Thursday, September 16, 2010

AdSense Stole My Money!

Wow, I bet that got your attention!

No, AdSense didn't steal my money, but we are in fact seeing a lot of posts like this in the AdSense forums. And there is a reason for it. Since about April of this year (2010) there have been some display issues with some of the reports pages within your AdSense accounts. Those of you who get cheques every month and don't actually check your stats all that often may not have noticed these issues at all, but they are probably there, in  your accounts. In the past month or so a second display issue has cropped up, also relating to earnings, but on a different page.

The first issue (the one from April) is on your Payments History Page. When you open that page it displays the "default" view, which is usually for the past three months. The earnings displaying at the end of the previous month (right now since it's Sept. that would be earnings for Aug. 31) are probably wrong - some are off by only a little bit, while others are off by a larger amount.

What we're finding in the forum is that people are looking at the default view, and seeing earnings over the payment threshold (that's $100 US) but aren't getting their cheques or payments...and of course wondering why. In order to see your actual earnings (ie: the correct earnings) on the Payments History Page you'll need to reset the view method from the default 3 months to "all time". To do that, select "all time" from the drop-down box at the top of the Payments History Page and let it load. Now check your earnings for the end of August (or the last month earnings are recorded for). There's a good chance that it is under the $100 threshold - in some cases it might only be a few cents or a few dollars under, but being under at all means you won't get your payment until those earnings are at least $100 or more.

The second more recent issue appears on the Reports Overview Page. That's the page you land on when you enter your AdSense account. If you are noticing the earnings in the "Since Last Payment" option disappearing and re-appearing and fluctuating wildly from hour to hour or day to day, then you are probably being affected by the display issues for this report. And it is a display issue - when your earnings are validated at the end of the month and posted to your Payments History Page, they will be the actual earnings. Unfortunately, at the moment, you really can't hang your hat on the "since last payment" report on the Reports Overview Page.

These issues can be found, with their work-arounds, on the "Known Issues" page for AdSense. Publisher's should bookmark this page, or add it to their Google Reader and check it regularly - particularly if you are seeing anything unusual in your AdSense account. If other publisher's are experiencing the same issues you are, you may find the answer on the Known Issues Page in the AdSense Help Center. Even though the issue might still be inconvenient, you'll probably be relieved to find you are not the only one experiencing it...and that AdSense is aware of it and working on it.

The two display issues mentioned above are being worked on by the techs and engineers. It's probably pretty easy to think the one that began back in April should be fixed by now, but the AdSense systems are fairly complicated and getting the same thing to work the same way for everyone probably isn't as easy as we think it should be. The "Known Issues" page will also tell you when these issues are corrected, so don't forget to check it.

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for your hard work I would appreciate if you could help me with the above questions .

    ReplyDelete
  2. What questions did you have? There are no questions above, only answers so if you've got a specific question, you'll need to tell me what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Gracey,

    Read your interview on Adsense Blog, Loved it !

    Would like to get help from you on this issue : http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=62fad31c8bdedd0c&hl=en

    I have posted this issue multiple times but no reply :( Hope you can help !

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Gracey,

    I'm delighted to find your blog and appreciate all the detail you add into your articles. They are helpful and informative and I'm about to become a regular subscriber.

    This is the first time I have found this adsense site and yours and I found it through the adsense help forum newsletter.

    Good stuff and thanks again :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. The display issues still exist that is why it's better to view your reports annually than quarterly.

    ReplyDelete
  6. gracy i am haveing problems viewing my earnings
    as 730 people have looked at my website www.sales-portal.co.uk i can omly view 600 pages looked at

    750 people have clicked my website i had two boys from india working with me and i think they have done something as they are no longer working for me can you help me to locate my problem brittish bussiness online my website is approved please i need to no whats has gone wrong i pay for my advertising so what has gone wrong last month aug everything i can view this month i think victor and sutaunj are thiefing here they are from india they have done something i please suggest that i had to put this comment in please can an officer view this
    from mohammed rafi

    ReplyDelete
  7. mohammed - I think I've seen your post in the adsense forum, but it was difficult to understand what you were asking. Let me see if I can find your post again and I'll reply in the forum.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You write very very informative posts. I follow your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  9. hi ,

    remember I'm Ramesh Thota,once again here to appreciate the hard work

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Gracey,

    I am writing this to you because you have great authority about AdSense questions in my eyes and hope that you'll help me to find "light" in my case. I am full time internet marketer and joined AdSense program last year. All was well till 6 days ago when I received an email that my account poses a risk of invalid activity. That was great shock for me because I directed all my business efforts on Google AdSense and this program give me decent money to survive and continue with my work. Also, part of that money was going to my part-time partners, mostly medical professionals who gives me content for my website.

    After primarily shock, I try to write on AdSense forum and they gave me some possibilities that may had influence on my problem. First thing was that I have not built Policy page regarding AdSense TOS on my website. I fix that immediatelly with hope that all finish well.

    Today I received an automated answer that they are unable to reinstate my account. What can I do in this hard situation? Just to clear that I was not clicked on my ads or courage anyone to do same. Any other possibilities of violating TOS are excluded too ( in my eyes).

    I find you Gracey as a great expert for AdSense issues I need your help. Please, if there is any possibility left I would to anything to correct my mistake and fix my problem.
    My question on AdSense forum:
    http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?tid=28e681251ea52119&hl=en
    Mail:vedbalri@gmail.com

    Really appreciate any help,

    Vedran

    ReplyDelete

Please DO NOT DROP LINKS HERE using monetized URL shorteners or the comments will be marked as spam. DO NOT post links to affiliate sites or links to promote your website. This is a "NO FOLLOW" blog.

If you want help with an actual blog or website, please just post for help in the Adsense forum, or leave your G+ profile link. I will not publish comments with blog/website or channel links.

Thanks.