Let me tell you a story about karma and how I made $250 by reporting an Adsense cheater!
It started when I came upon a web site where some kid was blatantly breaking the rules by asking his buddies to click on his Adsense ads.
This has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves! Why do people think they can break the rules at the expense of other peoples AdWords budgets
So I did what a lot of people do... I contacted Google!
I figured Google would shut this punk down immediately. Boy was I wrong!
Every time I went back to this kids web site the message asking his friends to click the ads were still there! This went on for a few weeks and I really started to get ticked off at the lack of response on Googles part.
So I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I used this software I created called Google Sponsor Lister (You can get it at AdsenseSchool.com) to find every sponsor who was targeting this kids niche.
I contacted each sponsor directly and told them there was a chance their ads were being displayed on a cheaters site. I figured if THEY complained to Google, something would happen!
Well I guess I was right! One of the sponsors emailed me back two days later and said:
I want to thank you for pointing out the kids clicking on my ads. I turned it over to my Google rep, and he called today to let me know Google is disabling their account. Also, he said Google is crediting me a decent amount for fraudulent clicks over the last quarter. Whats your address Id like to send you a little thank you gift.
How awesome is that I was so excited! Not because he was going to send me a thank you gift... but because I figured out how to get that punk shut down!
Its funny how Google shut this kid down in TWO DAYS because a sponsor contacted them but when I had been trying for weeks, nothing happened. Makes you think...
Anyway... I told him he didnt have to thank me and he definitely didnt need to send me a gift. I was just happy to know I saved him a couple bucks and this punk got his account canceled.
He replied with the following...
Thanks again. I actually spend several hundred thousand dollars a month on Google, so at least they responded to me quickly. Also, the rebate they gave me was fairly substantial (several thousand). Id really like to buy you an Amazon gift certificate or an iPod or something if youd like to tell me how to send it to you, because I dont think I would have been proactive about this if you hadnt contacted me. Either way, its great that youre being a good samaritan.
SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS I thought I saved him a couple bucks at most!
I was floored when I read that because I knew Adsense cheaters hurt sponsors but I never thought it was that bad!
So I told him if he REALLY wanted to send me an iPod or an Amazon gift certificate, I wouldnt stop him! ;-)
He ended up sending me an Amazon.com gift certificate worth $250!
Long story short... I am now a true believer in Karma! :-D
I think this teaches us a couple important lessons...
First, telling Google about Adsense cheaters is fruitless... but informing the sponsors, and asking them to contact Google, works immediately!
And second, ripping off AdWords sponsors is big business. Dont think for a second its a victimless crime!
Oh and now Im a true believer in Karma!
Maybe you wont make $250... but at the very least youll help get rid of another Adsense thief and save a business owner some money!
For more information about Adsense, check out where you will find exclusive software, hard hitting lessons, in depth videos, daily tips, Adsense experiments, and more!
Establishing a web presence has become a must for a great percentage of small companies. Even at a local level many prospective customers prefer to look for products and services online instead of going through phone directories. The advantage is an immediate feedback and the availability of much more information compared to an address and phone number.Being found on the search is vital. If nobody can find your business you are missing on possibly a great number of customers.
Once you have a professionally looking site, make sure the name of what you are selling is reflected in the title and copy. For example, if you are providing pet sitting services in Tampa, do not name your site Annes Caring Touch. It does not describe what you do and the search engine will not return results if someone searches for pet sitting services in Tampa. Name the site Annes Pet Sitting Services - Tampa. Scatter these keywords throughout the site with good copy describing your company. Do not overdue it though. The search engines frown upon heavy word repetitions and will penalize sites as spammy.
Make sure you list your site with local directories and possibly DMOZ (Open Directory Project) and Yahoo!
If you are in a highly competitive area where many companies offer the same goods and services, one alternative is to use Pay Per Click (PPC) to be at the top of the search results. You apply to open an account, select the keywords and pay only when someone clicks on your listing. The advantage of PPC is immediate search engine positioning and a captive audience that has already searched for a particular item. The disadvantage is that a lot of people might just be browsing. They will click on the listing after a search and never buy. You still will be charged for the click. It is possible to optimize PPC. Take this example: You sell Red Widgets. Many people search for them but never buy. They click on your site and here goes the charge. You can instead only bid for Buy Red Widgets and Red Widgets for Sale. Only people who search for these keyphrases will see your listing and you get qualified traffic.
This all sounds simple but it is surprising that many companies do not know how to manage PPC and waste a lot of money. In the end they get out of PPC because it brings a negative ROI.Natural search engine optimization takes time to become effective but once your site is high in the results you will not pay if someone clicks.
You can read more about PPC and search engine optimization on our website.
Fabio Braghi is a SEO specialist who owns Allpconline.com, a search engine optimization company