Help!! The troll has surpassed himself!

1. 87

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   One of my blogs has seen a sudden and unexpected increase in views.
   
   On checking the traffic, I see they all come easyhitsforu.com, which as the title suggests, is a traffic exchange site.
   
   I cannot get the site to load, to go there and get my site off. I didn't put it there.
   
   That particular blog  is linked from my profile page. I have no doubt this has been a malicious act by another hubber, probably the same one who has been trolling for weeks.
   
   I am going to have to contact Google before my account gets suspended. I am off to remove adsense from that blog immeditaely.
   
   If anyone else here has another site linked from their profile, check that this has not happened to you.

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      Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There's something I don't understand here:  How could someone (anyone) post a link on your Profile page?  Where was it posted and what did it look like?

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         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         yes well obviously I posted my own links on my profile.
         
         But someone else lifted that link and posted it on a traffic exchange site, understand now?

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            Writer Foxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for the clarification.  Humans can be problematic creatures for me to understand.

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               IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               yeah understandable, but you could always use your foxy wiles

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         Richieb799posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Izzy is stating that she has a blog which she linked to on her profile and the troll attacked the blog because they saw it there. The attacker probably thought you be less likely to monitor traffic at your blog than HP

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            IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That's it Richie!
            
            The sad thing is anyone can do that to any of us, and if we are not paying attention we could end up getting banned from Google.
            
            Except of course Skyfire did say on this thread that Google doesn't even count traffic from those places, which if that's the case, we have less to worry about.

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2. 70

   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   Hey Izzy,
   
   Questions or comments regarding the Web Site should be sent by e-mail or by U.S. mail to M.P.O. Box 296, Oberlin, OH 44074-0296.
   
   Their email is www.easyhits4u.com/contact.html/ or just www.easyhits4u.com

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   1. 87

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I've removed adsense from my blog, and finally got the linking page to load, but am not finding my link.
      
      The 'contact us' button on the site requires the use of Outlook, which I don't use, I only use webmail.
      
      If anyone can find me their email address I'd be really pleased, thanks.

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         Maddie Ruudposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         info@easyhits4u.com is the only one I can see. I'm so sorry this is happening to you, Izzy!

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            IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks Maddie, I found a 'contact us' form on the site, but if they don't get back to me in 24 hours, I will email them with the address you posted too.
            
            I still haven't contacted Google as I can't find a contact form, only the help forums.
            
            Everybody, for Goodness sake check any links you have on your profiles in case they have been put here too.
            
            I see it is a paid site, but the one fee can promote 15 sites. Obviously someone with more money than sense, but with a malicious streak!!

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         Pcunixposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         No, it doesn't require anything.  It's a "mailto:" link and your computer is configured to start Outlook for those.
         
         Simple method:  Right click on the link, choose "Copy email address" and then paste it into your webmail message. 
         
         More complicated method: see http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_change_the_ … ogram.html

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            IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Interesting link there PCUnix, thanks.
            
            Just spent ages there setting up the 'allowed sites' in Adsense. I hope I remembered all the sites!!
            
            I myself have about 45 plus there is all those other sites out on the web where I have added my code for the odd click in return.
            
            Am I right in think I don't put the http:// in front of those sites?
            
            I initially put them in, but it wouldn't accept them that way. I hope I have not just stopped all my earnings by doing it wrong.

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               waynetposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Yes just the website name.com I've done this for all of my managed sites and anything else is not allowed, it's a simple and easy to sort out process. I've had lots of stuff being put on flixya.com with my ad code!!

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3. 0

   kimberlyslyricsposted 12 years ago

   Holy Crap Izzy thanks sorry this is happening!

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4. 87

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Thanks Kimberley, and Cags. I found the contact button on the site, eventually, and have emailed them to take my link off, whereever it is.
   
   This is worrying.

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      Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You're welcome. I hope you get it cleared up.

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   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Izzy, here are some responses with advice to someone who posted on the Adsense help forum with exactly the same issue with the same pay for clicks site:
   http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/A … &hl=en

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      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That was interesting, thanks writeangled.
      
      I never got any clicks from those visits, and have taken adsense off until they go away. Might even leave it off, it's an Amazon site anyway LOL
      
      So I guess my account is safe for the moment.
      
      Other thing I want to do now is check that the  'allowed sites' for my adsense code is enabled.
      
      Seems some kids can do untold damage if they are so inclined.

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   Xenonlitposted 12 years ago

   Sorry you're going through this.

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7. 87

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Whew! Many thanks Wayne!
   
   Oh well a whole evening spent trying to protect my Adsense account, but better to be pro-active than to risk losing everything.

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      leahleflerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Oh my goodness! I can't believe anyone would do that! How awful - I hope you can get it resolved quickly, Izzy. Why would someone be so malicious? So sorry this is happening to you!

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8. 75

   Richieb799posted 12 years ago

   Where in Adsense do we put these allowed sites? I want to cover myself in case this ever happens to me..

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      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Home ~> Account Settings ~> Access and authorization.
      
      Put in all the sites you know your Adsense code is on, one on each line as outlined above.

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         Richieb799posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I think I already have this set up, does it prevent other people from using your pub ID?

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            IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            No, but any clicks will not be paid out on any sites carrying your ID if not on that list.
            
            So if you accidentally miss out a site where yo have work, you will not be paid, but more importantly, if someone else pinches your ID to use maliciously on other sites, you Adsense account is not at risk because Google won't pay out on any clicks generated.

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         tlpoagueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Do we need to add Amazon and Ebay to that. Right now the only adsense I have is on HP?

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9. 87

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Just to let everyone know, the issue has been resolved for now.
   
   After I posted this thread yesterday, the hits stopped, and I have now received word from the easyhits people that my link is not on their site.
   
   I can only assume a certain person reading here took fright and removed it.
   
   Well, news for you, the easyhits people know who you are, because I know the splash page it was referenced from, and so do they, so they know who you are, and will be watching.
   
   Thanks to everyone who voiced concern.

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10. 60

    thirdmilleniumposted 12 years ago

    I am an ignoramus but it is good that the viewership of your blog/youtube video etc increases, isn't it?
    So why should you abhor it?

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       leahleflerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Traffic exchange/pay-for-click sites are against adsense TOS, so you could lose your adsense account for participating in them. If someone maliciously places your website on one of those sites, they could cause great harm to your potential financial future.
       
       Legitimate views are good. Traffic exchange sites are not.

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11. 78

    skyfireposted 12 years ago

    Izzy, impressions and clicks from such 'get paid to surf' sites are not counted and google ignores them. So if anyone is doing that to get your account banned then that effort is a waste of time. Still you can save your analytics from logging all the rubbish data by contacting easyhits4u.

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    1. 87

       IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Oh I did. They are watching the account that put my link up too, as they agree it was a malicious act!
       
       Thanks for letting me know that Google doesn't count the views. I couldn't quite understand why they didn't show in in Adsense or Analytics (as far as I looked anyway), but they showed up on my Blogger stats.
       
       I still haven't put Adsense back on the blog, but I will get round to it.
       
       Thanks all, for your thoughtful comments.

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12. 93

    DeborahNeyensposted 12 years ago

    A similar thing happened to me a couple of months ago.  I noticed I was getting lots of traffic to my hubs from traffup.net, which is another traffic exchange site.  Someone had been posting links to my hubs there.  Traffup was good about removing the links and I notified HubPages also.  I don't know if it was another hubber being malicious; I'd like to think not.  My husband's theory was it was someone from traffup doing it to draw traffic to their site.  The lesson is we need to monitor our traffic sources and take action when something doesn't look right.
    
    Glad you got your issue straigtened out.
    
    Deb

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13. 79

    Aficionadaposted 12 years ago

    In view of the troll problem, I'm nervous about any noticeable change in my traffic here, but I still haven't figured out how to read all the details of traffic in Analytics.
    
    On my one most affected Hub, I can see that the large bump came from the US, and it says "keyword not set" for a large portion of that.  What else should I check to find out whether it's one individual or just a nice uptick (yesterday)?
    
    [I realize this isn't necessarily troll-related, but I wasn't sure which thread was most closely related to my question.]

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