I've been noticing a strange AdWords trend that has me really concerned about how it might effect me as an AdSense publisher. I keep seeing very deceptive ads that I'm sure generate invalid clicks through no fault of the AdSense publisher.
These ads have turned up on various sites but today I found one on this very blog as I was previewing my last article.
The ads are disguised so they don't look like ads. The example I included in the screenshot above even closely matches the colors of my site's template.
From time to time I notice a new AdSense click that has high earnings (5-10x my average EPC), then a short time later the click is still there but the revenue has vanished
In some cases it seems these ads are a willful attempt to get more impressions and more clicks but not have to pay for it. The scam appears to go like this:
- Create an ad that looks nothing like an ad.
- Make sure the ad can be confused with the content of the sites it's likely to be displayed on.
- Bid very high for your ad placements.
- Hope the ads generate a lot of invalid clicks so you get a discount.
Is anything being done about this? Are these types of ads potentially putting my AdSense account at risk of being disabled?
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