AdSense leaker rebuts Google's denial, claims to hold proof

Accusations yesterday by a disgruntled alleged ex AdSense employee that Google rips off its AdSense clients were met with Google's strong and swift denial. Now the anonymous individual is back to say they have proof.

In a second anonymous Pastebin missive slamming Google with serious allegations of premeditated theft and favoritism, the "AdSense Leak" individual rebuts Google's denial and addresses internet criticism about their actions and methodology.

This time, the author claims they're holding proof and will release it in the event a class action lawsuit is brought forward against Google.

If no lawsuit occurs, they warn they'll "selectively" release the proof publicly, regardless.

If this thing is real, it's a cocktail of insurance policy and time bomb.

The supposed former AdSense employee writes in Google AdSense Leak - Part 2:

I have communications. I have documents, I have files, I have lists, and I have names.  I have all of it. Like I said from the beginning, I have carefully waited and carefully planned everything out.

So you ask why haven’t I released it?  The answer, if I release everything I have now, it will give Google too many possible avenues to discover my identity. Also doing thing such as publicly naming people and giving Google a pre-emptive look at what I have will only make them prepare for the class action lawsuit that will hit them.  They won’t be caught off guard and they will have time to come up with excuses and explanations in attempts to rid themselves of this issue.  I do not want that to happen. I want the people to win. I want those who had money they earned, that was stolen from them, to get the right to fight for it on equal grounding.  

That is why I have chosen to only release it to the legal representatives of the class action lawsuit against Google in regards to AdSense. (...) 

If several months go by and no class action lawsuit manifests, then I will have to selectively release a few key pieces of evidence to the public at large.

The information and evidence I have is extensive and quite detailed, it will also paint a very different picture of what Google is really like to the public.

See also: AdSense leak controversy heats up as Google denies favoritism, theft allegations

Styling themselves as a whistleblower, the individual first published Google AdSense Leak on April 29: a timeline of events alleging that Google knowingly shuts down AdSense accounts to pocket the money before payout, targets high-earning accounts, and plays favorites with its "VIP's".

Google: This description is "a complete fiction"

Google quickly issued a denial to news outlets, calling the Pastebin post "a complete fiction."

All claims remain unsubstantiated.

Though the reasons the mystery accuser -- if they did indeed work at Google -- claims as to why they didn't go through official channels to air any of their accusations are as believable as any employee of a large company with infinite resources.

I honestly believe very little would have been done if I had brought the information solely to law enforcement, even on the federal level. Google would have simply lawyered up and made it go away (which they have done before).

The second reason would be that my identity would be front and center if I had approached law enforcement, and if Google were to have squash it immediately I would not have been able to anonymously release the information to the public as a backup plan.

The third reason is fear. 

The problem for Google is that Google's AdSense -- like many Google products -- has a well-known transparency problem, one in which appeals for banned accounts are routinely met with silence and the user's loss of money.

The anonymous Pastebin poster claimed participation in a program where Google's AdSense team purposely red-flagged accounts for banning and shutdown when they reached earning marks of $5,000 or $10,000. The unknown accuser alleged that whether or not the account was in violation of any Terms, any such high-earner was to be considered abusive.

Because of all this, the public appears divided: Google employees and individuals on tech forums such as Hacker News say the accuser's lengthy laundry list of misdeeds is a huge load of bull.

At the same time, people are coming forward in the same forum, in comments on news articles about the "AdSense Leak" and in direct emails to ZDNet with similar stories that match the accusations enough to give them credibility -- at least in the eyes of several jilted AdSense publishers.

The Pastebin author believes that answers about the veracity of their claims would come if Google were to directly answer the following questions:

Ask them “is there a VIP status for publishers”, ask them “why do account bans always seem to occur just before payouts”, ask them “why do you fail to provide reasons and evidence of your allegations against publishers”. 

ZDNet has reached out to Google for comment and will update this article accordingly.

The entire post is below. 

I am the former Google employee that had leaked the information regarding AdSense. I am writing this second part as a response to certain misconceptions and confusions my previous leak has generated within articles and websites regarding it.

Firstly, many have asked why I did not approach the leak in a more official capacity and bring my information to the attention of law enforcement. I want to make myself perfectly clear, my employment documents (such as the NDA’s and non-competes) have very strict wording when it comes to releasing internal information in regards to processes and privy information. Google is not just some little company with little means of repercussion. They have gone after other internal leakers and were successful in damaging and ruining their lives on multiple levels. I do not want to be the next one.

I honestly believe very little would have been done if I had brought the information solely to law enforcement, even on the federal level. Google would have simply lawyered up and made it go away (which they have done before). I felt it was better to release the information to the public and let the publishers who suffered the thefts bring forth a civil case against Google. I think a civil action against Google will carry more weight to it, and have a much stronger outcome to the public than a federal case would. The second reason would be that my identity would be front and center if I had approached law enforcement, and if Google were to have squash it immediately I would not have been able to anonymously release the information to the public as a backup plan. The third reason is fear. I do not want to be in the direct identifiable crosshairs of Google’s legal department. I have taken very extreme measures to cover my tracks and identity. I know what they can do, and I know which services and servers do what. I have made sure everything leads to dead ends and that tracking will be virtually impossible. I wasn’t hired by Google for my body. I know, right now, there is a team inside Google working very hard to track me down. They will scour every service and product they have access to in an attempt to find me. But they might as well quit right now, I am an insider and know the inner workings. I know the how’s, the why’s, and who’s. It will be quite futile on their part, but I will still exercise extreme caution.

In regards to my wording of the leaked information. I had planned and carefully thought out every word and every way I had said it. Everything was planned. The timing. The wording. Everything. It is not by accident, nor are there any accidental omissions. Of course I was not going to use terms only employees and former employees would know to explain everything. That would be simply foolish. I kept it informative and only mentioned a few select terms so that Google themselves would know I was who I said I was, because only an employee would have known. So everyone must know that I wrote it for the public, not for Google employees.

Lastly, and more importantly, there has been lots of talk about my information not stating any names and that I did not provide any hard proof. Many individuals have brushed off my information as a falsehood solely due to that and claim that I have nothing substantial. I want you to go a reread my previous information release. Where did I exactly say I did not have proof or hard evidence?

Because I do. I have communications. I have documents, I have files, I have lists, and I have names. I have all of it. Like I said from the beginning, I have carefully waited and carefully planned everything out. I do everything with reason and purpose. I have to be exceptionally careful in every way. So you ask why haven’t I released it? The answer, if I release everything I have now, it will give Google too many possible avenues to discover my identity. Also doing thing such as publicly naming people and giving Google a pre-emptive look at what I have will only make them prepare for the class action lawsuit that will hit them. They won’t be caught off guard and they will have time to come up with excuses and explanations in attempts to rid themselves of this issue. I do not want that to happen. I want the people to win. I want those who had money they earned, that was stolen from them, to get the right to fight for it on equal grounding. That is why I have chosen to only release it to the legal representatives of the class action lawsuit against Google in regards to AdSense. If those representative decide to release it, then it is up to them, but right now as it stands, I will not. I will carefully monitor the situation and wait to see how it forms and pick the right timing for the release of the evidence to the legal representatives. If several months go by and no class action lawsuit manifests, then I will have to selectively release a few key pieces of evidence to the public at large.

The information and evidence I have is extensive and quite detailed, it will also paint a very different picture of what Google is really like to the public.

For those who have a difficult time believing my information I ask you to simply ask Google and their representatives the right questions related to my first release of information. Force them to answer those questions specifically. Ask them “is there a VIP status for publishers”, ask them “why do account bans always seem to occur just before payouts”, ask them “why do you fail to provide reasons and evidence of your allegations against publishers”. Keep asking such questions, keep digging, and you will come to find out by yourselves that everything I have stated is completely true. Like many have said, it will be difficult for them to hide it now.

Disclosure: My new book covers consumer privacy regarding Google, and reducing the privacy risks of using big data websites.