Ionut Chitu, one of the most proficient bloggers out there, just got banned from Adsense because he uses the word Google in his blog’s domain name: googlesystem.blogspot.com.
The truth is, Google states (in their Google Brand Permissions page) :
Don’t register Google trademarks as second-level domain names.
What’s a second level domain ?
A domain name locates an organization or other entity on the Internet. For example, the domain name www.seopedia.org locates an Internet address for “seopedia.org” at Internet point 199.0.0.2 and a particular host server named “www”. The “org” part of the domain name reflects the purpose of the organization or entity (in this example, “organization”) and is called the top-level domain name. The “seopedia” part of the domain name defines the organization or entity and together with the top-level is called the second-level domain name. The second-level domain name maps to and can be thought of as the “readable” version of the Internet address.
But /Pd has got a good point :
I just verified that a couple of sites have Adsense and this means that they are in violation of the Adsense policy too? So will these be the next ones to be kicked out of Adsense program ?
http://google.blognewschannel.com
http://google.blogspace.com
http://google.weblogsinc.com
And off-course there are a LOT more where those came from. Does that mean that all of them should be banned ? Then do it. Don’t pick just on SOME. And why pick on just a subdomain thing ? There are thousands of websites that use Google’s Trademarks RIGHT in the primary domain name and not on a subdomain. Isn’t that an even greater violation of trademark guidelines than using it just in the subdomain ?
In the meantime, Matt came along to help Ionut and wrote that he will ask around about the situation:
Hey, I’m writing to AdSense about this. In my personal opinion you should be allowed to show AdSense ads on your site, and I’ll see if I can bring folks around to my world view. :)
We all know that I got banned from Adsense too, in the past, for no reason at all (or none that were supposed to come from my part). Can we expect more of this for the future ?
An official blog post on the Adsense Blog about this trademark issue and Adsense ads, would really be appropriate at this time.
Via Philipp.
Update: Google has re-reviewed the situation and Ionut is again allowed to display Adsense Ads:
“I received your email from Scott. While we do require that publishers obtain permission before running AdSense ads on Blogger sites that contain Google Trademarks in the URL, we’ve re-reviewed your site and are happy to grant you permission to continue running ads on googlesystem.blogspot.com .
Ad serving has been re-enabled to the site, though please be aware that it may take up to 48 hours before ads start appearing again. Thanks again for your understanding and your patience. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have further questions or concerns.”
But what if, just what if, Matt Cutts is not there the next time a publisher gets banned ?
Google’s been doing this for a long time. I got hit myself with my “MakeEasyMoneyWithGoogle.com” domain, which was named after the book. Couldn’t get an exception, had to switch over to another domain. Real hassle, but it’s there in the AdSense terms and conditions.
Google gets around to these sites eventually. It takes them time, I guess.
I think it’s understandable. They are devaluing the Google brandname and want to do something about it so it’ll stop.
Robert, how are they devaluing Google’s brandname ? Ps: Ionut just got back his Adsense account. Matt was the “culprit” who helped I think.
google team should check more carefully before sending this kind of warning messages for content, trademark, etc..
What Robert’s referring to is the duty that Google’s lawyers have to protect the company’s trademarks. If they don’t, the trademarks can become generic words.
Yup, Matt must have helped. Funny, at the time I had my problems I was told there would be no exceptions to the rule. Apparently I didn’t talk to the right person! :-)
I don’t understand why Google bans if Google is present as part of sub domain. your website may have lot of content or say research based on Google.
salut cristi!! cred ca mi-ai dat ignore pe mess sau nu vrei sa imi raspunzi! chestia e ca pana ako google mi-a inkis 3 conturi de adsense ….vreau sa vb urgent cu tine poate ma ajoti cu nijte explicatii!!
Google is just protecting their trademark brand, which is understandable. Does one have to use the Google name anywhere in their URL? I think not. They just have to be a little more creative, that’s all.
Well if all these sites project the wrong image about adsense and adwords (eg. cheating the system) then it’s going to make people more weary about using it.
check his page again, he has the ads up and running, i can provide a print screen but it’s obvious he’s not banned (anymore) from adsense
I updated the article, to reflect that fact about 5 hours ago.
My trackback yesterday didn’t appear and I couldn’t find a specific trackback link.
He didn’t get banned, advert display on a single domain was suspended, which is totally different.
More on trademark and domain stuff here
Thanks for the info. After reading this post I feel I should not have chosen my domain name to include Google in it.
So what about domain names that include the word ‘AdSense’? Are we safe? I can kind of understand Google’s point – they don’t want what they would class as ‘inferior’ sites being associated with their own. Or is it just another case of Google acting as big brother?
You have provided some very usefull information on Googles adsence program, and it is great resource, and I agree with your views compleetly. There is one other resource that that I have found and have referred to several times that has provided some very usefull information on the topic of adsence. This is a site that was created by someone named Jason Ryan Isaksen. Have you ever heard of his web site or had any experience with Jason Ryan Isaksen? If it would be permited, I would appreciate the chance to provide a link to his site on your blog, or would that be breaking the rules? I think that anyone who reads your blog would greatly appreciate and greatly benefit from reading through the information that he has provided us with. Jason Ryan Isaksen has some very helpfull and educated insight on the adsence program to share with anyone who is willing take the time to read it and is interested getting involved with this program. Have you ever heard of this Jason Ryan Isaksen or any of his articles?
Barbara Q
I have no ideea who is this Jason. But I can tell you that all the other people on the web, call him a bit of a scammer.
I think this just happened to me. However, I had spoken with Google’s “trademark protection team” about a year ago and they said they were fine with my site.
However, now my site is showing blank holes where the ads should be, but my overall AdSense account hasn’t been banned or anything.
Thanks to your post I can at least have some idea of what’s going on.
You can try and email the Adsense team about this Mickey.
Cristi is it possible that they will ban my account for just one site where ads show up? I’m talking about google-adsense-news dot blogspot dot com
What do you think guys? :/
Yes, off course it’s possible. They will not “ban” your account, but they will “disable” the ads on that particular website, mainly because you had content that’s not according to the TOS.
You should’ve received an email about this, in your Adsense account email.
No I didn’t received any email. I was just wondering :) Of course it may be also possible that they will not do anything about it … will see.
Hello Cristian,
Nice post, I found it while searching for info on this subject. I am curious to see if Google will start banning misspellings of “Google” in the domain as well. Is there any evidence of that?
It’s so ridiculous. They can contact webmasters but not ban.
You should feel grateful they only disable the ads. If you use their trademark to make money of them they could sue your.