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Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

danfabulich.medium.com

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Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#211

Post by malka »

themolecularman wrote: post #57
jaimex2 wrote: post #2

If there's a good alternative never use Google anything. The sole fact that there is no appeal system to account shutdowns and the way they just kill services at random should be enough reason for anyone.

> If there's a good alternative never use Google anything. Brave instead of Chrome. Duck Duck Go instead of Google. Proton Mail instead of Gmail. The only thing I haven't been able to replace is YouTube. That's a tricky one because it's the content creators that keep me locked into it.

RSS feeds + youtube-dl works like a charm.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#212

Post by wwn_se »

andi999 wrote: post #111
cookiengineer wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm this solid advice. Even at a mega-scale social games publisher like Zynga, we had to deal with automated bans all the time. That's why at one point we used an avatar for each game that was separately managed and was basically a separate identity with a separate bank account with a holding company etc. - Invent an avatar that has their own profile, residence, birth date, gender etc. - Use separate email ad…

How do you make an avatar with a bank account?

If you are just paying a couple of $100 a month for app related stuff you can just use a new bank if you want and just transfer the amount needed each month. Opening accounts is something banks really like when you do so its usually not hard.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#213

Post by pudmaidai »

rexf wrote: post #52
genuine_smiles wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Every product/project you manage should be on a separate account on Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. I wouldn’t do this with Facebook. Creating a second account is against Facebook policy, and they may ban both accounts.

It seems like a risk with Google too. It's common to be logged into Google/Gmail with multiple Google accounts. Even with separate Google accounts, Google can tell they are related and could potentially ban them too. A quick web search came up with Google's "associated account ban": > "Associated account ban" means not just explicit account linkages, but also implicit ones, where a wife can be banned for the misbehav…

I just can’t wait for my personal Google accounts as well as several others business accounts I access regularly to suddenly be blocked all at once.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#214

Post by emmelaich »

malikNF wrote: post #21

How on earth does google manage to still be one of the most valuable (in $$$) companies in the world with this kind of behavior. I just can't imagine treating my customers half as bad as the way google does and still continue to be in business. Abruptly dropping support for products[1], violating their user's privacy [2] , working with organizations accused of human rights violations. Each passing year it seems googl…

Well, their ads service is probably legit as in not corrupted by click-fraud.

It's not as if there's no upside. They're not idiots.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#215

Post by wwn_se »

eloisant wrote: post #169
CGamesPlay wrote: post #7

I'd extend this even further: never use a single account for more than one purpose. Create a separate account at the same company for the other purpose. Some examples: - Every product/project you manage should be on a separate account on Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. - Nothing tied to your consumer accounts should be used for anything business related. - Your Amazon shopping account and your AWS account should defin…

This is the right thing to do, however Google has ways to detect multiple accounts from the same individuals. Cookies, credit card numbers, IP addresses, etc. It's really hard to separate them enough so they can't link them. And sometimes they will ban all your accounts if they find something they dislike on one of them.

Yep, separate devices is the way to go. It can be a hassle but to setup but its worth it in the long run.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#216

Post by pudmaidai »

IshKebab wrote: post #142
BMorearty wrote: post #127

Four months ago a friend of mine had his Google account suspended with a vague message about a terms of service violation. He escalated and appealed it with my help. It was no use. He lost everything. Files. Photos. Email. Calendar. Even his business domain registrations. He was paying for Google services like YouTube and storage. He couldn’t even get a download of his data. This is why I never used Google Cloud. I’v…

I don't understand why they don't at least allow Google Takeout for banned accounts. They've already done all the hard work of implementing it!

It’s easier for them to just lock you out than give you any kind of limited access.

But if you can’t login, you can’t request your data either.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#217

Post by PeterisP »

GeekyBear wrote: post #99
cwkoss wrote: post #74

What sort of legislation could be put into place that would effectively prevent these sorts of situations without having horrible side effects?

I believe the GDPR requires that companies be able to explain the decisions of black box algorithms when they have the potential to cause harm personally or financially.

GDPR does have a clause (Art. 22) referencing "The data subject shall have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing[..]" , however:

1. the scope of GDPR is about rights of natural persons so anything about a company or organization Google Ads account is out of scope. A non-profit organization (AFAIK DroidScript is one?) is not a "data subject" to which that article can refer.

2. even if it would apply, it does not require "that companies be able to explain the decisions of black box algorithms", it requires "at least the right to obtain human intervention on the part of the controller, to express his or her point of view and to contest the decision" so if you complain, express your opinion, and then the company has a human review the automatically gathered data and respond "yep, we looked at it and our decision stands" then that's compliant, that GDPR article does not require them to provide you with an explanation, only with a human intervention.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#218

Post by simiones »

nkozyra wrote: post #28

It really does feel like there's a day of reckoning coming for services that can boot you with one fell swoop. And unfortunately it's unlikely to come from the source or from a general public appeal, but from government intervention. My adsense account was banned years ago. No details, no receptiveness to appeals. It's the kind of thing that's kept me from some personal/professional pursuits because I know there's a…

> And unfortunately it's unlikely to come from the source or from a general public appeal, but from government intervention.

The government IS the ultimate form of general public appeal, right? It would be unfortunate if we had to resort to begging or public demonstrations instead of having our elected representatives enact our will through law.

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#219

Post by CrendKing »

monkeybutton wrote: post #42
CrendKing wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more like they don't want to do it. If they consider someone a "fraud", why allow this "bad actor" to be still in the system? It's like "if someone steals, put them in the jail altogether, instead of just ban him from grocery stores".

It still seems overly harsh at the personal/individual level. Should lose your photos because you make a ghastly comment on YouTube, or lose your email access because you app. got pulled? A Google account has incredible breadth. I understand they have to deal with an incredible scale of fraud but surely they can differentiate between a recently created account using a few of their products for fraud vs. an account th…

I totally agree of differentiating punishment from behaviors. A bad comment shouldn't cause all the pics from Google Photos to be inaccessible. But like you said, Google probably has to deal with these issues in incredible scale, so unless some high up personally deal with the individual cases, almost all of the bans are automated.

Also, considering all the intervention would incur some cost, especially with high ups involved, unless unbanning the account has greater benefit to Google, why would they waste time doing it?

Re: Google can ban your Android app if they think you’ve clicked on your own ads

#220

Post by sidcool »

malikNF wrote: post #21

How on earth does google manage to still be one of the most valuable (in $$$) companies in the world with this kind of behavior. I just can't imagine treating my customers half as bad as the way google does and still continue to be in business. Abruptly dropping support for products[1], violating their user's privacy [2] , working with organizations accused of human rights violations. Each passing year it seems googl…

I think it's because a single account for all. Email, drive, docs, calendar, photos, YT, Android etc. Having said that, it does not justify their unruly behavior.
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