Bad Comments and Spam Can Lower Your Google AdSense Income
79Most of us like online comments.
Comments allow us to engage with our readers, and to further develop the ideas set forth in our online articles. Most comments convey at least some information, even the ones from negative or rude people.
Most of us are also familiar with bad spam comments, which are posted by people who do not even read our online articles, but simply want to create a cheap back-link to their own websites. Some people may also spam bad comments as a marketing strategy to trick reciprocal comments from us.
Recently, I have had the pleasure of receiving another form of bad comment - this one is more insidious than the rest because it appears to be an attack on my Google AdSense account. In particular, these bad comments contain certain bad keywords that are illegal in Google AdSense policies.
Other than the bad keywords, the comment looks generally innocuous. However peppering your article with these bad keywords, may result in the removal of Google AdSense advertisements from your article because of inappropriate content, or worse, you may get banned from Google AdSense.
Bad Comments
This new type of bad comment is often posed as a question, and may include flattering language such as "Good Job" or "Well Done".
Presumably, flattery is used to encourage comment approval. The question, I assume, helps to engage me in a discussion around some bad keywords, thereby further increasing the occurrence of said keywords in my articles.
Frequently, multiple bad comments will be delivered in a row, and from seemingly different sources.
Another sign that these comments are irregular is that they contain specialized keywords. Normally, anyone interested in such specialized keywords would have done a more focussed Google Search, and would not have come across my more general articles.
I am unsure why I was targeted. It could have just been just a test to see if the strategy works. Or perhaps it was in response to some of my more controversial make money online articles.
Can Bad Comments Affect Your Google AdSense Income?
Sadly, yes.
This has happened before to one of my HubPages articles.
In this case, it was not by a saboteur, but simply by a friend who was joking around with me. He used some sexually explicit language, and his comment ended up getting all my Google AdSense advertisements removed, presumably for pornographic content.
So yes - the language used in your comments is also taken into account by Google AdSense.
In this case, the Google AdSense advertisements returned as soon as I withdrew the bad comment.
The next interesting question to consider is - can these bad comments get you banned from Google AdSense?
This interesting thread on WebMaster World seems to suggest that it can.
I was not able to find any more Forum discussions pertaining to this issue, so it is unclear whether comments with bad keywords can actually result in banning.
Another type of bad comment I have received are plagiarized comments, i.e. a comment that is a plagiarized passage from another website.
Identifying Bad Comments
While I may never know why some of my online articles were targeted with bad comments, I do know that I will be more careful about all comments that I receive in the future. Here are some ways to determine if a comment is just a comment, or whether it is actually a ticking time-bomb -
- Always do a Google Search on any terms or keywords that are unfamiliar to you. These keywords may be against the content guidelines specified in the Google AdSense Program Policies.
- Always check the link associated with the commenter's name. If you do not like the associated website, it is better to block the comment. Remember that you may be penalized for linking to sites that are against Google AdSense's content guidelines, and a link in a comment is still an outgoing link.
Note though that all links in the HubPages comments section is marked no-follow, so there is some built-in protection for bad links. WordPress blogs will also mark all comment-links as no-follow by default. - Trust your gut. If a comment sounds wrong or spammy to you, then block it. It is better to be safe than sorry.
If you keep getting harassed by the same person/ IP address, then consider reporting them to their hosting website, Google AdSense (if their site is using Google AdSense), or whichever advertisement hosting service that they use. A whois service such as uTrace can help you get more information about their IP address.
Prevent Bad Comments
1. Post controversial topics using an alternate web ID, and without Google AdSense advertisements.
Writing about controversial topics or topics about illegal behavior may generate some ill-feelings towards you. Some people may feel wronged by your article and decide to retaliate by trying to get you banned from Google AdSense, spamming you, or other anti-social online activities.
To keep your Google AdSense income and account safe, post your controversial articles using an alternate web ID and do not place any Google AdSense advertisements on those articles. Alternatively, post them on a site like Squidoo, so that your Google AdSense ID is not associated with those articles.
By creating multiple identities, it will be much harder for anyone to target you. Also by disassociating your Google AdSense ID with anything controversial it will less likely be the target of sabotage.
2. Do not publicly flag or report someone for bad online behavior.
If you detect any bad online behavior such as plagiarized content, inappropriate language, racist remarks, or personal harassment, then report that bad behavior privately to the people in charge.
Many people will be tempted to expose the bad behavior publicly, but that will only open you to future retaliatory action.
Remember that the online bad boy can just abandon his old tarnished identity, and put on a new name. With this new name he can post bad comments, attack your Google AdSense account, or otherwise harass you.
3. Try to always be polite and keep away from flame wars or personal online arguments.
The less bad-will and controversy you generate online, the more clicks and money you will make.
Arguments and online negativity are bad for business. At the very least you will have alienated the person you are arguing with. Usually, in a flame war, you will end up alienating more than just one person. Even if the people do not take any explicit negative action against you, you will have lost some buying customers for all time.
4. Only allow comments to be published after they have been moderated.
In most blogs as well as online writing sites, you have the ability to control who can submit comments to your online articles and when those comments will be posted publicly. If you are concerned about bad comments, then set your comment options to only allow registered users, or to only post comments after they have been moderated by you.
The second option will save you from having to frequently check your comments to make sure that no bad apples have gotten through. While it gives you greater protection from bad comments, this setting may discourage some visitors from commenting. When their comment does not appear right away, visitors may think that they have been censored or that there is an error with your article.
This may discourage future visits and comments.
What is your bad comment strategy?
See results without votingShiba, Take Your Own Advice!
You may notice, however, that I did not follow some of my own advice on how to prevent bad comments. Unfortunately, I was not aware of some of these online dangers before blabbing my big mouth.
But there is a trade-off.
If you try too hard to stay out of harm's way, it will be difficult for you to say all the things that you want to say. Creating an alternate account may shield you from negative attention, but it will also limit the total attention or visitors that you can attract. By separating your main account from your controversial account, you will have a harder time getting good rankings on Google Search, and getting your message out.
Thus you must consider - do you want to make money? or do you want to break from the pack, and say what you want to say?
If you are only interested in making money, then keep your head down and stay away from any controversy. If you want to say what you want to say, then you must take the good attention together with the risky bad attention.
Join HubPages and start making money with Google AdSense.
Hello Shibashake, I appreciate the in-depth look at how comments can affect credibility, but I am most impressed with your amazing artwork. Is this the 'envy' series? I am surprised that no one else commented on it. Now back to your latest hub, which is where I started earlier before a remarkable tour of your art blog along the way. Thank you so much. Regards, snakeslane
I do not know that comments can affect your Google account and ranking. Thanks for this info. Now I am careful to review the kind of comment that I approve. Thanks again!
I haven't thought of this idea since I only delete spam comments. Now, I am more careful with comments after reading your article.
I do not know that comments can affect your Google account and ranking. Thanks for this info. Now I am careful to review the kind of comment that I approve. Thanks again!
There are particular words that are frowned upon by Google AdSense. If too many such words turn up in your article - even in the comments section - your ads will be pulled. This can also happen on HubPages.
As for the exact criteria used, nobody knows, but it does depend on the type of words used and the frequency of those words.
Really?bad comments reduce adsense revenue!But how google classify which is a bad comments?
These tips are eye-openers. It is true that we should always be vigilant. I love HubPages because hubbers are given the chance to moderate all comments. Even though I love receiving comments for my work, I often deny or delete some of them with some regret. Thanks again :)
Thanks Shib for this info. I somehow managed to miss this hub. Never knew that google can do such a thing if there are not so good comments. Keep up the good work.
Hello CMHypno, Yeah it is strange some of the things people will do. Most of the comments I get are of the good kind though, so I think it is only a small number of people who do this.
There is still hope for humanity :)
Great Hub shibashake, with lots of useful information. Never realised that the comments could affect your Adsense, so I'll pay more attention in future - when you start you are just grateful that you get some!
lol James. Actually some of the comment attacks I have received are pretty creative. I thought the use of flattery, integrated with questions was very clever :)
I had no idea the "comments" section could affect one's Ad revenues. That is a surprise. Good job!
I was kidding! :-)
This is good information to know. Thank you.
Thanks for your very kind comment. Welcome to HubPages and good luck on your online endeavours.
When you get rich and famous, be sure to remember me! :)
Shibashake, thank you. This is a brilliant article. You highlighted some aspects of internet marketing that I never considered and I am very new to hubpages and this has helped me tremendously. I want you to know that I bookmarked your site, and will be forwarding this hub on to my fellow twitter pals...because I find this information so useful. I too have created an adsense account, knowing and understanding very little about it. This read is driving me to want to learn how to use adsense properly. This will help me to avoid falling victim to some of the problems you have run into. Preventative ways to combat flame wars was a very positive suggestion. Thank you again!
Hello Kya,
" I guess we should avoid to take these things personal."
Very well said. This probably holds true for pretty much any online comment, and perhaps for real-life ones as well :) The person that gets hurt the most when one takes things too personally, is oneself.
Interesting how I learn new things here, every day. It would never have crossed my mind to mistrust the language in comments. I guess we should avoid to take these things personal.
Thanks Mark. I suppose to some it is just a game. Sometimes, we forget that there are real people sitting behind that computer screen.
Thank you so much for providing this information - I had never heard of this. I'll certainly be more diligent towards the comments I receive from now on. :)
Hi Peggy,
There is actually nothing wrong with a comment like "good hub". Just make sure to check the link associated with them to make sure that the website that they are pointing to is a reputable website. If you link to (even if it is just in the comments section) too many non-reputable websites, that will have a bad effect on your Google AdSense.
Another class of bad comments are the ones that contain 'bad keywords' - those that are against Google AdSense Content Guidelines.
My policy is that it is better to err on the safe side, so I probably block more than I need to - but better safe than sorry.
I was also unaware of these things. So a comment like "good hub" is actually not good?
You just don't think of these things. It's amazing the ways they can come up with to do damage (intentional or not). Thanks for the awareness.
Thanks Nancy. I was unaware of these practices myself. Still, it is a very interesting area to learn about. And we will have to keep learning because new strategies will always be developed :)
Very informative hub---thanks for sharing it with us. I had no idea that this was occurring however, I am still learning all the tricks of the trade here…
@FP - Hey FP! So good to see you. With new functionality and services, there also arises a new breed of hackers. And like the hackers of old, some of them are quite creative.
@wandererh - Thanks wandererh. Truly though, the originality of the ideas should be attributed to the people who left the 'bad comments' :)
@Jaspal - Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for dropping by.
This is an interesting hub and has broadened my knowledge base about the activities on the internet!
I nearly didn't read this hub 'cause I was thinking that it is just another article about how you can make more money from AdSense.
But this is something truly original and is really food for thought.
Thanks! :)
Most interesting, shibashake! Since I only write here for fun I had no idea that people engage in such concerted attempts at sabotaging another's hard work.
@Aya - The other class of tags that may also be bad are certain technical terms - mainly those involved with getting illegal traffic and clicks. The WebMaster World link that I provided above has a discussion on this issue. It is an interesting thread, although it does not provide definitive evidence that such keywords will result in banning. Still, it is better to block them from your comments.
@SEM Pro - Yeah, can't say I was very aware of these practices until they started happening to me. Intellectually, some of these techniques are quite interesting. If only people would employ their powers for good ...
@SweetiePie - You bring up a good point. Google AdSense probably has a complex algorithm for determining when articles receive a penalty. I think that it is partially dependent on the number of times a certain keyword appears, and of course on the keyword itself. But since we all do not know this algorithm, it is better to stay on the safe side.
@Whitney05 - Yeah I have become a lot more careful about links myself.
@Tigermadstanley - I think that in general, there is a nice core group of people on HP that is very solid. But then, anybody can join, so the bad comments can come from inside and outside HP. Still, at some point one has to stop worrying - or there wouldn't be any fun left :)
Thanks for such a thought provoking hub. I hadn't realised that seemingly innocent words such as 'good hub' could be used for the wrong reasons. 'Netiquette' is really a minefield! I really hadn't thought of anyone doing anything like that to someone else as Hubpages has such a community feel and spirit.
I definitely delete the comments that only say "good hub" and those with spammy links.
Not necessarily. A few of my hubs and blogs get weird comments from time to time and still do well. If I get any comment with swear words or explicit language I usually delete those.
Good question Aya. Great blog shibashake - thank you. The option of moderating all comments wasn't a voting choice. I may get less comments because of the default moderating but it's our spot after all. To me that means it's my home and I choose who to let be part of my space. Have seen many who commented according to stats and deleted if approval was required. "Ciou", I think in my head, "Didn't want to hear your ____ anyway" :)
My default comes more from years of being stalked though. On hp and the net, blogs like yours keep us alert. If suspicious at all, who needs it? Appreciate you sharing for our prevention.
Shibashake, this has been a very instructive article. I've never thought about these issues as analytically as this. I understand that sexually explicit language and racist remarks are good reasons to delete a comment. But are there other bad tags or keywords that one would not guess would get one in trouble with Google Adsense?
shibashake Hub Author 2 months ago
Hello snakeslane, Thank you for your awesome and positive comments! They are very much appreciated. :D