I try my best not to click on my google adsense but sometimes there ads that really attract me.... I realise the odd click off me per week won't get my account closed or could it? Anyway I was wondering does google track adsense clicks by ip or cookie or both? Also I noticed that maybe when you log into your adsense account they could match the ip you loged in with to the ones clicked off your site...

Hmm.. that's possible.. But aswell, I do click on my own AdSense ad's aswell.. And they haven't said anything to me about it..

I beleive they use cookies for login, but I'm not sure if they log the IP.. But they may for security reasons..

I'm not really sure.. but it doesn't seem to hurt thus far..

I was under the impression that even 1 click on your own adsense account can end up in the termination of your account...

hmm... what happens if someone that is pissed off with you starts mass clicking your adsense in order to get them closed? Doesn't sound fair. But if you were to click your own adsense in a natrual manner Im sure google wouldnt mind since you are yourself a potensial customer or true traffic for an other site.

From their policy page:

"Any method that artificially and/or fraudulently generates clicks is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include but are not limited to: repeated manual clicks, using robots, automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software. Please note that clicking on your own ads for any reason is prohibited, to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs."

Thanks Mekhu, good to know.

oops! I better stop doing that then. I do it sometimes because I own a gaming website and some of the sites ads i get up look alright so I just click on them to see the site not for revenue.

well I'm not going to lie and say I don't feel bad clicking google ads on my site since I was not artificailly doing it but I know its something I better stop doing. I also have family members that use this PC and also view my site that would also be unfair if there clicks account as mine.... Thanks for the help.

I dont like using Google Adsence. The ads are not noticable to me

just a side question about google adds , would they display ads on a site that uses adult words? my site is a general chat forum, but some topics can get a bit sexual. would google ads still work?

I think google should just let you click your own ads, but not pay you for all the clicks you get on your computer. So the advertiser still gets click-thrus and the publisher doesnt get into trouble because I dont click on my own for money.

I haven't noticed my clicks increse when I check out ones that interest me.
Running a scripting/web design forum makes it hard NOT to get an add which is not "hey.. that could be interesting.." :\

From the other side, as someone who buys PPC on adsense, I can tell you they are good at catching fraudulant clicks. I've had real problems with Overture.

If you click once, twice - I don't think that Google will close your account or something like this. They simply won't pay you for these clicks.

But if you make really fraudulent clicks, many times - they'll simply close you and won't ask whether if was really you, or your daughner, or your competitor...