Google wants the newspapers to make money

Newspapers beware...YouTube is easy, AdSense (how you make money) is not lemon squeezy.

In general, YouTube is working out well for our newspaper.  We migrated all of our videos from the expensive Brightcove platform in August and went live on YouTube in August and on our site with YouTube on August 22, 2011 using the embedded player.  

But shortly after we launched on our site, our Adsense account was abruptly shut down-

• No explanation provided
• No support
• No help
• and therefore...no Adsense on our videos that run on our site.

We already have several pre-roll videos that are waiting to run on our site and we cannot order them through Adwords and have them appear on our site without an Active AdSense Account.

If anyone that can provide any help that would be great.  How do people normally deal with this?  Set up a new account?

We are a top 100 newspaper in the country.

We went live August 22 and have over 940,000 video views in 36 days.

Why doesn't Google want us to make any money!

I am more than willing to admit that we may have screwed up the implementation, sign up and coding, but we are now completely locked out and cannot fix anything.

This automated crap has to stop and someone has to answer the phone, take responsibility, and make sure that the content providers that are making you money.

Email communication from AdSense and YouTube starting August 27. 

Names of YouTube folks removed as they, while not solving the problem, have been helpful in trying to figure out what happened.

Date: Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 8:31 AM

From: Google AdSense <adsense-adclicks-noreply@google.com>

Subject: Google AdSense Account Disabled

Hello,

With our advertising programs, we strive to create an online ecosystem that benefits publishers, advertisers and users. For this reason, we sometimes have to take action against accounts that demonstrate behavior toward users or advertisers that may negatively impact how the ecosystem is perceived. In your case, we have detected invalid activity on your site and your account has been disabled.

We're limited in the amount of information we can provide about your specific violation. We understand this can be frustrating for you, but we've taken these precautionary measures because intentional violators can use this information to circumvent our detection systems.

In some cases, publishers can make significant changes to correct the violation and are willing to comply with the AdSense program policies (google.com/adsense/policies). For this reason, we offer an appeals process as an opportunity to work with you to resolve the issue. To help you with the process, we’ve created a list of the top reasons for account closure for you to review before submission athttp://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=2660562. Please be sure to provide a thorough analysis in your appeal, which you can submit at https://support.google.com/adsense/bin/request.py?contact_type=appeal_form and we will follow up accordingly.

Thanks for your understanding,

The Google AdSense Team

Aug 27

to youtube

I am not sure exactly what happened here as all I did was link our YouTube account to Google AdSense.  I have not made any changes since we signed up and wonder how this could happen.

Does this mean will not be able to monetize our videos?

Please assist.

Regards,

Aug 27

From  YouTube

to me

Please let us know what policies may have been violated inadvertently.  It looks like AdSense has provided a resource for you in that regard.

Check that out, and let us know if something in there seems to apply, again albeit inadvertently.

thanks,

YouTube

Aug 27

to YouTube

From what I can see there might be a few items:

1) I may not have set AdSense up properly from the start.  

2) Copyright Material; we have had a few issues on songs that have played at events we are covering and we are working to clip the audio or remove the videos.  This has only happened in about 40 videos out of 3400.

3) Recent updates to dates/videos using XML upload.  I have no idea how this would impact AdSense, but it is the only other thing we have done that I am aware of.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: "Google AdSense" <adsense-adclicks@google.com>

Date: Sep 5, 2012 10:52 PM

Hello,

Thank you for your appeal. We appreciate the additional information you've

provided, as well as your continued interest in the AdSense program.

However, after thoroughly re-reviewing your account data and taking your

feedback into consideration, our specialists have confirmed that we're

unable to reinstate your AdSense account.

Please know that, once we've reached a decision on your appeal, further

appeals may not be considered, and you might not receive any further

communication from us. Note that AdSense publishers whose accounts are

disabled for violations of our Terms and Conditions are not eligible for

further participation in AdSense. For this reason, you may not open new

accounts.

Also, accounts disabled for invalid click activity will receive no further

payment nor any reissue of previous payment. Your outstanding balance and

Google's share of the revenue will both be fully refunded back to the

affected advertisers. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

We understand that you may want more information about your account

activity. However, because we have a need to protect our proprietary

detection systems, we're unable to provide our publishers with any details

about their account activity.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

Just in case anyone from Google, AdSense, or YouTube is reading this.  A link to this blog will be included in the cover article on the upcoming issue of INMA Ideas Magazine.  

INMA is the world’s leading provider of global best practices and marketing ideas for newsmedia companies looking to grow amid profound market change.

On September 12, we released this video of a break in at an Apple store and received over 700K views.

Newspaper Revenue from National Advertisers Part I

When I talk with sales representatives for national accounts what I hear more often than not is that they want 1 digital buy with all local news media, not 300 or 800 local buys.

In Part I, I will review one solution the newspaper industry agreed to launch in 2012:  Acquiring & Merging ShopLocal & Travidia, because the best way to solve any problem is to combine 2 products that have failed so far. To me, this is a solution in search of a problem.  Why do we have ads for products from national retailers in the paper?  Because that is how people have historically found sales.

How do people find sales online? 

1. Search Google, Yahoo, Bing, 
2. Social: Facebook, Twitter, 
3. Shop: Amazon, eBay, Buy.com or going directly to the retailer site.  

ShopLocal & Travidia provide some interactive representation of the print ads online, but by mimicking the Print experience, they are not meeting customer expectations.  The quote below essentially restates, with some positive spin exactly the same thing.

“Circulars continue to be a key driver of traffic in today’s retail environment. By creating this joint venture, these eight media companies are affording advertisers a unique, scalable and turnkey solution for local consumer engagement across all platforms – print and digital.”

Why can't the newspapers sell actual digital products like email campaigns, online display, sponsored tweets or Facebook posts?  Because agencies that work with newspapers, besides the NYT, WSJ, and a few others, are print focused.  The digital buy goes to another company or directly from ad networks.

From the announcement:

“We have enjoyed working with these world class media brands for years and applaud their efforts to come together to solve their customers' needs and drive more traffic to our clients' stores and online circulars," said Christopher Cope, CEO at American Communications Group (ACG), the second largest print media agency in the U.S. representing such national retailers as JCPenney, Michaels and Belk."

Customers are now shopping and comparing items in store and on the go.  In-Store Search Proves Costly for Retailers,  a survey of shopping habits released in January 2012 by Prosper Mobile Insights, shows how behavior has changed.  People who use tablets and smartphones while shopping are 33% more likely to buy from another store. A further 25.6% of respondents say they have compared prices while in-store and purchased from another retailer’s website using their device. 

Just getting them to the store or circular is not enough.  The Find 'n Save product has 5 features/benefits listed on the main website, and all but one is 10 years old, see if you can find it:

• Get email alerts on the hot deals in your area.
• Purchase the deeply discounted Deal of the Day
• Clip and print coupons for products and services in your area
• Search local sales and promotions
• Shop your local store's inventory before you leave home

There is a solution: revenue from audience profiles & brand data at the national, regional, and local level.  Only the news media, facebook, google, and a few retail sites like amazon have the reach to get this kind of real-time data.