"Google hit by class action lawsuit over claimed AdSense fraud"

[toxic]

@toxic

I had worked with a contact at Google that advised me on placement and approved if everything looks by their terms or not… After working with AdSense for over year and getting paid on time, I had my account banned with over $45k in pending payments. One thing Google could’ve done is gave me a notice in advance or at least bothered to get in contact after ban. I am almost 100% sure it was picked up by an automatic bot, and when I tried to get in contact with them it went to an automatic bot for a review, everything is done by an automatic bot and Google are ****ing assholes.

My business was 100% legit and they ****ed me over, now I have to jump through hoops and tricks to keep my new account live which only makes Google’s job harder. Why do you think there is a whole sub-industry of google play accounts, google has been disabling accounts for no reason since AdSense was born.

I dont give a shit how much work they have to do when I provide them with inventory, we have a deal, and they keep 35% of profits on my traffic.

I would jump in on this class-action suit if this was couple years back but now I just don’t have enough evidence anymore. Its a shame, but I hope Google gets ****ed real hard here.

with that being said, just got paid by AdSense for the month of April anyone else?

[javaexp]

yes I too got paid from adsense. Its strange to receive payment from adsense on 21st of month.

[adforandroidapps]

@toxic

with that being said, just got paid by AdSense for the month of April anyone else?

So because of that earlier episode - you not only had $45K not delivered to you - but also got a lifetime identity ban ?

So now you have to flit from one identity to another in order to keep your business alive ?

This is exactly the Kafkaesque situation I described. Google may do good in many people’s eyes - but at the end they are a COMMERCIAL company. And not impervious to fault.

No one is faulting them for trying and failing in implementing processes for spam etc. - however what I find reprehensible is the concept of a “lifetime ban” or an “identity ban” - which makes people into criminals and forever looking over their shoulder. You are stealing something from them.

In addition when Google terminates their business relationship with a small developer or Adsense user - they need to clear their books with them. They cannot just go away with $45K of their cash - and no one makes a peep.

Is this not perverse in a way - that the collective appreciation of a company’s “other benefits” seems to JUSTIFY their bad behavior against a couple of individuals ?

I would say this is ALREADY getting very close to a totalitarian regime or a fascist environment - at the rising-in-popularity stage of those movements - where the collective realization of the benefit of a movement is seen as overwhelmingly good - to the point that the individual faults of that organization - it’s occasional rape of an individual - is seen as acceptable.

No amount of overall goodwill of a company should allow them to trespass over segments of our society which cannot fight back.

That said - I also realize that the situation will CONTINUE this way if there is no public sentiment going against the company. If overwhelming goodwill flows - the benefit that each member of society feels from the company overshadows their concern for the rare-in-their-view individual who might be affected by the “dark side” of the company.

So the public chooses to close it’s eyes to it - this is not unique to Google - this happens with political movements. Anything that seems to capture the collective affection of the population.

What makes Google more dangerous than Pizza Hut for example is that Google is everywhere - you can afford not to eat Pizza Hut - but you cannot afford not to use Google. Complicating things further - Google by default presumes power to enumerate people, places and to profile. That can be very dangerous if it is not used for public benefit - but is used privately to further THEIR control over individuals - for example if Google is using the profiling powers granted to it via search/browser and overall presence everywhere - to further the efficiency of it’s Admob business - by using it to identify identity networks - to match who is using what account - and if they “really are that other person” - in which case to ban that account.

What Google is doing with their Admob and Adsense bannings - is use presumption of guilt - derived from the working of a computer algorithm. If that is not bad enough, they are using (or may be using - since we cannot know if there is a chinese wall between the different business units) - the power granted them from search - to advance their business interests in Admob.

I would question whether Google SHOULD be allowed to use the immense power granted to them to tally individuals - to link one person to another - to advance their Admob business.

The Admob business alone - if it was being operated by another company WOULD NOT have this secondary power of algorithmically creating identity-networks - so there might be a case here of Google using it’s monopoly power in search to advance it’s Admob business - which essentially makes Admob a beneficiary of a monopoly - which makes all competitors unable to compete with Admob.

Or that sort of thing.

[Pixelpower]

Epic fuking post!!!

[luckysam88]

@adforandroidapps

So because of that earlier episode - you not only had $45K not delivered to you - but also got a lifetime identity ban ?

So now you have to flit from one identity to another in order to keep your business alive ?

This is exactly the Kafkaesque situation I described. Google may do good in many people’s eyes - but at the end they are a COMMERCIAL company. And not impervious to fault.

No one is faulting them for trying and failing in implementing processes for spam etc. - however what I find reprehensible is the concept of a “lifetime ban” or an “identity ban” - which makes people into criminals and forever looking over their shoulder. You are stealing something from them.

In addition when Google terminates their business relationship with a small developer or Adsense user - they need to clear their books with them. They cannot just go away with $45K of their cash - and no one makes a peep.

Is this not perverse in a way - that the collective appreciation of a company’s “other benefits” seems to JUSTIFY their bad behavior against a couple of individuals ?

I would say this is ALREADY getting very close to a totalitarian regime or a fascist environment - at the rising-in-popularity stage of those movements - where the collective realization of the benefit of a movement is seen as overwhelmingly good - to the point that the individual faults of that organization - it’s occasional rape of an individual - is seen as acceptable.

No amount of overall goodwill of a company should allow them to trespass over segments of our society which cannot fight back.

That said - I also realize that the situation will CONTINUE this way if there is no public sentiment going against the company. If overwhelming goodwill flows - the benefit that each member of society feels from the company overshadows their concern for the rare-in-their-view individual who might be affected by the “dark side” of the company.

So the public chooses to close it’s eyes to it - this is not unique to Google - this happens with political movements. Anything that seems to capture the collective affection of the population.

What makes Google more dangerous than Pizza Hut for example is that Google is everywhere - you can afford not to eat Pizza Hut - but you cannot afford not to use Google. Complicating things further - Google by default presumes power to enumerate people, places and to profile. That can be very dangerous if it is not used for public benefit - but is used privately to further THEIR control over individuals - for example if Google is using the profiling powers granted to it via search/browser and overall presence everywhere - to further the efficiency of it’s Admob business - by using it to identify identity networks - to match who is using what account - and if they “really are that other person” - in which case to ban that account.

What Google is doing with their Admob and Adsense bannings - is use presumption of guilt - derived from the working of a computer algorithm. If that is not bad enough, they are using (or may be using - since we cannot know if there is a chinese wall between the different business units) - the power granted them from search - to advance their business interests in Admob.

I would question whether Google SHOULD be allowed to use the immense power granted to them to tally individuals - to link one person to another - to advance their Admob business.

The Admob business alone - if it was being operated by another company WOULD NOT have this secondary power of algorithmically creating identity-networks - so there might be a case here of Google using it’s monopoly power in search to advance it’s Admob business - which essentially makes Admob a beneficiary of a monopoly - which makes all competitors unable to compete with Admob.

Or that sort of thing.

WOW!!! love this thread!

[shajder]

sorry to read about your pending payment - serious amount, I think you are the evidence.

@toxic

I had worked with a contact at Google that advised me on placement and approved if everything looks by their terms or not… After working with AdSense for over year and getting paid on time, I had my account banned with over $45k in pending payments. One thing Google could’ve done is gave me a notice in advance or at least bothered to get in contact after ban. I am almost 100% sure it was picked up by an automatic bot, and when I tried to get in contact with them it went to an automatic bot for a review, everything is done by an automatic bot and Google are ****ing assholes.
…

[phiber]

I believe Google has a good legal team, however I am almost certain they didn’t play fair. Having the option to keep the money while banning the account just prior to paying the publisher out doesn’t paint a nice picture.