Cheats: December 2010

How Google Detects AdSense Invalid Clicks

Still thinking to cheat AdSense? Stop that. It will never bring you anywhere. You might pull it off with smaller ads network, but definitely not with Google. Here are some detection methods they might use. At the very least, they have the resources to do so.
IP AddressIf the AdSense click is originated from the same IP Address as the one used for accessing your AdSense account, your account is flagged.
CookiesMost home users do not use static IP Address for Internet connection. In most cases just disconnect and reconnect will give you a new IP Address. But don’t forget, Google has set cookies on your computer.
Other Google ServicesThinking that you are safe just because you do not access your AdSense account? Think again. This time, consider these: GMail, Google Earth, Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Toolbar, Google Talk, Google Sitemap, Google Desktop, Blogger, and so on, and so on. With the wide range of services they provide, Google can trace the originator of most (or probably almost all) clicks.
Click Pattern 1Oh, why this computer / IP address / person is so trigger-click-happy on this particular website but never click on the ads on other sites?
Click Pattern 2And why is it that people accessing these sites direct (type-in URL or from bookmark) tend to be very active ad-clickers compared with those referred from search engine or other sites?
Click Pattern 3And why the ad-clickers like to hit and run, compared with non ad-clickers that surf a few pages before leaving?
Click-Through-Rate (CTR)Your CTR may range from 0.5% to 10%, but if it exceeds a certain point (probably around 10%), you are flagged.
Geo-LocationUsed Urchin (Google Analytics) before? Then you should know that Google can trace traffics origin down to the small town. Different IP doesn’t mean much. Unless you site is really targetted to one small geo-point, a high number of clicks from nearby location will get you banned quickly.
Hardware address?MAC address of the LAN card, modem, and router works almost like a fingerprint. I’m not sure if Google can track this, but probably they do. They have rocket scientist, remember?
Advertisers conversion rateAd click is one thing. But does it bring value to the advertisers? If none of the clicks on your site translate to conversion to the advertiser, you are in trouble. First the Smart-Pricing hits, then your AdSense account disabled.
Search Engine RankingYour website is not indexed on any search engine, not linked by any prominent website, but get consistently high traffic? That sounds like something is in play. Regardless of whether it is an adware-embedded software, spam, trojan clickbot, or intentionally installed click-exchange network, it doesn’t sound right.
Webpage designHow about the “click here” or “support us”? Google has the best search engine in the world. Is it really that hard to find those words?
ComboEach of these detection methods might seem rather weak. But combine them together, and not many click-fraud can pass-through these filters. Even the smartest clickbot will have a hard time.
In short, it is almost impossible to cheat AdSense in the long term. Instead of spending time, money, and effort trying to outsmart Google, try these tips to improve your AdSense earning.
Disclaimer : I’m not working for Google nor in anyway know anyone inside Google. Google might or might not use these methods to detect click-fraud. I’d believe that they have much better detection mechanism.

What Is AdSense Clickbot

Note: I do not condone or encourage cheating on Google AdSense or any advertiser network. This article is indeed written to show why you should NOT use clickbot. If you want to increase your earning, there are legal and easier ways. Read 100 Google AdSense Tips.
Apparently, for some reason, it is not easy to find information about clickbots from the Internet. I need to dig a bit into Google cache to get some decent information. At the time I’m writing this, even Wikipedia does not have an entry specially for “clickbot” yet. The nearest term from Wikipedia is “Internet Bot”.

A bot is common parlance on the Internet for a software program that is a software agent. A Bot interacts with other network services intended for people as if it were a real person. One typical use of bots is to gather information. The term is derived from the word “robot,” reflecting the autonomous character in the “virtual robot”-ness of the concept.

Put simply, clickbot is a specialized bot made to simulate clicking. Initially popular for gaming cheat, now clickbot has taken the highlight in pay-per-click advertisement business. In 2004, a California man created a clickbot that he claimed cannot be detected by Google. Failed to make good money selling the program, he tried to blackmail Google for $150,000 to hand over the program. He was arrested, nonetheless.
For computer savvy users, creating a clickbot is very simple and straight forward. You just need a macro to record your activities. While the macro is recoding, you visit your own site and click on the ads. Save the macro, and then let it run. Of course, you will also need a list of proxies to cover your track.
Fortunately for advertisers and honest publishers, Google is not stupid. With the huge amount of data that it has, Google can easily compile the most comprehensive proxy list on earth. In the AdSense report, clicks from proxies will add up to the number of clicks, but no money is credited to the earning. As you guess, when the proxy clicks exceed a certain number, your AdSense account is disabled.
Organised crimes handle this by having the clickbot software on many computers around the world, each with their own Internet Service Provider. Some of these software may be installed without the computer owners’ permissions or knowledge, via trojans and viruses. Or it might be installed voluntarily by the click-network members.
Beginning of this year, Greg Boser from WebGuerilla did an experiment to test the extent of click-fraud by using clickbot, with no conclusive answer. Some experts claims that click fraud accounts for up to 20% of the clicks, generating more than $1 billion in a year.
Whether or not the estimation is correct, one thing is sure. Google, Yahoo and other big players in the PPC advertising business takes click-fraud very seriously, and it will be just a matter of time when fraudsters are caught.
If you want to increase your earning, there are legal and easier ways

How to Get Banned from Google Adsense

With so many people ranting and screaming and crying that Google has disabled their adsense account, it’s really an interesting topic worthy to write about. You might be another one who just got the dreaded “invalid click” account closure email from Adsense team, and furious over it. Relax, mate. Not the end of the world, but it is definitely good to know the reason why you are banned. If you still have your account intact, read this, but as our Uncle Ferdy says: “Don’t try this at home.”

Keep in mind that these are HOW TO GET BANNED. In other words, this is a “DO NOT” list if you don’t want your adsense account to be disabled .

you don’t want your adsense account to be disabled .

Ignore Adsense Program Policies & TOS
Click on your own ads, specially those you are “genuinely interested” in. Ask people to click on your ads: your friends, your family members, your relatives, your visitors, or even your dogs or your cats. Use proxies to avoid detection.
Participate in some form of click-ring. Click-rings are groups of people who gather with consensus to click each others’ ads. Most commonly used methods are Yahoo Groups, instant messenger, mail list, web forum, or specially written software.
Buy, write, or use click-bot software. Click-bot software will go around your site and click on your ads. Most of the times, these click-bots are using proxies to avoid detection.
Pay the Indian-clickers. These are the people whose main jobs are clicking on PPC advertisements and paid by the malicious publishers. Most of them are from developing countries like India or China.
“Invest” with websites that promises to deliver “adsense clicks” for your site. Whatever methods they are using, most likely it falls under one of the aboves.
Extra words to make your visitors to notice your ads. Write “Click here” or “Please support us” or “Visit our sponsors”. Anything other than Google-approved “sponsored links” or “advertisements”.
Put in as many ads as possible in every page. Put more than three units of the normal ads block, more than one unit of ads links, or more than one referral buttons for each adsense, adwords, and firefox; all in one page.
Use spyware to get traffics to your site. Spyware, adware, malware, or whatever it is called can force computer users to open your website everytime they start the computer. Or even better, use some kind of specially written software, toolbar, etc to display or click on your ads.
Use pop-ups on your website. Everytime your user open a page, pop-up another one, ideally with the smiley or the IQ Test advertisements.
Get as much un-targetted traffic as possible, for instance using the auto-surfing programmes to rotate the members around your site and other sites.
Put the adsense code in non-content pages: registration forms, term and condition, login page.
Have a competitor contextual ad on same page with adsense ads, for example Yahoo Publisher Network. Please note though that non-contextual ads, e.g. affiliate links or keyword-based ads are acceptable by google and won’t get you banned.
Get more than one adsense account. Maybe one for your dog-site, one for your cat-site, one for the v1agra pills, one for mp3 download, etc.
Put your adsense code in email the email, usenet, RSS, etc.
Tell everyone what is your CTR, your page impressions, etc. Telling people about your total earning, unfortunately, is allowed.
Put Google logo where you shouldn’t, and don’t put the logo where you should. In other word, ignore Google trademark.
Modify Adsense code as you see fit. Modify the layout, color, URL, will be well. Just anything other than copy-and-paste the code from Google.
And, this is important: if and when Google Adsense Team sends you email, ignore it.
Put adsense codes in the banned contents

* Excessive profanity
* Violence, racial intolerance, or advocate against any individual, group, or organization
* Hacking/cracking content
* Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia
* Pornography, adult, or mature content
* Gambling or casino-related content
* Excessive advertising
* Any other content that promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others
* Pop-ups, pop-unders or exit windows that interfere with site navigation, obscure Google ads, change user preferences, or are for downloads. Other types of pop-ups, pop-unders, or exit windows may be allowed, provided that they do not exceed a combined total of 5 per user session
* Excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant keywords in the content or code of web pages
* Deceptive or manipulative content or construction to improve your site’s search engine ranking, e.g., your site’s PageRank
* Incentives (monetary or point-based) to users or third-party beneficiaries for online activity including, but not limited to, clicking on ads or links, performing searches, surfing websites, reading emails, or completing surveys
* Sales or promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles
* Sales or promotion of beer or hard alcohol
* Sales or promotion of tobacco or tobacco-related products
* Sales or promotion of prescription drugs
* Sales or promotion of products that are replicas or imitations of designer goods

This is the dreaded email:

Subject: Google AdSense Account Disabled
Hello (member name),
It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on the Google ads on your site(s). We have therefore disabled your Google AdSense account. Please understand that this step was taken in an effort to protect the interest of the AdWords advertisers.
A publisher’s site may not have invalid clicks on any ad(s), including but not limited to clicks generated by:
- a publisher on his own web pages
- a publisher encouraging others to click on his ads
- automated clicking programs or any other deceptive software
- a publisher altering any portion of the ad code or changing the layout, behavior, targeting, or delivery of ads for any reason
Practices such as these are in violation of the Google AdSense Terms and Conditions and program polices, which can be viewed at:
https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?hl=en_US
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies?hl=en_US
Publishers disabled for invalid click activity are not allowed further participation in AdSense and do not receive any further payment. The earnings on your account will be properly returned to the affected advertisers.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

Subject: Google AdSense Account Disabled
Hello (member name),
Your AdSense account was found to be related to an account previously disabled for invalid click activity and we have therefore disabled your account.
Publishers disabled for invalid click activity are not allowed further participation in AdSense and do not receive any further payment. The earnings on your account will be properly returned to the affected advertisers. As outlined in our programme Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to terminate any publisher’s participation at any time.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

When you write to Google to, this is their standard reply

Hello,
Thank you for your email regarding the action taken on your account.
We understand that you wish to receive specific information regarding the invalid clicks we observed on your account. However, due to the proprietary nature of our algorithm, we cannot disclose any details about how our monitoring technology works or what specifics we found on your account.
As you know, Google treats instances of invalid click activity very seriously. By disabling your account according to our policy on this matter, we feel that we have taken the necessary measures to protect our advertisers and to ensure that invalid clicks will not continue to occur on your site.
Publishers disabled for invalid click activity are not allowed further participation in Google AdSense. We appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

What is constitutes invalid clicks? This is what google says:

Invalid clicks are clicks generated through prohibited methods. These prohibited methods include but are not limited to: repeated manual clicks, or the use of robots, automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software.
Please note that clicking on your own ads for any reason is prohibited, to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs. All clicks must be generated as the result of a user clicking on the ads. We therefore require that Web pages do not include incentives of any kind for users to click on ads. This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers’ sites as well as labeling the ads with text other than “sponsored links” or “advertisements.”

Update : Someone suggested that having the word AdSense in domain name might get you banned as well. I contacted AdSense Team to clarify that. Domain name with “AdSense” will not get you banned, but the may just decide not to display ads for that specific domain. I have removed the AdSense blocks here out of good will, but still have it on my other websites.

How to Cheat Google AdSense

How to Cheat Google AdSense (and get your AdSense account disabled)

Face it. You come to this article probably thinking to find some ways to cheat Google, or to confirm whether some method you have on mind will work. Well, if you want to know how to cheat AdSense, here are the ways, focusing on the AdSense click-frauds. These covers from basic AdSense cheating techniques to the advanced class.

But before you proceed, you might need to know why you shouldn’t cheat Google (answer: you will get caught).

Basic clicker cheat
This is a noob. This guy knows almost nothing about web technology or network architecture. He clicks on his ads every time he has chance. It can be a few clicks to hundreds of clicks daily. Most likely he doesn’t even read the AdSense Program Policies and Terms and Conditions.
Proxy clicker cheat
She knows a thing or two about cookies and IP address. Or she doesn’t know, but somehow guessed that if she use the things called anonymizer, Google will not be able to trace her, because her identity is hidden. She may use anonymizer / proxy websites or specialized anonymous software like tor (The Onion Router).
Multiple computer clicker cheat
He knows that somehow Google will detect if the clicks are originated from his own computer. So he will try to even out origin of the clicks. He will recruit his friends, family members, relatives, neighbors, his cats, and his dogs on single mission: to click on the ads. He will also click on the AdSense ads when he is using the library computers, or his office workstation.
Software clicker cheat
Graduate to the next step is buyers of clickbots / click-bots. These are specialized robot software to click on AdSense ads. It will browse around your websites, clicking on the ads every few minutes. The more advanced ones will cloak the IP address too, so the website seems to be very popular worldwide. To cover the track, this clickbots will browse around the advertisers sites too while continuing its “click quest”.
Paid-clickers cheat
If you don’t like automated things, there is always other option for you. Just pay $50 dollars a month to the professional AdSense clickers. These are groups of highly specialized Internet surfers with office in the dark rooms in street corners of India, Pakistan, and China, helping AdSense account owner to earn good amounts of money before the AdSense account is disabled, that is. They will browse around your websites, clicking on the ads every few minutes. Because they use human eyes, they know which ads worth more. And to be more convincing they can click a link or two, or sign up free offers / newsletters on the advertiser sites.
Click-rings cheat
Network is power. So says many business gurus. Instead of taking things to their own hand, this people realize that they can join hands with those with similar goals and distribute AdSense clicks among themselves, the so called AdSense click-rings. Joining this click-ring network means that your website address will be made known to members, who will regularly browse the website and click on your AdSense ads. In exchange, you will also browse other members’ sites and click on their AdSense ads. The medium used varies. Some click-ring groups use mail-list for communications. Some are using bulletin boards/forum, Yahoo groups, or Usenet. IRC is another popular way. Slightly more complicated is specialized AdSense exchange software for collecting members website address and displaying others’ websites for clicking.
Other medium cheat
I have tens of thousands email address on my newsletter subscriber list. If I include AdSense ads on my newsletters, with 5% CTR, I can get a thousand clicks per one email. Not bad. Or I can pay someone to write some useful/nice/funny/cute toolbars or firefox extensions or screensavers that people can download and use for free, and display my AdSense ads there.
Visitor cheat
Simply putting “Visit out sponsors” or “Check out the ads above” on your website is cheating. This might not be very clear-cut cheat to some. But Google AdSense program policies has stated clearly, the only text allowed are “Advertisements” or “Sponsored List”
Spam cheat
This is the highest level all click-frauds, the Maestro of Fraudsters. She spams millions of emails regularly, offering to “satisfy your inner needs if you can help me check on the links on my website”. Of course, email is not the only way. What IRC and instant messaging (IM) are for, after all. She will look for unsuspecting victims, offering something too-good-to-be-true “if only they will visit the website and click on the links”.
Click-through-rate cheat
Whichever method(s) above used, there is one limiting condition: the CTR(click-though-rate). Any CTR that exceeds certain percentage (probably around 10%) will raise red flag in Google AdSense back room. To lower the CTR, the professional cheaters will create some pages on the same domain that attracts very high traffic. Some interesting freebies will sure do the tricks. AdSense code is pasted there, thus creating a very high page impressions. Whether or not the the ads are clicked does not matter anyway, because they are targeting low paying keyword that does not have much competition. The fake clicks are, of course, on where the big money is, the low traffic pages stuffed with high-paying keywords.

Disclaimer: I don’t say and don’t think that these methods will work. If you even need to read this article, there’s 99.999% chance you will get caught before you can even get your first paycheck. Your AdSense account will be disabled, and you get banned from ever applying for AdSense account again. To see what other ways you can do to get banned, see How To Get Banned From Google AdSense.

If you are not interested for getting banned, and just want to increase your AdSense earning, check out 100 Google AdSense Tips

Famous Cheaters: Which Scandal Was Most Shocking?

Tiger Woods is the latest celebrity to prove that riches and fame do not a monogamous marriage make.

Tiger has admitted to transgressions in his marriage and new mistresses are coming out of the woodwork almost every day. He and wife Elin have two children.

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Halle Berry left her soul singer husband after reports surfaced that he was a sex addict and cheater.

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Brad reportedly got close to Angelina Jolie on the set of 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' while still married.

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Grant cheated on Elizabeth Hurley in 1995 with prostitute Divine Brown. Hurley stood by him for several more years and then they split after 13 years together

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A stripper claims that she had lots of sex with Josh after meeting him at an Atlanta strip club. Josh has denied it and wife Fergie has stood by him.

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Jude cheated on fiance Sienna Miller with his children's nanny, Daisy Wright. Jude and Sienna split but have been spotted together recently in New York as they both are working on Broadway.

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And then Balthazar Getty cheated on his wife Rosetta Millington with Sienna Miller.

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Kobe Bryant was accused on sexual assault by a 19-year-old hotel employee. He admitted to adultery but denied the assault and bought his wife Vanessa a huge ring. They are still together.

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Marilyn's relationship with Evan Rachel Wood, then 19, is rumored to have contributed to his divorce from Dita Von Teese

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Duchovny went into rehab for sex addiction in 2008. He announced his separation from wife Tea Leoni amid rumors of an affair but they are now back together.

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Christie Brinkley's ex-husband Peter Cook cheated on her with Diana Bianchi, then 18, with whom he filmed a sex tape

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Cibrian left his wife Brandi for LeAnn Rimes.

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Billy left his Mary Louise Parker, then seven months pregnant, for his 'Stage Beauty' costar Claire Danes.

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Then Claire cheated on Billy with Hugh Dancy.

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LeAnn was married to Dean when she took up with Eddie Cibrian.

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His affair with a former employee sparked a blackmail investigation

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Which of these scandals did you see coming, and which came as no surprise?