The holiday season is again upon us, and for AdSense publishers, Christmas has officially come early this year. We’ve covered the long-standing issue of AdSense bans stemming from invalid activity here on Site-Reference before. It’s been a thorn in the side of webmasters for years now – and after the aggressive algo changes we saw ushered out in 2012, countless AdSense publishers were wiped off the map without so much as a backwards glance.

The problem wasn’t the bans themselves – a decent percentage of them were likely justified. However, a great number of publishers found their accounts disabled with nothing more than a canned email and the sudden appearance of empty ad blocks on the “offending” sites. More often than not, these publishers were victims of “click bombing” – the practice of a competitor, spammer, or troll clicking on a webmaster’s AdSense ads multiple times in an attempt to disable the account.

Click bombing worked. Too well. And there was no clear recourse that webmasters could take to fight back against the bad guys. Webmasters were forced to take it on the chin, and some of them had accounts in good standing for years. It was the height of unfairness – and forums were bursting with accusations that Google AdSense reps sat in their ivory tower, banning accounts without the slightest regard for the little guys.

Well, guess what. Google is seeking to repair that image. Finally. Here’s the official word from a Google rep, as it appeared in a recent Marketing Land article:

Why Has Google Been Cryptic for So Long?

Most AdSense publishers sign onto the program with only the most honorable of intentions. However, there are always bad apples in the bunch, and the anonymity of the Internet affords the scammers the freedom they need to muck up an otherwise good thing.

Until now, AdSense bans have worked much like Google algorithms – the info behind the decisions was kept on the supreme down low. The simple reason for this is that any gratuitous information leaked about the bans would give spammers critical info they needed to do more damage. Unfortunately, (and quite ironically) this fact itself is what spammers began to exploit. They knew click bombing would lead to a no-questions-asked ban for their target, so the practice spread like wildfire all over the ‘net.

What’s Changing

In a nutshell: it’s a complete overhaul. Google is now considering tenure as a factor when making account determinations after invalid activity. This means that trusted publishers who have been running AdSense on their websites for years with prior issues will receive much greater consideration after an offense than will the new kids on the block. Some long-timers may even have their accounts suspended for a short period instead of completely shut down. Nice.

Further, Google promises in the official blog post announcing the changes that publishers who use AdSense can expect to see Google working more closely with them over time. Translation: in the months ahead, Google may reach the point where AdSense reps work with long-time publishers to resolve an issue without needing to deactivate the account at all – even temporarily.

A new day is indeed upon us, my friends.

New Tools to Protect Your Bottom Line

Google’s not just making promises – the search giant is putting its money where its mouth is by offering up a range of tools and tutorials to help publishers take greater control of their AdSense destiny as well. Take, for example, the snazzy new appeal form you can now use to defend yourself against accusations of unauthorized clicks. The official blog post assures publishers that the form will help expedite an appeal request, but the effectiveness of the new tool remains to be seen.

In addition, G is now submitting to serve up greater detail about the possible causes of the invalid click activity in your account. This was once unheard of. Previously, AdSense publishers had been left completely in the dark when their accounts were slapped with a ban. Part of me wonders if there will be any retroactive justice or reinstatement for those whose accounts have already been unjustly zapped.

Here’s the deal: if Big G detects that your AdSense blocks have somehow violated one or more policies, you’ll get an email and some instructions. This is the same as before, but we’re not talking about the standard, vague ol’ “Dear John” letter webmasters would receive prior to these new changes. Now, you’ll get a letter, a notification in your account, and instructions regarding how you can proceed to clear the matter up. Of course, Google still has the right to terminate accounts without warning or explanation, but this post is basically reassuring us that this will now be the exception instead of the go-to rule.

Google’s also added new info in its Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center and it’s now available in most languages supported by AdSense (German, Polish, French, and Arabic, for example). You can also check out the new informative video series (linked to in the official blog post) for tips and hints about keeping your AdSense account in good standing.

Google wants to protect its advertisers at all costs because – let’s face it – they’re the ones who keep G’s lights on. However, publishers do their part to bring home the bacon as well. It’s reassuring that Google is finally sitting up and taking corrective action against an issue that’s been going on for far too long.