I am in violation of Google's laws!

This is what I saw in the mail this morning:

This message was sent from a notification-only email address that does not

accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message.

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Hello,

While reviewing your account, we noticed that you are currently displaying

Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our policies. For

instance, we found violations of AdSense policies on pages such as

http://entrypreneur.blogspot.com/2009/11/catching-entrepreneurial-bug-side.html.

Please note that this URL is an example and that the same violations may

exist on other pages of your website.

As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers may not display

Google ads on pages with adult or mature content. While we understand that

it may be challenging to monitor user-generated content, such as comments,

on your site, we require publishers to check that the webpages containing

their ad code complies with our program policies.

Please make any necessary changes to your webpages in the next 72 hours.

We also suggest that you take the time to review our program policies

(https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=48182&stc=aspe-1pp-en)

to ensure that all of your other pages are in compliance.

Once you update your site, we will automatically detect the changes and ad

serving will not be affected. If you choose not to make the changes to

your account within the next three days, your account will remain active

but you will no longer be able to display ads on the site. Please note,

however, that we may disable your account if further violations are found

in the future.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

Issue ID# 166xxxxx

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For more information regarding this warning email, please visit our Help

Center:

https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113058&stc=aspe-ai4-en.

As far as I remembered, I have not cut-pasted or written or even pointed to any adult content on the web, tho yeah, there's lot which indicates maturity on both the readers' and authors part. Obviously, I was a little flabbergasted. On clicking the culprit link, I realized there were some eastern-script (Chinese?) comments that I could not make head or tail of, and had never noticed, or been notified about!

Especially given that this is on Google's own blogging platform, does this sound like its fair ? Not from where I stand. For one, the algos could, and should, easily isolate the offending comments, realize its not author-originated, and maybe hide those? At worst, maybe send me a friendlier note about "Hey we've found some shady material from your commenters, wanna take care of it? Its interfering with our Adsense policies."

But no sir, I have been found in violation for someone else's actions, inaction and clearly no "adult" intent on my part. And if "further violations are found in the future" I will lose the privilege of using Adsense! And the huge riches - all of $36 - that I could accumulate from the same. I am terror-stricken!

Honestly, Big-G, this is a very very lousy approach to managing consumers/customers. There's not even a way of getting back to someone in there and clarifying! You're losing the mojo a bit, and this needs to be part of the reforms if you want that back. If its a "just machines" approach, sure we understand, but first make those machines a little smarter before you send threatening notes to users.

Aside : For the longest time I'd cribbed that most folks had a "we-re wrong, Google's right" if something didn't quite work out with using a Google service. A set of results that left one unsatisfied just meant we'd not framed the query well. People started to, and continue to, rewrite sites for the express purpose of being in Googles good books and ranks. Isn't that a little screwed ? I do see cracks in that mindset, and one hears f the SEO problem etc more often.