the AdSense policies prohibit you from serving ads to.

-Deceptive ad placement and ad stacking.

What you need to in this section:

-Read the Google AdSense Program policies

-Read all about the top invalid traffic and policy violations that tend to lead to AdSense account closure

-Make sure your website adheres to the program policies on all fronts, especially with regard to invalid traffic.

What are your chances of getting your AdSense account reinstated?

Often, when it comes to appealing an AdSense ban, your chances of getting your account back are low. If you have willingly taken part in fraudulent ad practices, you probably won’t get your account back anytime soon.

However, if you were a victim of invalid traffic, which is often the case, then with our help you might be able to get your account back. However, since AdSense is a Google product and they want to protect their advertisers, we can’t provide any guarantees. In the case of unintentional invalid traffic, Google may temporarily suspend your account and give you one more chance to fix any violations, review all the content and add safeguards in place to ensure your website complies with the AdSense policy.

If all else fails and you don’t end up getting your account reinstated, there are alternatives to AdSense which we’ll discuss below. It’s a great ad network, but it doesn’t mean you should close down your business because you can’t use it anymore.

How using Traffic Cop could improve your chances of reinstating your account

Traffic Cop is MonetizeMore’s Invalid Traffic fighting product that helps publishers protect their AdSense and other ad network accounts from invalid traffic. Traffic Cop uses machine learning and fingerprinting algorithms to identify and block general and sophisticated invalid traffic sources.

Since MonetizeMore works directly with publishers to optimize and increase their ad revenues, we understand how crucial it is for publishers to protect the ad network accounts.

If a publisher is signed up for PubGuru Traffic Cop, there are different modes available:

• measure: when the ‘measure mode’ is on, invalid traffic will not be blocked, but can still be measured.

• block: when the ‘block’ mode is on, invalid traffic will get a captcha, and ads are deferred.

• nocaptcha: when the ‘nocaptcha’ mode is on, invalid traffic will not get a captcha and ads will not be loaded.

So, if you’ve already received the ban hammer, signing up and making use of Traffic Cop can mitigate the whole AdSense ban situation. To improve your chances of having your account ban lifted, we recommend signing up for and implementing Traffic Cop. When you write your AdSense account appeal, state that you’ve taken measures to block invalid traffic by joining Traffic Cop.

Remember, as critical publishers are to Google, advertisers are the ones paying for ad campaigns, and Google needs to protect their interests and the quality of their network. There is no room for invalid traffic in the Google ads ecosystem.

With Traffic Cop, you’ll be able to put a stop to invalid traffic. You’ll be protecting your account and Google will be protecting their advertisers. It’s a win-win.

How to appeal the AdSense ban for invalid traffic?

By now you should have figured out why your account was banned and fixed whatever invalid traffic/policy violations you were able to fix. As an additional measure, you should also have signed up for Traffic Cop to show Google that you are serious about protecting your account against invalid traffic.

You should also take a look at your Google Analytics account and see if there were any spikes in traffic and figure out where that traffic originated from. You could compare it to previous months as a baseline to show that the traffic was irregular.

Let’s say as an example on 15 Feb 2022 you received a spike in traffic of 50,000 visitors. Usually, you receive around 30,000-50,000 visitors per day, or on the same day the previous month, you received only 30,000 visitors.

Next, you should check where the traffic originated from. If you discover that a large portion of the traffic you received on 15 Feb 2022 was from radically different geography like China while you get the most traffic from the United States, it could be the source of your invalid traffic.

Be sure to document instances like this and gather the necessary proof to present to Google when writing your invalid traffic appeal.

You can see an example of the Invalid activity appeal from here: https://support.google.com/adsense/contact/appeal_form_non_login

Let’s take a look at some example responses you could give to the questions asked. I’m going to skip the first few questions that you should be able to answer yourself like “name” etc. and start with the following:

How do users get to your site, mobile app, and/or YouTube channel? How do you promote your content? *

Be honest when stating how you promote your content. There are many answers here. Do you promote it mainly via SEO/organic traffic, do you promote it via social media, do you purchase traffic on social media or use botnets, if so, where? Be specific with each traffic source you use and provide a clear answer.

Have you or your site, mobile app, and/or YouTube channel ever violated the AdSense program policies or Terms & Conditions? If so, how? Also, include any relevant information that you believe may have resulted in the invalid activity. *

Again, it’s best, to be honest. If you did not violate the AdSense program policies then state so. In terms of irrelevant traffic, you could say something in the lines like “I have never clicked on my own ads nor paid someone to click on ads on my website”. If you found any irregularities as in Google Analytics mention that as well. You can also say that it might have been a competitor clicking on your ads trying to get your account banned.

What changes will you implement to help improve ad traffic quality on your site, mobile app, and/or YouTube channel? *

Here I would start by mentioning the fact that you have studied the AdSense program policies as a refresher. You should also state that you have implemented Traffic Cop in order to block invalid traffic and prevent your ads from serving to bots. You can also mention the benefits of Traffic Cop and how it will keep advertisers safe from Invalid Traffic on your site.

Please include any data from your site, mobile app, and/or YouTube channel traffic logs or reports that indicate suspicious IP addresses, referrers, or requests which could explain the invalid activity. *

Here you can include any Google Analytics data where you received traffic spikes and saw irregularities concerning the origin of your traffic. Be specific and provide as much information as possible to help Google staff.

Your AdSense account was reinstated, what to do moving forward?

If Google reinstated your AdSense account, it might feel like a dream come true. From here on out we recommend being very careful of the traffic sources you use, continuing using Traffic Cop to monitor and block invalid traffic, and simply adhere to the AdSense policies.

To take your ad revenues to the next level and get access to a team of ad optimization experts that know the intricate ins and outs of AdSense, sign up to MonetizeMore!

You lost the appeal and are not getting your account back

It sucks! I get it; you probably put in countless hours writing content, and perfecting your site, only to lose your ad earnings. All is not lost yet. Before giving up, please take a look at the options below.

Get another AdSense account

You do have the option of getting another AdSense account as a business. However, if you didn’t fix any of the issues that led to a ban of your previous account, it will probably happen again.

Your best option, in this case, is to overhaul your site and make sure it adheres to all the Google AdSense program policies. Also, stay clear from any sketchy traffic sources and have invalid traffic prevention measures in place such as Traffic Cop to prevent bots from clicking on your ads.

Read more about signing up for AdSense as a business here: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/9729

Keep in mind using a different address, phone number, a registered business, etc. is recommended in this instance.

Try alternative ad networks

There are many alternative ad networks to AdSense with millions of ad impressions. You can start by applying for ad networks in our list of best ad networks for 2022 here.

Try alternative monetization methods

Some of the most popular alternative methods of website monetization include affiliate marketing, native advertising, and E-commerce.

Related read: https://www.monetizemore.com/blog/how-fix-ad-serving-limits-adsense

Conclusion

Going through the process of appealing an AdSense ban for invalid traffic can be grueling. If you follow the process we’ve outlined in this article, you have a better chance of getting your AdSense account reinstated.

Be sure to implement Traffic Cop to protect your ad accounts in the future!

Good luck!

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FAQ

What is invalid traffic in AdSense?

There are many different types of invalid traffic. It's categorized into general and sophisticated invalid traffic. For AdSense, it usually relates to non-human or bot traffic, accidental clicks, and publishers clicking on their own ads This type of invalid traffic is General Invalid Traffic. Read more about it here: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/16737?hl=en.

What are invalid clicks?

Invalid clicks relate to clicks made by non-human or bot traffic, accidental clicks, or publishers clicking on their own ads.

How do I protect my AdSense account from invalid clicks on blogger?

To protect your AdSense account from invalid clicks on blogger or any other website, you can use Traffic Cop. Traffic Cop is an invalid traffic detection and prevention solution. It uses advanced algorithms and machine learning to prevent your ads from serving to invalid traffic. We discuss this topic in more detail in the blog post.

How do I keep my AdSense account safe?

Utilize an invalid traffic detection and prevention service such as Traffic Cop that prevents your ads from serving to invalid traffic. Also, be sure to keep up to date with the latest AdSense program policies and make sure your site is compliant in every way. Do not click on your own ads or encourage accidental clicks or buy traffic from low-quality sources.

How do I stop invalid activity or invalid traffic?

You should use an invalid traffic detection and prevention service such as Traffic Cop that prevents invalid traffic from seeing your ads. Be sure not to click on any of your own ads; do not place ads too close to each other, which encourages accidental clicks. Do not encourage accidental clicks in any way. Do not buy traffic from any low-quality source as it might include bots.

How do I get my AdSense account back?

There is no clear-cut way to get your AdSense account back. The best thing you can do is appeal the ban while providing the AdSense team with the appropriate data to substantiate your claims that you were not responsible for whatever resulted in the account ban. If your account got banned for invalid traffic, additionally, you can also enlist the help of affordable and reliable invalid traffic detection and blocking tools such as Traffic Cop. Show this to the Google AdSense team and prove to them that you are serious about adhering to their program policies. Also, present them with any server or log data, which proves that you were not responsible for the invalid traffic clicking on your ads.