Ask HN: Google blocked my url/Gmail because they don't accept my ad verification

#1

Post by bengold14 » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:04 AM UTC

I use google ads for a small app I started - I've been working on it for 2 years and things have been going pretty well. However my advertising account got suspended 2 months ago and despite me submitting and resubmitting different documents probably 10 times I have yet to get it unsuspended, with 0 feedback and no one to talk to. Because of the ad suspension they have also suspended my main domain/email which was connected, which has been a huge blow.

This is pretty devastating considering I've spent 2 years building this and was finally seeing traction only to get cut off like this. Does anyone know of some way to reach a human or at least get feedback on what needs to be done? I feel like my application is in a black hole and I have no idea what to do.

Re: Ask HN: Google blocked my url/Gmail because they don't accept my ad verification

#2

Post by ggm » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:12 AM UTC

If your complaint surfaces enough airplay here or in other tech media it may unlock some reconsideration but please understand that many pleas like this turn out to have details which are not shared but material. I no nothing of your case and I do not work for google. I just observe their T&C exclude a lot of things people consider normal and their processes demand tight adherence to their path, their timelines.

If you e.g. failed to respond to a mail mistakenly sorted to spam.. you will own the process failure, even though it lies in their hands to manage spam filtering to Gmail accounts.

Personally, I think we need independent arbiters with legal formalism over this kind of thing. It's beyond normal to have the same contracting agency as judge, jury, executioner and keyholder of the digital assets.

Use Google takeout. Don't wind up captive to your data on an at-will closure.

If you try to work around this informally by eg making another account and resubmitting the same things you may do yourself, your case, irreparable harm in their eyes.

Re: Ask HN: Google blocked my url/Gmail because they don't accept my ad verification

#3

Post by bengold14 » Wed, May 31, 2023, 2:10 PM UTC

ggm wrote: post #2

If your complaint surfaces enough airplay here or in other tech media it may unlock some reconsideration but please understand that many pleas like this turn out to have details which are not shared but material. I no nothing of your case and I do not work for google. I just observe their T&C exclude a lot of things people consider normal and their processes demand tight adherence to their path, their timelines. If y…

My email account that is associated with it doesn't work as they shutdown my domain, so I can't have missed any feedback, and there isn't anyway I can see to switch it without access to the email.

I don't know what to do, I wish they had someone to talk to. I pay them and can't even reach someone it's crazy, they're losing thousands of dollars a month from me and they can't even give me someone to talk to for 15 minutes and sort this out.

Re: Ask HN: Google blocked my url/Gmail because they don't accept my ad verification

#4

Post by bcrl » Fri, Jun 02, 2023, 1:24 AM UTC

bengold14 wrote: post #3

ggm wrote: post #2

If your complaint surfaces enough airplay here or in other tech media it may unlock some reconsideration but please understand that many pleas like this turn out to have details which are not shared but material. I no nothing of your case and I do not work for google. I just observe their T&C exclude a lot of things people consider normal and their processes demand tight adherence to their path, their timelines. If y…

My email account that is associated with it doesn't work as they shutdown my domain, so I can't have missed any feedback, and there isn't anyway I can see to switch it without access to the email. I don't know what to do, I wish they had someone to talk to. I pay them and can't even reach someone it's crazy, they're losing thousands of dollars a month from me and they can't even give me someone to talk to for 15 minu…

If you've been on HN for more than a couple of months, surely you have seen the horror stories that people post regularly. Having Google as a single point of failure for one's business seems risky. There are oodles of DNS providers out in the world that have real support mechanisms for escalating problems. At the bare minimum, when you choose to use Google for your domain's email and other services, keep the DNS off Google so that you have a path for recovery that isn't an empty void in the fabric of space and time.