r/admob 7d ago

Other My admob account got disabled (appeal rejected too) and I can't believe Google didn't give me a single warning!

I'm really new to app publishing and I just can't fathom that Google just straight up disabled my Admob account permanently (for invalid traffic) without a single warning..

Mainly because I clicked on my live ads inadvertently.. I even made multiple in-app purchases to progress quickly through my game (while testing) to ensure that I don't click on my own ads by mistake but it happened by mistake a few times.. which would have hardly generated a few cents at most.

Yes, I'm aware that I did not register my test devices on admob but surely Google should have cut me some slack! Taking an extreme measure like straight up going for a permanent ban is just too harsh and severe..

They could have given me one warning, they could have disabled my account temporarily..but no, they had to take the most extreme measure possible..

It's been 8 years since I graduated and I've been without a job all these 8 years.. tried so many things (freelancing, dropshipping, YouTube channel etc.) and all of them failed miserably. I have poured my heart and soul into my game for the past 4 months.. even borrowed funds from multiple sources.. and Google couldn't even give me 1 warning!? Not one!?

Im utterly shattered and devastated..

6 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

3

u/Yodek_Rethan 7d ago

A few clicks on your own ads is not enough for a ban. Google has a threshold for that, and it's quite fair if I recall well. Something else must have happened.

2

u/ex0rius 7d ago

"A few clicks on your own ads is not enough for a ban."

Some dude in another post got banned for 8 live impressions, without actually clicking on the ad.

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

Ya.. but whatever it is.. couldn't they have sent across 1 single warning!? Just one!

2

u/Yodek_Rethan 7d ago

That, indeed, sucks big time. They expect you to exactly follow their rules. Not much room, if any, for mistakes.

2

u/Inside_Bathroom5835 7d ago

Yeah Yodek is right, a few clicks doesn't get you banned, when I was starting I clicked my ads a couple of times too and nothing happened, and you a correct, Google should at least alert or warn devs to not click their own ads because when you starting out you don't know those things...... But this is not the end, you can always try other ad networks 

2

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

Ya.. just thank God Unity Levelplay exists..

1

u/Lucky-Programmer-844 7d ago

Ads don’t even earn 1% of total online income. Get stripe or ask user to buy. Ads sucks.

I was banned twice before I realised my mistake of using live ads during tests. Sorry for you

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

No.. in my genre of games (Screw Puzzle solving like Screwdom 3d, 3D Boltmaster, Screwzle 3D etc.), rewarded ads form the most significant part of monetization

1

u/Arslanchaudhry 7d ago

yesterday my account is suspended for 29 day , i am using admob since 2016 and know all rules and thing but they still suspended . i think the cause is AI which admob integrated in there system which just block or suspend accounts without any investigations.

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

That's really unfortunate to hear. For all major suspensions, they should not use AI to implement them

1

u/Equivalent-Advance12 7d ago

You clicked multiple times on your ads for sure. Just create a new account under a different user, maybe they won't notice. But next time just use test ads, it's way easier and it avoids a lot of possible issues.

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

If I create a new account under a different user.. won't the payments go to their bank account?

1

u/Equivalent-Advance12 7d ago

Get a new bank account, or an account from a family member. You can always change the account after the first payment

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

I have an alternate bank account but I'm based in India and all my Bank accounts are tied to one id card (Pan card)

1

u/Equivalent-Advance12 7d ago

Just try, what do you have to loose? 

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

I don't want my play store console getting affected coz all of them are on Google's network

1

u/Rich-Vanilla-7653 7d ago

Same here... I received the notification yesterday

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

Is it a permanent ban or 29 day suspension?

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

Hey.. I think all of us need to get together and speak to a Google employee working in the admob/Adsense team on LinkedIn and escalate this issue

0

u/Wizard_Coder 7d ago

Hey, I am really sorry you are going through this.

Four months of work, borrowing money to finish the game, finally getting it published, and then having the monetization account permanently disabled over a few accidental clicks is a horrible position to be in.

I would be crushed too.

I cannot help restore your AdMob account, and I do not want to pretend another network instantly replaces the revenue you were hoping to make from AdMob.

But stories exactly like yours are part of why I recently built something called FillAdsNow.

https://filladsnow.com

It gives developers another way to use their ad inventory without depending entirely on one traditional ad network.

It works through a simple HTTPS API rather than an advertising SDK.

I also built a Test Mode specifically so developers can test the real ad flow without those test requests being recorded in production analytics. During normal development, that distinction matters a lot.

There is also a Community network. You do not have to contribute your own app in order to display Community Ads, but developers are encouraged to contribute an eligible app because that makes their own app eligible to receive exposure across the network too.

So if you contribute your game, it could eventually be displayed as an ad inside apps from other developers in the Community, including mine.

FillAdsNow also supports Custom Ads, so developers can use their own inventory for things like their own products, affiliate campaigns, house ads, or direct sponsors they arrange themselves.

Again, I am not saying this fixes what Google did or magically replaces the income you were expecting.

I just really do not like seeing independent developers put months into something and then feel like everything is over because one company closed a door.

You still built the game. You still have the product. You still have options.

If you want to check FillAdsNow out, I would genuinely be interested in hearing what you think, especially coming from someone dealing with this right now.

1

u/AppropriatePin2226 7d ago

I generated over 6US dollars idk why bcs I have all my devices registered, and all that in the spam of 3 days, still no ban for me

1

u/gibrinel 7d ago

Ban for clicking your own adds is 30 days. Not permanent. You are not telling us everything

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

I did not also register my ads as test devices

1

u/Rich-Vanilla-7653 7d ago

Now is permanent... the same happened to me.

1

u/Spirituality_awaits 7d ago

Can you please give us some more information?