Fanboys Anonymous

Google it! It's a company that plays an important role in all our lives, so...how do they get away with neglecting users? Easy... They play an important role in all our lives. The call to commit some man power to answering the cries of users who need it can go unanswered for an eternity because the collective neglected will never trump the number of Googlers Googling. In other words, answering to issues, more specifically from AdSense and, in the new arena of online video advertising, YouTube, is an effort that might cost.

The Google logo is known everywhere, recognizable even to the illiterate, despite it's letter composition.

Why else would users be screaming from the rooftops to no avail. AdSense's first policy statements are:

All publishers are required to adhere to the following policies, so please read them carefully. If you fail to comply with these policies without permission from Google, we reserve the right to disable ad serving to your site and/or disable your AdSense account at any time. If your account is disabled, you will not be eligible for further participation in the AdSense program.

Perhaps it sounds legit at first, but considering the company lends no plausibility to the idea of extenuating circumstances, the rules begin to seem much harder on the user... Unfair even. The worst part about the entire situation is that, having set a standard of perfection from writers and video makers, the company retains the right to make any change they please to adjust any mistakes that may have been made. The very next lines go:

Because we may change our policies at any time, please check here often for updates. In accordance with our online Terms and Conditions, it's your responsibility to keep up to date with, and adhere to, the policies posted here. Exceptions to these policies are permitted only with authorization from Google.

When you first begin writing internet articles, one of the hardest issues you will have to fight with is not clicking on ads, especially on sites where there is no preview mode offered, or the preview mode opens into windows that are difficult, slow, or clunky, or simply irritating to use, because you will find that publishing prematurely and clicking it over to a live site is way easier. Want to show your girlfriend your web article? You better print a copy, because if she makes the mistake of clicking on an ad, it's over. The first line of the Invalid Clicks and Impressions policy states:

Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest. Any method that artificially generates clicks or impressions on your Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools and the use of robots or deceptive software. Please note that clicking your own ads for any reason is prohibited.

The issue with that is that someone you love could be looking over the live version of your article and be genuinely intrigued by an ad, leaving the impression Google is looking for, or rather the one you are not. Or, in the middle of a computer freeze/lock up, the ever so familiar aggravated mouse jerk and click flurry that we all think will somehow revive our glitched digital windows could easily result in impressions Google is not looking for. Each impression is worth pennies; the take a penny leave a penny, or the "keep the change". Literally, just pennies, however Google AdSense generates five billion dollars a year, so I was blown away that the company doesn't just adapt a method for the program that can simply ignore clicks that are invalid, since it can certainly afford to. From the investors to the coffers to the users, you would think a company as resourced as Google would have put such measures in place already. It's a change I think we all could embrace.

Beyond the strict policy, you are given a chance to dispute the issue... Which takes weeks and generally ends in a no answer, whatever the excuse may be and, in general, Google enjoys partaking in the fun of being a tad mysterious. If you shut your account down thinking you could start up another, because you clearly operate at an entirely different pace than the gargantuan hippopotamus company, think again! The company has a strict one lifetime account policy to boot. There are no second chances. If they close your account and you would like to have them readdress your case, because you don't feel they looked closely enough at the issue, tough luck. Because you are no longer a Google AdSense client, you can't get to a contact form. Is there a complaints section? Nope. If you eventually squeeze into some sort of hidden contact form which allows contact with AdSense, the forms themselves say they will basically throw the form away if it involves invalid clicks at all. Essentially, they want to be in your face when you would like to Google, but you are just an obstacle if you would like some extra consideration (AKA: The stockholder is the only Googler that matters).  Users be damned! There's a Googler born every quarter second and that's where the money is.

There are about 255 babies born every minute. That's a staggering number of people for Google to be interested in getting money from in some sort of way, but not interested in hearing from to address account issues and mistakes.

You don't have to be hugely invested in the production of YouTube videos to know what I'm talking about, but after using YouTube a little, you will quickly realize Google has tightly wound it's parasitic roots into the brand since the purchase. If you don't remember the purchase date, just remember, it didn't happen too long before everything you loved about YouTube changed. Does this sound familiar?

Thank you for your account suspension appeal. We have decided to keep your account suspended based on our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.

The issue? Did you really even break the rules? Generally, these statements from YouTube(Google) really mean,

We here at YouTube(Google) don't care enough to investigate, but we care enough about pretending to care that we assign automation to handle all our appeals.

My guess is that any number of complaints against the company will go unheard, unless they come from someone with a fancy stake in the company. My opinion is that Google, and everyone that's dipping into it, are too buried in cash to hear, or perhaps they are too buried to care. If you don't believe what I'm saying, I suppose you could just Google it.