“Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.”
It certainly has been a hugely successful few days for the good folk at Google AdSense. A serious threat to the viability and reputation of its service has been removed. Order has been restored. Wrong Way’s ‘malicious’ manoeuvrings have been uncovered and now terminated.
Or how about getting disapproved instead? It’s much more fun … (Image from webdesignseotips.com.)
What? You haven’t heard of my related blog’s ‘dodgy dealings’, a cunning plan to ‘rob’ AdSense and its advertisers of millions of euro?* Well to be honest, neither did I, until the Google offshoot informed me via e-mail that my account was being disabled due to ‘invalid activity’. What exactly that invalid activity was, is anybody’s guess. AdSense is certainly being coy about it, apparently due to security issues, so one can only speculate as to what exactly the breach of rules was.
All this coming at a time when Wrong Way was, erm, taking off. Already in the kitty sat, drumroll please, a cool €25 ($34US), and this after only two years of the ‘lucrative’ advertising being displayed on the blog. At that rate, by 2017 I might have been close to reaching the current payout threshold of €70. Heady times indeed. My round-the-world trip plans were already taking shape on the belief that this big pay day was looming. Now, alas, everything has been thrown into chaos. I fear each knock at the door is the bank manager coming to take what he can from me before I abscond.
Worse still, perhaps Google will send their henchmen to ‘sort me out’ for having the cheek to take them on (and almost get away with it too, as the above figures illustrate).
That wouldn’t be too surprising considering the ruthless streak the company has displayed thus far. Not even a warning was forthcoming to inform me that the blog was ‘under suspicion’.
Yes, there is an appeal process which I duly went through only to be promptly told, in another template e-mail (where is the personal touch guys?): “After thoroughly (my emphasis) reviewing your account data and taking your feedback into consideration, our specialists have confirmed that we’re unable to reinstate your AdSense account.” And the e-mail closed with the following: “As a reminder, further participation in the AdSense program by publishers whose accounts have been disabled is not permitted.”
That’s where it’s at. Very much a feeling of case closed. In a bid to try and deal with a person rather than a generic appeal process and e-mail templates, I did write a message to AdSense on Google Plus to emphasise my bewilderment at the decision. ‘Surprisingly’, there has been no response.
So punished for an unnamed ‘crime’, with no real recourse to defend myself. Heck, Google’s ‘specialists’ might shut down the blog next (no such luck you say). Perhaps with this ‘broadside’ I’m in danger of biting off the hand that (barely) fed me?
For the time being though, for all you loyal Wrong Way followers (don’t laugh), look on the bright side: There’ll be no more of those annoying ‘clases en vivo 24 horas al día’ Open English ads hogging the screen. That’s our silver lining.
Plus, there’s always this El Tiempo WordPress blog. It’s not all about the cash, right?
_____________________________________
*Check out Wrong Way’s now ‘ad-less’ blog at:
Wrong Way Corrigan
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan – The Blog