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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

#291

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

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?

1. Mandate that each accused has the right to view the evidence against them - this means no bans without specific evidence that the user can view and defend against.

2. Mandate that each accused has the right to face their accuser - this means each ban must provide a way to speak to a person via phone and email to appeal it.

3. Mandate that each accused has a right to a fair trial - this means that, at some point in the appeals process, the banned must have the option of, with minimal investment of time and effort, being judged by a neutral party, which has the power to ultimately overturn judgements by the non-neutral party (Facebook)

The problem isn't that there are no solutions - each of these three totally reasonable rights was conceived of centuries ago. The problem is that Google doesn't want to do them because it is at least 1 cent cheaper to _not_ do then.

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

#292

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

ARandomerDude wrote: post #75
FpUser wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, that is why all big gorillas are there. Go talk to them and see how receptive they are. Or try to convince you government to cut all ties.

I didn't understand this comment at all. Could you please rephrase it?

I think he's trying to say that rights abuses are justified by success (the "gorilla" sized companies patronizing them).

No, it doesn't make much sense to me, either.

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

#293

Post by sneak »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #223
sneak wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No one is forced to do business with Google.

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

#294

Post by Hitton »

jjav wrote: post #148
ryandrake wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. This should really go without saying. I’m sometimes shocked at the extent to which it has become normalized to mix up one’s personal accounts with work. I can’t count the number of times a colleague accidentally sent me an email using their personal account, or tex…

> Don’t even get me started on how entrenched “Sign In With [Company]” schemes have gained traction. Absolutely! My advice is to never, ever, use these links to sign in with a different company. It is a sure fire way to lose completely unrelated accounts just because ML went crazy somewhere and banned you. (Also, on the advice front, always run your own domain for email. You need to be able to transfer it elsewhere w…

I'm not sure if this isn't a bit too paranoid approach. Using single sign on is imho fine as long as you use that account only for single sign ons. At least I haven't ever heard of anyone banned for this. Sure, it isn't ideal, but it significantly lowers overhead of managing too many identities.

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

#295

Post by sva_ »

jeroenhd wrote: post #205

With the way the system is designed, it's trivial to game the system in such a way that your ad-supported competitors get purged from the play store. Just extract the AdMob ID and submit it to click farms all around the world, and within a few days your competitor should be dropped from AdSense forever. Like any Google product, partnering with them is a major risk for your business continuity. I'd never combine Googl…

> With the way the system is designed, it's trivial to game the system in such a way that your ad-supported competitors get purged from the play store.

Its only a matter of time until people start abusing this heavily, if they don't already do so. But then Google will probably have to do something about it, if it gets out of hand.

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

#296

Post by ahofmann »

quickthrower2 wrote: post #259
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…

If you are on Google do a regular takeout [α] in preparation for a future ban. It exports everything. Easiest way to back it all up and gives you time to wean off Google. α: https://takeout.google.com/

The problem is that Google behaves like an asshole. It doesn't help that you have the option to make a backup beforehand.

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

#297

Post by skinkestek »

londons_explore wrote: post #275
skinkestek wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aha, that explains a lot of course. Still: why make it so hard to get the archives once they are generated?

Once the archive is generated it isn't hard to download it I don't think... Click the link in the email and it starts downloading... They even have an option to split into multiple files for ease of download if you have slow or unreliable internet, and their download links do support "download managers" which can resume failed downloads. Giving you 7 days to download it seems fine... Remember they are effectively giv…

You defend Google better than any of their official spokespersons IMO :-)

I still dislike Google intensely for a number of things but not for this anymore.

(In case you are interested:

- serving me insulting ads and not giving me good ones whenever I didn't have adblock activated for over a decade. (edit: I've lost count of how many times I've clicked "not interested" on semi nude pictures advertising for scammy dating sites)

- causing me hours and hours and hours of frustration by breaking doublequotes

- killing Google+

- keeping me worried that they will shut me down until I can migrate my last account off Google and a few weeks

- almost killing Firefox

- and the open web

- scheming to make adblockers impossible

- probably more)

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

#299

Post by elzbardico »

snotrockets wrote: post #17
busymom0 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epik and Namecheap are pretty good imo. Definitely don't use GoDaddy. EDIT: One can find several instances where users search domain names on GoDaddy and they are available at regular price but when they try to place the order, the domain is no longer available and must be bought at a premium price.

Epik is excited to provide services for white supremacists. I'd think thrice if this is a vendor I'd like to have my name associated with.

Well, so this is a matter for the FBI and the DOJ. If you know of any such case, please report to them. And by the way, another reason private companies should not be in the business of law enforcement is because by cutting service to such sites they could well be damaging ongoing investigations

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

#300

Post by elzbardico »

busymom0 wrote: post #23
snotrockets wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epik is excited to provide services for white supremacists. I'd think thrice if this is a vendor I'd like to have my name associated with.

Here we go again with the "white supremacist" boogeyman. Not worth discussing this because such discussions never change anyone's minds.

White supremacist groups are the for left what communists are for the right.

In both cases, an absurdly overrated bogeyman and unchecked paranoia

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