Google Runs Out of Money, Writes a Bad Check
Imagine walking into your bank to cash your Google AdSense check, only to find out that Google doesn’t have enough funds in their account to cover it. Well, that is exactly what happened to this AdSense publisher.
So, today I go to cash the check. I’m standing at the teller window, and realize, gee - this is taking a long time. She looks up at me and says, “There aren’t sufficient funds in the account to cover your check.” *stunned silence* I say, “Excuse me, could you repeat that?” She does.
First, denial and disbelief. I say, “Are you sure? Do you know who Google is? You’re kidding me, right?” She says she does know who Google is, but that this particular account doesn’t have enough funds to cover my check. I’m too stunned to move. I look down at the check handed back to me and look back up at her confused.
Next, shock and awe. I say to the teller, “How does a gazillionaire company like Google have a bank account with so little money in it?” She laughs. I laugh. What else is there to do?
If you think that is funny, you need to head on over and read the voicemail hell our shocked and awed publisher went through to try and get someone to answer why Google sent her a bad check.
I’m sure Google will eventually clear this all up, but it’s still pretty funny. I hope she doesn’t need the money to live on because it maybe another month or two because everything is corrected.
I wonder how many bank accounts Google has? You think all their accounts would have overdraft protection on it, but I guess not.
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That’s totally unbelievable. Maybe they did have overdraft but that was exhausted already. Either way pretty crazy that it happened and I agree getting another check issued will probably take some patience.
Reply to this commentThey probably have a set limit per month and someone else just claimed a huge check or something.
Reply to this commentFrom the way it sounded, the check doesn’t seem to be big. It sounded more like one of those that finally hit the $100 mark but I could be wrong.
Reply to this commentDidn’t need to be big, if they were close to their limit, it can just be bad luck. Wrong check at the wrong time.
Reply to this commenti’m sure it’s bigger than $100, and i’m sure google would’ve got 100 in their account
Reply to this commentbut still, it’s google we’re talking about
Reply to this commentThis seems highly unlikely to me. Remember the guy on ebay with the wedding dress? It was a STORY - I got a direct source who spoke with the man.
If you want attention for your_____ (blog, site, you fill in the blank), what better way than to work up something OUTRAGEOUS!?!
And it’s working! John Chow carried the story, who else?
Think about it. The bank doesn’t clear the check right there in front of you. Everything gets _entered_ during business hours. At midnight, the process of sorting everything out gets going. SUPPOSEDLY your deposits are handled first, then your withdrawals. This may not still be happening (from personal experience) yet nothing with CHECKS goes on right then and there.
It’s all handled by computers way afterhours.
You can’t even call the bank to learn if there are sufficient funds on a check that someone wrote you (and once upon a time, you COULD) so that you could go and cash it.
Another point. The bank is most likely going to try to CASH that check since they can charge YOU if it doesn’t work out. They WANT your money - our bank is up to almost $30 a go!
Remember what I said before about the bank? For every dollar they obtain, it is a value of $10 for them. When they run your google check (or your friend’s) and it doesn’t clear, it means almost $300 to them!! Would you pass that up?
Neither do they.
I bet this turns out to be a publicity stunt; just like the man in the wedding dress on ebay.
2c worth,
pam
Reply to this commentYou mean it just a link bait
Reply to this commentExactly, this person probably got banned and is trying to make a dig at Google. What better way to do it then to to bring thier business integrity into question. Google is not rinky dink, they have high priced accountants and book keepers (bean counters) to handle all of thier many accounts.
The bank as mentioned by Pam (hey pam, thanks for visiting my blog by the way I replied to the comment you left)must follow a processing hiearchy. The check would have been processed funds would have been on hold until the check cleared etc.
Shame on mobilejones for what sounds like a bogus post. I am not a fan of Google, they banned me years ago so I know the frustation that is felt when they shut down your account and keep your earnings. But to post this type of post is unethical.
Reply to this commentI read this story before it broke over here, and it seemed kinda legit, but you never know. I want to say why would someone go through so much trouble to fabricate a story just to get traffic, and besides, if she does have an AdSense account it wouldn’t make sense to lie about Google because that’s just asking for them to shut her down. They shut people down for things that make no sense left and right.
Reply to this commentAll the money in the world.
Reply to this commentMan, why does google have so many accounts?
Reply to this commentMitigates liabilities. If anyone manages to defraud them, they can’t get cleaned out for massive amounts, only large amounts.
Reply to this commentis that so!
Reply to this commentYeah, big companies — even paranoid small-time entrepreneurs — have multiple bank accounts so they’re very much into allocation of funds.
Reply to this commentYeah, it makes sense not to keep all your eggs in one basket, so to say.
Reply to this commentThey may have a different account for every State or area because of accounting regulations. Plus, they probably wanted their free iPod so they switched to TD Bank in Canada…
Reply to this commentI have two words for those who wish to avoid this - Direct Deposit.
Reply to this commentyeah, i’d say Google is trusted enough for direct deposit. and it’s a lot less hassle.
Reply to this commentthat’s one way around it
Reply to this commentWhy would Google be any more trusted than a Mom-and-Pop retailer? I’ve read a lot of things about how low security is for Google. What are you going to do if money goes missing? Sue Google?
Reply to this commentYou think she was trying to get one of those nig ShoeMoney checks so she could take a picture and show the world?
Reply to this commentBut not available in my country
Reply to this commentAmen, I didn’t even know people still went to banks and cashed “checks.”
Reply to this commentAmen, I didn’t even know people still went to banks and cashed “checks.”
Reply to this commentAnd hope against hope that the money does go through when they say it will.
Reply to this commentThis is fairly common. I’ve heard of this several times before. Examples are all over the internet. It’s most likely an accounting error.
Reply to this commenti’ve never heard a problem with google adsense before
i hope i can make the 100 mark pretty soon. to be honest i’ve only made 1 dollar since
Reply to this commentDon’t feel bad. I’m still at $0.00.
Reply to this commentYou all have got to be kidding me. No really. video, you’ve only made one dollar since your site has been up?
Reply to this commentI used to make so much, now I make like .01 a click LOL… then again i don’t really mess with adsense anymore.
Reply to this commentThis is link bait from you… I had to go and check your site how it looks like because I think you have to make some cash with your site.
Reply to this commentHow is something like this even possible? The only thing I can think of that might be more disturbing is trying to cash your government pension and being told Sorry, but the government doesn’t have enough money in their account.
Unbelievable.
Reply to this commenthmm, then you’ll be in deep trouble and your country as a whole
Reply to this commentIsn’t the US almost there already? Lucky they just print money at will. No problems there in the future…
Reply to this commentProbably just an accounting problem, I agree with one of the commentators.
Reply to this commentNot only is this unbelievable, but it’s completely unacceptable. I realize Google is a ginormous corporation at this point, but this sounds awfully underhanded to me. It’s like when my work decided to change our paychecks from semi-monthly to bi-weekly and delayed our first paycheck by a week. You know they are trying to keep the money as long as they can to earn interest on it. Evil.
Reply to this commentOnce corporations get large enough they don’t simply have bank accounts, they a “corporate treasury”. Managing cash in the treasury is a tricky balance trying to optimize between internal/external investments, handling quarterly budget deficits/surpluses, accounts payable/receivable, and keeping just enough cash liquid in chequing accounts. So yeah, incidents like this are not terribly suprising.
Reply to this commentYou’re right, but you know that Google would be “all up in someone’s stuff” if the mistake was a little nobody cutting them a bad check.
Reply to this commentI bet Google can afford to pay the best people to make sure this doesn’t happen. Sounds like a bit of a gimmick to me.
Reply to this commentCome on is a joke
Reply to this commentwell, it sounds pretty real to me
Reply to this commentPonder this as well. In this day and age, way too much is TRANSPARENT!
Let’s say google DID have a bad check.
Well, let’s back up a second here. If they have ONE bad check due to insufficient funds, they have hundreds. Think about it.
If google DID have x amount of bad checks, who would know about it?
THE WHOLE FRIGGING WORLD I tell you.
This would be EVERYWHERE - google can’t afford bad press like that. Remember what happened with eBay and google? Everyone knew about it pretty darn quickly. Even I.
The world is now like a small town. Everyone is all up in everyone’s stuff - unless you are completely unknown, have nothing going on in the world and won’t affect another darn soul beyond yourself and your household.
I’m willing to open my mind to the possibility - this seems HIGHLY UNLIKELY though!
pam
Reply to this commentDirect deposit is better and quicker!
Reply to this commentI dont understand why people use checks at all. It is slow and slow an slow and expensive.
Reply to this commentPeople use check Because Google Direct Deposit services not available for their country..Just like me
Reply to this comment“People Not using”
Reply to this commentDD is the way to go.
Reply to this commentLol, nice… even google makes “small” mistakes.
Reply to this commentGoogle makes mistakes?!?
Reply to this commentThings like this can happen to everyone, but it’s unpleasant for her.
Reply to this commentI have a feeling it’s more of a glitch than google not having cash. Like others have said they have so many accounts, I’m sure.
Reply to this commentWeird, haha. Would never expect that from Google!
Reply to this commentHahaha… I’ve laugh a lot today after reading this post. There’re still tears in my eyes.
How come all the money they get from Adwords didn’t appear on their bank account. I personally think that Google should paid highest attention to this matter.
Anyway… What do you think the future of Google. Is’t suffer the same fate as ENRON (the CEO running away with the hefty sums of money)… hahaha..
Reply to this commentit’s not that funny
Reply to this commentThe CEO died! I bet the Google guys don’t want that to happen! Right now Skilling is sitting in jail for the next 20…
Reply to this commentI have to say though, given the volume of checks that they send out on a monthly basis, they must be running a pretty good % error.
What is ridiculous though, is that it wasn’t easy to remedy. I don’t mind when people make mistakes, but you have to own up to it and make it right as painlessly as possible.
Reply to this commentI think Google has been having problems with their payment systems.
4 months ago, my monthly earnings showed different values for six month and one year period.
Then, my payment for June was delayed by 3 weeks. After 3 emails, they responded saying there was a technical error that affected a “small percentage” of publishers.
Sigh.
Reply to this commentClearly, it’s not a question of whether Google has the money, because they have lots. It’s more of an error in procedure and accounting, if anything.
Reply to this commenttry to search for : google bad check
Reply to this commentin google and yahoo. Seem only one story. If it’s right perhaps just a glitch. 0.00000000% percent of issued check.
peace
Ya this only few ppl will face this in the world……
Reply to this commentThere is more than 1 story.
Reply to this commentMore than likely adsense is incorportated as an individual entity, and Google is simple a majority shareholder. For legality reasons Google and Adsense would have separate accounts.
Reply to this commentfunny story.. imagine if this actually starts happening on a regular basis.
Reply to this commentWhat happens if the check gets cleared a day late? is google going to pay the interest on that one day?
Are you kidding? They’re more likely to charge you for the right to get your money a day late!
Reply to this commentI just got my second Adsense cheque! Better cash it quick by sounds of things
Reply to this commentThat is incredibly hilarious. Better cash it the day it comes
Reply to this commenteveryone should be using direct deposit anyway. No trip to the bank, and you get the money in your account quicker
Reply to this commentDoesn’t anyone else see anything wrong with giving out your bank account number? Please at least tell me that it’s a separate business account. People say they trust Google then say that they are capable of evil. They’re a corporation just like everyone else. Would you send your banking info to Enron or Worldcom?
Reply to this commentHaving an entirely separate account for AdSense direct deposit transactions is ideal. You just wire the amount to your personal account as soon as it gets in.
Reply to this commentHey all I know is Google better transfer my check to my account or else all hells gonna break loose!
I’m sure it was a rare event! But wouldn’t that me a nightmare if Google after all this time was a scam and they were on the verge of filing bankruptcy. The Enron of the Internet! Now that would be a story! Blogger would jump out of windows!
Reply to this commentCome on John! You can’t be that gullible to believe Google doesn’t have $$ in the bank to cover checks they send out. I can’t believe I am even reading this story but the idea is to get people commenting on it and you did just that. Great way to drive traffic to her site as well. I did a search on “google” + “bad check” and the stories only point to her site and digg. John, I read in your e-book that you should take the time to check your posts before posting. You just hit the publish button on this before thinking what you were posting. Maybe it’s humor in your opinion, but I think it’s a good way to show people how to be dishonest.
Reply to this commentSame as the Rich Twin Poor Twin story of losing $200K in adsense earnings.
Both are linkbaiting stories!!!
Reply to this commentOh just to let everyone know, there is no relation between me and mobilejones!!
But I did want her to stop by my site and leave a comment.
Reply to this commentwow wtf.. never heard of that one.
Reply to this commentI get direct deposit so i do not have to think about bounced check. But the story is interesting.
Reply to this commentcan that happen? How much is the check amount?
Reply to this commentunbelievable
Reply to this commentHow big is that check
Reply to this commentProbably three figures at best.
Reply to this commentMaybe the guy who was suppose to cash in did not do it and the boss had given him a lecture already~
Reply to this commentGoogle Has more money than they know what to do with, this story is being spread by someone who is
Reply to this commentupset with Google for losing rank. They should be careful Google has rooms full of lawyers with not much to do.
It is crazy thing to hear like this for a new bloggers like me…
buddy-dubaibase
Reply to this commentI’m glad Google pay me direct into my bank account.
Reply to this commentWow. That’s pretty unbelievable. I’d be horrified if that happened to me. Lucky for me they deposit my earnings directly into my bank account, too.
Steve
Reply to this commentYou better believe that I’m getting that direct deposit option too! Cuts down on these types of issues, or things getting ‘lost’ in the mail.
Reply to this commentI’m not sure what’s more unbelievable. That Google didn’t have enough funds or the teller didn’t know what Google was…
Reply to this commentThe day every Google checks bounce is the day I make $1,000,000/day
Reply to this commentI’m only going to comment on all the cynicism once - other than on mobilejones.com. I do agree that it’s always a good idea to question what you read. However, if my goal was to drive traffic as some have mentioned, then I would have ads on my site. I’ve been an Adsense publisher since 2005. So, I do know how to monetize traffic. The absence of any ads to captialize on traffic from this story was intentional.
The story is true. I’ll have an update on how this all gets resolved soon.
As to the EFT option, if Google can’t recover from a system fault to an address change for a full month, I really don’t want them mucking about in my checking account.
Reply to this commentIt’s not that suprising. A lot of big companies forget to pay the little guy. My brother used to work in accounts payable to a shipping and receiving business. I can’t name the big companies, but I know for sure that they don’t pay until you hound them for the money.
Reply to this commentBut it’s probably safe to assume that there are more “little guys” in the AdSense payout world than big ones. It was either an isolated case of extremely bad luck, or it’s a complete sham from the beginning, IMHO.
Reply to this commentThis sound funny actually, but i really wonders how this GOOGLe can run out of money ? Big…really big..man! how come no money!.
it’s really hard for me to trust this story as i never recieved any check from google
Hmmmm so how true is true then?
Reply to this commentYeah it maybe true that google runs out of money!
And that is why the reason they come up with new Adsense rules
read more about what happen to Google Adsense
Reply to this commenthere http://kedaikopionline.com/wordpress/?p=8
i just spoke of you in my blog, and how mobilejones also got a ridiciously call on this. Anyway i was also checking on how google still stands as the number 1 for Most Significant E-Biz Development
Reply to this commentBig Company or Small Company no excuse for a check to bounce.
Reply to this commentAs they say, the deal ain’t done until the checks are cashed.. I wonder what kind of NSF fees Google has to pay…
Reply to this commentDon’t do evil - but write bad checks…
Reply to this commentIt is sign the end is near.
Reply to this comment