Does Google really ‘do no evil’?

news
Jun 17, 20081 min

Using Google as a one-stop shop for Web elements has many advantages, and a high degree of risk.

Paul Venezia found that out the hard way.

Two weeks ago, in fact, Venezia received his first check from Google, which represented over a year of ads on his low-traffic sites.

“So imagine my surprise when my account was disabled last Thursday,” Venezia explains in Do no evil?

Google, it seems, determined that Venezia’s AdSense account posed a risk to its AdWords advertisers and since keeping it could cause such advertisers financial harm, Google disabled his account.

“The problem is that I have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about,” Venezia wrote. And he is seeking dispute resolution — but despite the outcome his days of relying on Google are over.

“What happens when they decide they don’t like you?”