Is AdSense a fraud?

[Queen Bee]

I read this article on SEO-World today, which brought up some interesting, yet unsettling points. I myself have never dealt with AdSense, but wish to do so in the future.

Has anyone here had similar experiences to the ones acknowledged in this article? What are your thoughts on this?

[Andy]

I posted some predictions on adsense in some other posts. Basically, my view is to avoid any new unproven "scheme" that may be taking advantage of webmasters with high traffic sites.

[SensoVision]

I have a bit different point of view on this...  since the only thing you may loose is money which you would earn for ages if work with prooven companies which has low rates... so why not give a shoot to AdSence and see if they are ok. Also it's hard for me to imagine that such company as Google would like to see a spot on their reputation because of frauding people...

[Queen Bee]

Also it's hard for me to imagine that such company as Google would like to see a spot on their reputation because of frauding people...

I felt exactly the same way. I just can't see them doing anything like that... I was hoping some of the other WK users might be able to show us by first-hand experience.

[justjeni]

Google has worked too hard and too long to get where they are and I firmly believe they would never pull a scam like this.  Perhaps the person who wrote this is bitter for some reason or another??

I think more haven't responded because when you sign up for adsense you agree not to discuss your account with them - I almost didn't respond because I am doing adsense and do not want to jeopardize my standing in any way - but I think it's safe to say they do an outstanding job.

[Queen Bee]

Well, I knew that people who has success with AdSense wouldn't want to spill any information, but I assumed anyone who had been "scammed" by AdSense could care less if they told us. I was just curious...

So far it looks like the issues presented in that article were mere coincidence, at least something of the sort. Like you stated yourself, I can't see Google purposely defrauding anyone.

[SensoVision]

I assume that this article was mostly inspired by experince with Webmaster-Forum.net, but we better check it with Greg once he'll appear.

[Andy]

my view is to avoid any new unproven "scheme" that may be taking advantage of webmasters

I am not saying anything about defrauding people, but they are beta testing on a win-lose basis i.e. we may win/lose but they will win or lose next to nothing.

Just cos google are successful doesn't mean they are web experts, they just got a huge market share by being in the right place at the right time and doing a good thing.

[Queen Bee]

Just cos google are successful doesn't mean they are web experts, they just got a huge market share by being in the right place at the right time and doing a good thing.

I would have to say I completely disagree. Google is not this "little search engine that got lucky" anymore. It's a real business, staffed by real professionals. The "big" people at Google couldn't afford to hire anything but web experts.

Approximate number of employees: 1,000+
Ph.D.s on staff: 60+
Languages spoken: 34
Number of offices worldwide: 12

I am not saying anything about defrauding people, but they are beta testing on a win-lose basis i.e. we may win/lose but they will win or lose next to nothing.

I agree with that statement.

Today I decided to surf a few other forums for reason to believe Adsense has defrauded anyone, but the answer was really inconclusive. It seems this "fraud" applies only to a few unique cases... And ofcourse, it's Google, so everyone talks about it.

I posted this hoping to hear about a few first-hand experiences (Seeing that those who have been supposively "defrauded" by Google are no longer under the TOS policy, they're allowed to speak out). So far it seems we only have Greg and a few "rumours" to top it.

[Jack Aubrey]

I don't think Adsense is necessarily a fraud in the way the article claims. I do, however think there are serious problems with the program which may end up doing damage to Google as a company.

First, the secrecy surrounding the program is Gestapo like. Not only do you not know what percentage you are making from the ads, you are not supposed to reveal the stats you do collect to other webmasters. You do not know what pages the clicks are coming from or what ads were clicked.

We have seen the amount coming from the same number of clicks decline drastically after the first few months. There is no way the amount advertisers are paying for keywords in our category has declined by the same amount. The only conclusion I can think of is that Google arbitrarily adjusts what they think you should get for the ads being served on your site.

The list goes on, but the bottom line is that Google has created an opaque system and said "trust me". In the beginning I was willing to do so, but now I'm not so sure.

J.A.

[Queen Bee]

Hi Jack, thanks for posting.

Everything you said were things I actually wondered myself... So it was nice to see someone bring it up.

I'm hoping through trial and error Google may decide different methods through advertising... Because I'm not sure about the entire process at this point.

[john846]

Hi Jack,

I very much agree with you. At first I was also getting some hi amounts per click, but I have noticed that the average I get per click is slowly declining.

But I also agree with some other comments within this post. Google is not a little search engine any more, they have grown rather large and is now more provessional. As there are so many affiliates joining Adsense, they will try their best to make it worth while. This is because if Adsense's affiliates think that they are being scammed, then people might stop going to Google and start using other Search Engines instead.

[john846]

Hi All,

It looks as if my earnings from Adsense are on the Up again!

[Andy]

OK guys, I use Google all the time so thought I might as well try 'em out.

As ever, can't comment 

[whl626]

Everything from Adsense is back to normal now. I have confidence in them as they have sent the check out