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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

#221

Post by ezoe »

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…

Well, if you took such strategy, obviously you nee more precautions.

- Never share the same IP address among accounts.

- But keep IP address range consistent for one service because anomaly means automatic ban.

- Never share the same physical computer among accounts.

Or you can be like never bother to relies on a single platform.

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

#222

Post by benhurmarcel »

bogwog wrote: post #4
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.

Stories like this always scare me because they remind me that all of my domain names are on Google domains, including the one I use for my work email address. I gotta migrate out one of these days.

Another unsolicited recommendation: Gandi.net. I've been quite happy with them.

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

#223

Post by JulianMorrison »

sneak wrote: post #203
paxys wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I get what you are saying, this is sounding more and more like an abusive relationship. "Getting beaten by your husband? Try not being around him when he is drunk." At some point we have to face the reality that the tech ecosystem needs some serious fixing, for both consumers and developers.

If you don't like the way these businesses handle (or, more accurately, don't handle) customer support, you should avoid doing business with them. Delete your accounts and shop elsewhere.

Oh hey it's the "you should leave him" guy. As with abusive spouses, there are usually circumstances trapping people there. Not least the unequal power relationship.

This is a circumstance where society, in the form of government, needs to weigh in to force tech giants to behave more sanely, because only society as a whole is a bigger fish than Google, Facebook, etc.

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

#224

Post by sundarurfriend »

pudmaidai wrote: post #210
kwdc wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its just about same anything . Simple guilt-by-association is a real thing for google at least. You have an employee who's deemed by google as a bad app developer? That can impact the business that employs them even if its an unrelated app.

If I remember correctly GitHub also locked an entire organization’s repos because someone accessed GitHub from a red-flagged country probably 2 years ago. I can’t wait for regulation to arrive and stop this kind of behavior.

That's a very different thing, because they were worried about breach of US law. Not saying that makes it fair or non-destructive to the business, but it's not in the same league as Google being over-aggressive in protecting their ad money.

(And if there were regulations around this, Github would probably still have done the same thing, because "national security" regulations punch through "consumer protection" regulations every time.)

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

#225

Post by CrendKing »

mytherin wrote: post #140
CrendKing wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But justice system works equally for everyone, while this is private sector, where contracts rule. It is apple vs pear. Same to freedom of speech. Anyone can say anything in public, but if someone post a thread in Google Groups, they can ban you for whatever reason, because the user agreed to their ToS first. Of course, DroidScript has the freedom to choose different ad provider altogether, but they didn't.

The reason government is treated differently from companies in that regard is because the government has a natural monopoly in many areas. You cannot choose an alternative government, you are forced to deal with the one there is. When companies hold monopoly status (which Google absolutely does), there is also no real, viable alternative to choose from. When publishing on Android, realistically you are forced to deal…

I agree with you. But legally speaking, Google is not monopolizing until they actually lose an antitrust case. So before that happens, if anyone wants to play the game legally, they have to abide to Google's ToS, no matter how absurd it is, no?

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

#226

Post by underdeserver »

koluna wrote: post #102
wombatpm wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the bank will point to a specific transaction as the reason or a series of transactions to show a pattern. i.e., You've had 15 $9000 deposits over the last 15 weeks in what appears to be an attempt to avoid reporting to to the federal government.

No, they won’t. They can close any accounts without a notice or reason. https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/help-topics/bank-accounts/ope...

What do they do with the balance in the account when that happens?

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

#227

Post by simiones »

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…

That is quite a bit of effort to protect from accidental temporary bans. It's definitely important (and easy) not to mix personal and business accounts, even for for single-person companies. But keeping different accounts for different parts of the same company without committing fraud is not that easy.

If the ban is permanent and results from a change in policy, this won't help significantly anyway: if Google actually wants to ban your business, they will find all related accounts, and ban them.

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

#228

Post by daniellarusso »

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…

I am in the opposite situation.

AdSense works fine for me, but I have been banned from AdWords for over a decade.

Also banned my partner’s account from AdWords, as well (because we used the same internet connection).

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

#229

Post by bambax »

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…

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

Not unfortunately. Hopefully. Government doesn't work very well, but still much better than all those huge private companies. There are appeals, for one.

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

#230

Post by daniellarusso »

CrendKing wrote: post #10
monkeybutton wrote: post #5

So Google can manage hundreds of feature/experiment flags on accounts to control which shade of blue you see in an A/B test, but silo-ing which products an account has access to just isn't possible?

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".

I think it is more analogous to “if someone steals, they are no longer allowed to vote.”
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