Discussions
ad ki$$ers & huggers - ki$$ off!
Posted by timethief • 2/06/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: adsense, Advertising, banning, click fraud, losers, shoutbox spammers, unethical bloggers
Thinking that they are clever the flock-witted, unethical click fraud set now have come up with a cutesy alternative to spamming shout boxes with requests to ki$$ their ads.
Here's their latest spiel:
Hey! Visited your blog and hugged a few of your ads! Hope to see you around my blog sometime soon, take care!
The BC members involved in this flock-witted endeavor are well aware that encouraging invalid clicks is a breach of the Google adsense TOS and policies, as well as The TOS of other advertisers as well.
Here's a group post example: www.blogcatalog.com/group/adsense-group/discuss/entry/share-your-blog-to-ea...
(1) Have you had any ad ki$$ or ad hug requests from other BC members today?
If so you can click "spam" and that will automatically send an alert to Admin. Hopefully, they will choose to ban these losers.
(2) Do you think those BC members who are defiantly requesting others to participate in click fraud should be banned from BC?
User Comments
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I don't get requests like that. I get a lot of "link me plz" but no ad kissing or hugging.
Prolly because I don't have ads
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I get them and I don't have ads. It's proof positive that they never visit anybody's blogs in real life! Only in their spammy fantasy life. -
Maybe it's the balaclava, then
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What is balaclava?
Or do you mean baklava? -
That's my head gear! Not to be confused baklava, a tasty honey based Greek desert...
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Anok's trying to convince you she's not a ninja. That's no hat (balaclava) - it's a ninja hood. -
Ah, you scare 'em off cause they think you are one of 'them muslins'
Somone asked me that just last week, "Are you a muslin?"
I told them I prefer Egyptian cotton--it's much softer. -
Shhh
LOL! -
Oh, and just to let you know--I do make a mean baklava. And a mean tabouli.
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I'm so hungry right now....
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Me too. I didn't have much of a lunch. I'm making shrimp fajitas for dinner.
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I have gotten some of those (but not today) and think it's funny because I don't have any ads on my blog! I do just what you say--report them as spam.
I think people should be warned first because they might not know. If they do it after a warning, then yes--I think they should be banned because that is an abuse of the community if you ask me.-
Well, click fraud is fraud - people doing that shouldn't be sneaking about this community, anyway.
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I'm a bleeding heart liberal. What can I say?
Amnesty for everyone! (just kidding!) -
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I agree that people should be given a warning first and if they continue to violate the terms set forth then they should be kicked out. I guess there are some that don't really read the TOU for many things.
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These beggars have made a hell of the shout boxes. Hi visited your blog, please visit mine. Hi dropped a comment, please leave a comment. Rubbish people. One has commented that does not necessarily mean that other will reciprocate as comments are not hankered but posts urge someone to say something. Further, i follow one's blog does not mean that other will follow as theme differs.
These people have made the comment form something like garbage bin throwing links hither and thither. They dont write anything about the post rather ask someone to visit their blogs.
The rating form is filled with links though it is meant for different purposes. Really sheer nonsense.
The click fraud has become a threat of late as some day ago i was reading a blogger's plight of being banned by google ad sense for click fraud as someone deliberately resorted to that from a single Isp.
They should be taught a lesson here at bc.
Thanks-
Hey, tell us how you really feel
I wonder if there is some way to prevent spammers from spamming your shoutbox... -
Go get 'em Sudam08!
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@Sudam08
Woot! Another straight shooter. Thanks for your reply. -
@anok. BC could start making members take psychological tests--and if people fail the 'potential spammer' category: no membership! I could volunteer to make up the questionnaire
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Apparently, I fly below that particular radar, thank heavens.
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Yeah i've gotten a couple of "visit mine" but no Ki$$ my ad BS..
I'd report them the second they did though. -
I wish I did! I get a couple of nuts in my shout box almost every day
(apologies if any of those nuts are reading this). -
They have groups here as well where the members post click fraud threads.
Here's an example:
ubaid2317 (guest)
[blog link removed by tt]
visit and click adsense adds. i will do the same. -
You're kidding--like BC groups? I am surprised that is tolerated.
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I'm NOT kidding. BC Admin are only a few in number and they have many responsibilities aimed at keeping BC up and running and growing. They cannot "police" the groups. It's up to the members of BC to keep this community free of these unethical click fraud requesting spammers by reporting them to Admin.
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@TT-- but when you mark them as spam, they are reported, right? Or no? Is there another step you need to take? I'm confused. I don't see a report button on the shout box.
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On the bottom of every shout we receive there are links we can click. They are: Reply - Delete - Block - Spam
If we click "spam" then Admin is notified.
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Hey, I'd just really like the simple things like connecting with people with ideas and the ability to think. But in this life you'll always have people bucking the trend and doing underhand things. -
I have had a lot of those and not just today. I would say they have started happening over the past two weeks. Yes, I do think they should be banned. That is their only purpose here and it should not be tolerated.
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Quoting kellybax: Yes, I do think they should be banned. That is their only purpose here and it should not be tolerated.
Thanks for your comment. I feel the same. -
I would not favor banning them. Perhaps we can politely refuse them or write to them directly what we think about those kind of messages and suggest to them to write a much more significant topic to discuss about. Let's create more friends and build a stronger bonding of creative bloggers. -
If anyone advocates click fraud on this forum Admin will delete their post. Co-owner of BC TonyB stated this 4 days ago. And if any member breaches the TOS they are subject to removal.
www.blogcatalog.com/tos
Quite aside from that if any member drops a click fraud request into my shoutbox I visit their site find the little Google logo icon and click it. A form opens and I scroll down and I report them. There's a box below the report check boxes and I copy and paste the click fraud request into it.
That being said the new DART cookie that Google is using will make it easier for them to apprehend the circles of click fraud groups that are operating. That will be good for us all as the click fraud people were depreciating the value of each click so advertisers were backing off. For example my husband will NOT contract with Google Adsense because he is aware of the click fraud problem.
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I do have quite a few ones in my shout boxes. Rather annoying as if I had the obiligation to click on their blogs which often stuff up my computer screen badly. -
@mtyler77 i press the spam button and block them. But that's not a permanent solution. Something need to be done to thrust at least a sense of blogging etiquette.
thaks-
Sadly, etiquette is missing in much of the world.
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I have seen In Orkut threads like let's click each other. Hankering indeed.
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How about organizing a Bloggers unite moment on the theme of Blogging etiquette?
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It's not a bad idea, really. It's very common and perhaps it would raise awareness. Although I have a feeling that those who spam have thick heads.
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IMO although many will posture that they didn't know, the actual number among these BC guests and members that truly don't know what they are doing is wrong, annoying, and not in their own best interest are very few.
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Of course this will continue but at least there will be an awareness and buzz. Upcoming bloggers who will search in search engines might read before making their debut as blogger. Further the existing one might change their hearts and at some point of time their thick head might be reformed. Some in the initial stage can be brought to the mainstream.
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@sudam08
Frankly many of them are not "up and coming bloggers". In these days of e-begging and free hosting when blogging is looked upon by some as an income generator, what I see is many blogs that are authored by people who have nothing unique to offer and who cannot write, let alone, create quality content. I have run duplicate content checks and plagiarism checks on the members listed as Most Popular Bloggers on this page www.blogcatalog.com/user and have had whole blogs - yes, every post in the blog come up positive for content theft.
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I get a lot of this. I clicked on your ad please visit me. I don't ask for it and the fact that they would leave me a message just... Grrrr Arggg...!-
@Shirley
I don't get many anymore because I joined the groups where this was going on and posted threads containing a clear description of what click fraud was. I explained why click fraud did not hurt Google but did affect the advertisers who contract with Google Adsense. I explained that because click fraud was rampant Google had instituted a monitoring system and patented it. I also explained that by doing this they were devaluing the amount of income received by publishers (ie. Bloggers) for each click. Then I told them the truth which is that advertisers are backing away from contracting with Google Adsense. I included all the relevant Google links. I also posted an example of how to report click fraud that included the actual form for reporting it to Google. And I stated that they were being reported.
The Admin(s) of any group can delete threads like the ones I posted and they did so. Then they proceeded to go at it again, while smearing me throughout the BC community for "policing" them.
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How about we start a thread, and everytime we report someone to GOogle, we post it there.. Mabe that will make people think twice and stop trying.
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@tt at least the future will be somewhat good as newbie might come learning the etiquette. bloggers and wordpress two major free hosting service providers should at least make "Bloggers etiquette" available to the newbies.
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@sudam08
I have been at wordpress.com there since 2006 and I have never ever seen any member ridiculed for politely educating newcomers about the rules on that forum. In fact, Staff thank member volunteers for doing so because it frees up their time so they can deal with much more important work.
Also believe me when I say that wordpress.com does NOT have the click fraud, sploggers and spammers problem that Blogger does. This is because at wordpress.com NO blogger initiated advertising is allowed and the only exception is on VIP hosted accounts. The wp community members report blogs that have advertising on them without hesitation and Staff thank us for doing so. -
But there's Google. I've only had a computer for little over a year and a blog for a year. Everything I did I googled. I Googled "What is a blog? What is adsense?" The list goes on and on. I even googled Blogging etiquette. It's all there unless you're too lazy to look.
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As long as we live in a "free" society, there will be those around us that try to get away with things. These are the same kinds of people who if no one is looking will take what's not theirs. We will never be rid of them completely, the best we can hope for is that they see we don't visit their sites and leave us for greener pastures. Of coarse as one leaves 2-3 more show up but that is the price we pay for the great freedom we enjoy. -
@tt thank God i am not in any category. Haha
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Money making and frustration leads to this kinds of lunacy. But money is not that easy to earn this reality they should understand. Further, live as freely as possible but not at the cost of others freedom. Freedom is not a license and freedom is not realized at the cost of others' freedom. Earn as much as possible, very fine but why hijack others peace and concentration. Earn with respect.
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Also, the economy Sudam08--some people might actually be driven to try to make money this way because they are worried about losing their home or feeding their family. People are desperate and stressed out these days.
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In case you are new to BC please read the forum posting guidelines at this link www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/read-before-posting-1
You will find that here at BC members are only allowed to post links into forum threads when the links are directly related to the subject matter in the thread. In other words, signature link dropping into every comment you make on this forum is a no - no. Creating link drop and link exchange threads on this forum is also a no - no. Resurrecting old forum threads for the purpose of spamming them with blog links is likewise a no - no. -
you're right mtyler - because I'm new, clearly I'm just another evil spammer. Let's just assume everyone is evil, k?
so, because I have gotten used to including a signature with all my posts on other sites, you make the outlandish accusation that I somehow support fraud...nice. -
@intarso
This form of communication lacks 80% of what humans rely on to communicate well like body language, facial expressions, gestures, etc. IMO you aren't being attacked as much as you are being teased. Those who actually make spam reports don't post what mtyler did they just click the report link.
There is benefit for those who don't link drop here at BC built into the Blog rank system. Give me a minute and I'll post it.
Why link dropping is not in your best interest at BC
We can click any username here and arrive on a BC profile page (that counts for a BC view stat for the applicable member). We can then find the blog url on that BC profile page and click it (that counts for a BC hit stat for the applicable member). Those stats are considered and included in our BC blog rank. And our blogs are positioned in both the Directory and on the BC tag pages in accord with our BC blog rank. So every time you drop your blog link into a comment on this forum you are risking having it reported and removed, but, more importantly, you are setting yourself up to lose potental "BC blog rank juice". -
indeed, but to accuse someone of click fraud without justification is just unnecessary
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Intarso--if you read the rules, you will see that what you did is against them.
Aside from that--WELCOME--and I am sorry if I offended you since you are new. It's just that there are so many people who purposely did what you did.
My apologies. -
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Intarso back atcha!
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me too me too
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@intarso what does that mean? elaborate?
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It means that it's another expression they use -
smile, ki$$, hug - these are all euphemisms for click fraud requests.
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@mtyler77 Stress and frustration will be there, were there and are there despite depression or no depression. Certainly there is an economic angle but solely on this angle it is quite unbecoming to give others stress and depression.
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Oh, I agree with you. I just tend to want to see the best in most people.
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@intarso get your upper story filled with some general curtsy that unrelated things are not said when a discussion is going on, on a different topic. Come forward with your good sense and best of your mind and do contribute constructively to the thread. Thanks
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huh? I did contribute by mentioning another term the fraudsters use
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Really?
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Sudam08--she just added her blog in Feb. I am giving the benefit of the doubt.
Intarso, we didn't mean to be rude or treat you unkindly--it's just many people drop links in threads, purposely spamming. We thought you were doing just that, since this is a thread dedicated to anti-spam. We thought you were doing so on purpose (at least I did--I should not speak for everyone).
Welcome to BC.
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@intarso
Yes, that's another link to a group post without any direct click fraud request being made in it.
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@intarso Your sentence was like a tiny url of twitter. Thanks
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@Intarso see your profile you have dropped your own link though your blog description is right there below. Welcome to Blogging world and BC. @mtyler not she but he.
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oops! my apologies again.
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I get a few of these kissers each week. I think to myself "thanks for the clicks" but I don't return the favor or add them to my friends list. I don't have time for clicking orgies. -
I'd be surprised if google isn't aware of those groups.
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They have been reported by several members both to Google and to BC Admin.
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@busylizzy better late than never. So, it gives smile too though you dont pay back the smile. Clicks of this category comes with a tag to return the smile to speak in Intarso's word.
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I didn't realize this was a smile exchange...
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I'm such a ignorant doofus! Okay - "smiles" means clicks in the secret language of blogging. Well, if you ever see a smile from me, it's the old fashioned kind!
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@busylizzy Smile is a term of click fraud as told by Intarso. Like this give me a smile and the other one gets a click. Btw you smile profusely and when six of your emoticons join you the thread is having a sweet jolt of smile. LOl
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Yikes does this mean that I can't safely and innocently use a smile face when I am chatting! Oh! NO! I have to have my smiles... they keep me out of a world of trouble... when someone doesn't realize that I am joking.
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Obviously it's fraudulent and if Google were to catch on, then I'm sure that the accounts of those involved would be terminated. Nothing new there at all.
But what is worrying is how one goes about "kissing" and "hugging" contextual advertising. I mean, I'm no shrink or anything but that's just frigging weird.-
qelqoth
But what is worrying is how one goes about "kissing" and "hugging" contextual advertising. I mean, I'm no shrink or anything but that's just frigging weird.
No kidding my response was the same. Eeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
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@ Hawaiibadboy
Hmmm ... thanks for posting and sharing your opinion. Is that link you posted directly related to the topical material in this thread though? I wouldn't want to click it, if it wasn't.
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I've only had a couple so far. I just hit the "spam" on the shout box and that's that.-
That's the right thing to do. When you click "spam" on a shout BC Admin is notified.
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I get that kind of spam sometimes, but I just ignore them. I never thought of reporting them.
I may have joined an adsense group when I was a beginner blogger, thinking it was to help us with tips and ideas for placements, not for click fraud. Yikes. But now that I am a little more blogger mature I know to look further into a group before joining! -
What about personal kisses and hugs;
what is the policy on that? -
No I haven't had any of those types of requests in my inbox. Thanks for this information. I like the smiles.. because I like to smile. Thank you, I had no clue I was doing anything wrong. Now I won't use them as much.-
@candlemamma
Please see my answer to you below.
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only kiss and hug?? don't they want more? special morons! these people will never understand.-
They do understand. They are defiant.
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I don't mean to offend anyone buy smiling. I understand now thanks to this group.
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Using a smile in a thread like this is okay. But we have discovered that when people in Adsense groups ask for a kiss, smile or hug they are requesting that you click their Google Adsense ads, which amounts to a click fraud request.
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Ahh, so it's a secret code they have then. Makes sense, I s'pose.
For a moment there, I thought they were actually getting jiggy with it. -
sorry about that just a typing error Thanks timethief
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what that means kissing and hugging ?-
@rayearth
If your read this you will have your answer www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/ad-kiers-huggers#comment_799316
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My goodness the thread is still on and TT you are still here.
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@ophase
I'm still here ... lol Of course, this is another day has gone by and in between I was running a business and household, working on a contract, blogging, socializing and relaxing too.
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I don't get I clicked on your ads but I get like this
Visited your blog & i like it. hope you'll visit mine too [link] -
I do not get any of these messages now (got 2 3 months ago but I did not reply)! Loks like I am not popular enough :-(
Anyway, next time, I will make sure I hit that Spam button. -
Personally, I haven't received any of these shouts. However, if I do, I will definately mark them as spam.
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i'm all for embarrassing the people who put the community at risk, are idiots, and/or are blatantly committing click fraud...
Here are few names that should be investigated, and these users banned.
HerbG
freewarefreak
bendan
maxomen
allnillin
hussyinterrupted
LetsGo
taganyork
abil21
thetechnut -
Fortunately I didn't get such a request. Personally I think bloggers who send so called requests should leave BC . I suppose there are other blog communities which allow these meesages (kissers), aren't they?-
TonyB has stated in a forum thread that if any such requests are made here on the forum they will be deleted. If we receive such requests in our shoutboxes Admin has supplied a spam link that we can click and alert Admin so they know who is doing this.
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A few weeks back I had such a spike in clicks I asked the advertiser (not the Big G) that the clicks for the entire day were spam. I figure if we tell them to remove our payments for a large day that even we know is wrong we don't get banned.
It happens but just be honest and we all win.
Garret-
Wow! That's quite a story.
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It has become tough to leave an honest comment. You have to be careful not to use any "code" words LOL. Often, you really do honestly want to "shout" a good site or person, but it just gets lost in the clutter.
Shame, really.-
I have no difficulty leaving honest comments. Comments ought to be relevant to the posts they are left on, and I don't frequent any blogs where the posts are advocating click fraud.
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I haven't receive any requests like that. I wouldn't do that anyway. Thanks for the heads up. -
Thanks for this information and I shall be vigilant from now onwards to such Ki$$ers and Huggers -
Yeah, I see these huggers all the time, not only here on BC, but on different platforms. I ignore them mostly... -
If people are interested in my ads that's great. If I'm interested in someone's ad, I'll click on it. If I'm not, I won't.
Simple as that, so no need to go telling teacher.-
@CTVicky
The suggestion that we are grade school kids "so no need to go telling teacher" doesn't cut it with me. We are adults, who presumably enter contracts in good faith and abide by the terms. If we don't then we jeopardize the health of the social networks we belong to.
I don't want to belong to a community where click fraud fools are biting off their noses to spite their faces. Click fraud reduces the value of ad clicks and drives off the advertisers that pay Google Adsense. My husband will no longer advertise with Google Adsense due to the rampant click fraud that is equivalent to paying in cash for false leads.
I report all click fraud invitations I receive or see in forum and in group threads just as BC Admin has told us to do. Fortunately, BC Admin is above board and will act when we do report, just as Google Adsense does.
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I had someone visit my BC page the other day, read my profile which states clearly that if you spam me, I will remove your shoutbox message. So she posts anyway, add's her url then mentions to me how I can delete it when I show up and see it ..
totally pointless? I think so .. -
I think they should be tarred and feathered before they get banned! -
Check out the promotional statements for these groups, noting that Admin has removed the discussion threads that violate the TOS:
adsense! get money
Tagged: adsense, Cash, click, family, gardening, google, money, Parents
This group is to those bloggers who want to earn money from google adsense! MOTOR OF THE GROUP IS: "Click on my adsense, i will click on yours!!!!"
Make Money With Adsense
Tagged: adsese, click, money
I will give you 2 clicks on your ads if you do the same with me. Here is my blog site [link removed by tt]. Just give me a reply with your blog site if you have clicked on my ads.
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