I am being hijacked by Google.

I am at my wits end over this! Last year I worked for a company and was asked by my boss to create a Google Ad-words campaign and use Google Adsense on the site as well. I created the accounts on Google and he used his Credit Card to start the Google Ad-Words campaign. I left the company last October to start my own business.

While creating my website for my business I decided we would use Google Adsense on our website. So I tried to create a separate account from the one I made the previous year since I had nothing to do with that company anymore. I received the following email:

Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. After reviewing your application, our specialists have found that it does not meet our program criteria. Therefore, we are unable to accept you into our program.

We have certain policies in place that we believe will help ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for our publishers as well as for our advertisers. We review all publishers, and we reserve the right to decline any application. As we grow, we may find that we are able to expand our program to more web publishers with a wider variety of web content.

Please note that we may not be able to respond to inquiries regarding the specific reasons for our decision. Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

As you can see this email does not explain why I am being denied my application. I tried once again to create an account and submit my site for review. Again, I received the same letter. I responded to them and asked Why do you keep turning me down?.

Several days later someone replied to me stating You already have an Ad-Sense account with us. So, I did what most of us would do. I logged into my previous account and edited the old information to reflect the new information. I updated my Address, Company Name and while I was at it I did the same for the Ad-words campain. I even changed the Credit Card information on File for obvious reasons that I didn’t want my old boss to be charged for my new business and get into trouble for using his Credit Card!

I reviewed the total amount due on the account and it showed 0.76. I was not uncomfortable paying that amount because it was not worth the hassle trying to collect it. It took me another 6 months to complete my website during which time I was having no problems running the Google Adsense on my website with the new settings.

The nature of my business is seasonal so roughly around September 20th I started to attempt to run Google Ad-words to generate traffic on my website. It showed my account as Active for days but I was getting no traffic. All Google Generated reports showed 0 impressions and 0 clicks. I sent a support email asking why? I received the following email in response:

Thank you for your email and I apologize for the delayed response. I understand that you are concerned about the visibility of your ad. Weve received notice from your credit card company that youve protested a charge for $430.25 on 12/24/07.

We believe that you have received the service we promised and that, by agreeing to participate in the AdWords program, you authorized this charge. If you have a reason for protesting this charge, please let us know. Otherwise, we intend to pursue this charge with your credit card company.

Until we resolve this, we have suspended your account so that you do not accrue additional charges.
Please reply to this email and let us know why you disputed the charge(s) with your credit card company. Our team is willing to address any questions you may have about the AdWords service.
We appreciate you choosing to advertise with the AdWords program. We look forward to resolving this billing issue and resuming your campaigns.

If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at https://adwords.google.com/support to find answers to many frequently asked questions. Or, try our Learning Center at http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/ for self-paced lessons that cover the scope of AdWords.

We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.
Sincerely,

Aswathy Maharaj
The Google AdWords Team

Evidently my previous Boss did a charge back that I was unaware of and they would not let me start my own campaign. So, I thought I would explain my situation to them. So, I found a telephone number on the internet and called them. (888-2Google). The girl I spoke with on the phone was very nice and I explained my situation to her. She told me she would have someone respond to me soon via email. This is the letter I received.

Thank you for contacting Google AdWords yesterday. Per our discussion regarding why you are unable to see your ads, I have heard a response from our specialist team.

Weve received notice from your credit card company that youve protested a charge for $430.25 on 12/24/07.

We believe that you have received the service we promised and that, by agreeing to participate in the AdWords program, you authorized this charge. If you have a reason for protesting this charge, please let us know. Otherwise, we intend to pursue this charge with your credit card company.

Until we resolve this, we have suspended your account so that you do not accrue additional charges.

Please reply to this email and let us know why you disputed the charge(s) with your credit card company. Our team is willing to address any questions you may have about the AdWords service.
We appreciate you choosing to advertise with the AdWords program. We look forward to resolving this billing issue and resuming your campaigns.
Sincerely,

Shivani P.
The Google AdWords Team

So I replied to them with the following email:

I already addressed this once before.
I used to work for XXXX.com my boss asked me to create a Google ad campaign so I did. I am no longer with that company as of October 2007. Google refuses to allow me to create a separate account. I have tried several times to start a NEW google add account only to be denied.

I dont know how else to say it, XXXX is not nor never was my company if you do research on corporations in the state of Georgia for XXXX you will see I do not own the company, If you look at previous records for billing for previous ad words you will see the charge account is not in my name.
Please dont punish me for something that I have nothing to do with! Allow me to start my own relationship with you.

I have looked up the corporate information for XXXX to prove that I do not own that company. I have also included the corporate information for my company XYZ.com

(Due to length and Privacy I deleted the attached Corporate Documents that showed the owners of the previous company and my Corporate Documents that shows I own the new company. The information I sent to them could have been easily verified on the Georgia Secretary of State Corporations website.)

This is the email I received in response:

Thank you for your email. Our AdWords Specialists have performed a thorough investigation of your account ID: 699-416-7533, and have determined that you (or your business) maintained related AdWords accounts with payment issues. For privacy reasons, we are unable to disclose any information regarding those accounts.

Due to the payment difficulties with those prior accounts, we are unable to accept your advertising at this time. Also, please note that the URL that is being advertised in the previous account with the chargeback’s is the same one as your new account. You will not be allowed to run until it is resolved.

Thank you for your cooperation.
If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at https://adwords.google.com/support to find answers to many frequently asked questions. Or, try our Learning Center at http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/ for self-paced lessons that cover the scope of AdWords.
We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.

Sincerely,
Aswathy Maharaj
The Google AdWords Team

To which I replied:

Please note that the URL that is being advertised in the previous account with the chargeback’s is the same one as your new account.

The URL I am using is XYZ.com - The URL that WAS being used was XXX.com - I edited the URL when you guys forced me to use the same account.

Again, do the actual research and you will see the urls are NOT the same. Did you even look at the billing records for the account? Did you look at the company names I supplied?
Google is treating me VERY unfairly over this issue. Your slow response time has cost me time and money.
Obviously I have become very frustrated at this point.

I am being punished by Google for someone else’s actions. All I really wanted to do was start my own account and build my own reputation with Google. They are refusing to allow me the ability to do so.

Can anyone out there Help? I wouldn’t care so much if Google wasnt the leading advertising option on the internet at this time. I have tried Yahoo’s Ad-Words program with very little success.