Most people starting an online business usually begin with a simple blog (or website) and Adsense. The reason for this is that there is no simpler way to start making money right away. Once you have your blog up and running, it’s a simple matter of pasting some code on your web pages and within 10 minutes you’re receiving highly targeted ads that make you money whenever someone clicks on them.

While all this sounds good in theory, the AdSense program isn’t without its drawbacks. One of the biggest negatives is that you can lose your account without notice and forfeit all the money that hasn’t been paid out yet. Thus, building your business around AdSense only is a risky venture.

I belong to several webmaster forums and, without fail, every day I run across a posting about someone losing their AdSense account. In some cases, it’s obvious that the person has been trying to scam the system and they’re getting their just desserts – but I also see what appears to be honest, hard-working individuals losing their account through no fault of their own. Most of these people are devastated by the fact that their income has been abruptly turned off.

From Google’s standpoint, they’ve got to maintain a heavy hand when it comes to their AdSense program. In many ways, everyone is kept honest by the fact that you’ve got one strike and you’re out. The fact that many people who were kicked out complain about it in the forums bodes well for Google, because anyone thinking of manipulating the system will think twice after reading about someone else’s bad experience.

There are many reasons that Google will cancel your AdSense account. One of the worst things you can do is to click on your own ads. You will never, ever, get away with this. Their algorithm to catch cheaters is so sophisticated that any more than a few clicks on your own ads will result in the dreaded e-mail and subsequently, your account being deleted. Besides fraudulent clicks, the more common reasons that people run into trouble is: manipulative placement of their ads on their website, offering incentives for visitors to click the ads, or inappropriate website content.

One of the biggest problems that I have with AdSense is that anyone can get you booted out of the system. All I have to do is go to your site and continuously click your ads. Even though you’re completely innocent, Google will still disable your account because you are a risk to their advertisers. They don’t care if you’re clicking on the ads, or if it’s one of your friends, or if it’s one of your enemies. The bottom line is that fraudulent clicks cost advertisers money and Google has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to that.

So how can you avoid receiving the dreaded “Your account has been disabled” e-mail?

First of all, don’t tell anyone about your sites. That includes friends, family, and anyone else. If you do start telling people about your websites, two things can happen: One, your friends and family can click on your ads thinking that they’re doing you a favor. Two, anyone can be vindictive and click your ads to get you booted out of the system. You would be surprised how jealous some people can get (yes, even friends and family).

Another consideration is that you’ve got to worry about how you behave online. All it takes is one enemy to bring your AdSense empire down. Because of the relative anonymity the Internet provides, many people don’t think twice about exacting revenge against someone whom they perceive has done them wrong. I see it all the time. A good example is a forum member with a link to their website in their signature getting into a heated discussion or argument online. To me, this leaves you wide open. It may take a day, a week, or even a month, but eventually if someone is out to get you, it’s going to happen.

About a year ago, I found that another webmaster had stolen most of my articles and posted them on his website as though he was the original author. I e-mailed him every day for a week and contacted his host to try to resolve the matter. After a few weeks, my content was taken down and I thought that was the end of it. However, a month later I woke up one morning to find that my site had received exactly 50 clicks. This site was very low traffic and only received two clicks per day on average. I e-mailed Google before they sent me the dreaded message and explained to them that I was the victim of a “click bomb” attack. To be on the safe side, I took my AdSense ads off the site permanently. I wasn’t going to jeopardize my entire account for the sake of one low traffic website. There is no doubt in my mind that the webmaster from the other site was to blame. It was too coincidental. I feel lucky that I escaped unscathed.

Anyway, just a warning to watch out because AdSense is a great way to make money and it would be a shame to lose it because of something silly.

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