Google Bans Stitching Bloggers

Last July 15th I got an email from Google stating I've been banned from using their AdSense advertising program.   The email went on to state they had "detected invalid activity on your site" and my account had been disabled.  The reasons you can be banned are stated in the link below.   The reason Google tossed me appears to be in the first group, which is about manipulating advertising to gain additional revenue.
http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2660562

Google says they won't tell you why your account has been suspended as that reveals how they monitor their advertising program.  I have not committed any of these violations but of course someone could be constantly clicking on the ads that appear on Blog, driving up the revenue and causing me to be banned.  You can appeal but not knowing why you were banned really limits what you can say, and Google turned my appeal down.  But I are banned from ever using AdSense again.

I'm not the only one  I just got an email from Stephanie saying she'd just been banned.  Stephanie is a new blogger but her site is very popular, driven by her happy personality and the fabulous stitching she and her SWAN group do.  If you are not familiar with Stephanie the Master Criminal, you can visit her blog here.
http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com

Stephanie thought she might be banned because she was close to a payment from Google.  She did some research and found many complaints from people who said they had done nothing but were banned very close to a payment time.  Google only pays advertising money once you have earned $100, so you are only paid periodically.  That didn't happen to me.  I can't access my AdSense account to check but I believe I've been a member of the program for five years and earned roughly $430 over that time.  It's not a big money proposition for sites like Blog.  Still, it hurts to be called out for something you didn't do.

Before I heard from Stephanie I wondered if my new tabs that list Trunk Shows/Sales and Monthly Clubs the stitching shops run was the direct cause of my being banned.  After all, that is a sort of advertising that competes with the places that are paying Google to display their ads.  It also means Google is watching us bloggers a lot more closely than I realized, which is rather chilling.  That can't be the reason Stephanie was banned.  I don't believe she's ever mentioned sales except in passing to say she picked up this or that during a sale or trunk show.  The other alternative is even more chilling--some vicious person is visiting NP blogs and clicking mindlessly on ads to cause us to be banned.

To figure out what's going on Stephanie and I need data.  If you have a stitching blog and you've been banned from Google's AdSense program, I'd like to know.  The rough date this happened (Stephanie and I were banned about two weeks apart), the reason Google gave (either "Invalid Activity" or "Policy Reasons") and whether you were close to a payout date are all things we'd like to know. I'd also like the URL to your blog. If there is a pattern of popular stitching blogs being shut out of Google's program, I want to tell Google about this.  That means there is someone exercising deliberate malice and Google might be able to detect a pattern and protect further abuse of needlepoint bloggers.

Either leave a comment here or leave a comment with Stephanie's blog or email me directly at chilly hollow at hotmail.com.   Thanks!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Kreinik Interviews June McKnight

This interview includes a bit about June's background, then focuses on her latest book, Bling, Glitz and Glamour for Needlepoint.  I think it a very fun book and the interview is fun, too.
http://kreinikthread.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-book-shows-you-how-to-make.html


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Everyone Has Their Own Style

I believe each stitcher has his or her own style.   Some of us like elegant, some of us like glitzy, some of us want light coverage, some of us prefer heavy.  Obviously, Ruth Schmuff agrees, as she shows off embellishment class photographs from last weekend's class at her shop, Bedecked and Beadazzled.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2012/07/julia-snyder-came-to-town.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com