How Google Shut Down Aweber in Minutes, and Why You Should Care

I have a bit of a funny story to tell this morning about how Google managed to derail and EMBARRASS an entire highly reputable auto-responder company.

(There is a moral to this story, so wait for it 🙂

So over the last couple of days as you know if you are on my subscriber list, I’ve sent out email updates like I normally do.>

There has been an update about the new features coming in TubeViperX 2.0 last week (sneak peek here), and then yesterday’s $297 bonus package email offer on WP Fan Machine.

Everything looked great, and both emails were positively received and I was happy. But then this morning, I start getting help-desk tickets reporting that my email links (which were all fine yesterday) were triggering malware warnings.

So I checked it out, and sure enough, Kaspersky anti-virus went nuts and instantly blocked me from visiting the sites in the links, one of them being THIS blog.

(Those malware warning pages are so scary looking in red and black aren’t they? They almost look like they are radioactive and I’ll need a hazmat suit if I dare click through)

So of course I’m thinking, Wow, that can’t be good. Should I even click my own link? Have I been hacked?

But on further investigation, I discovered that the PROBLEM actually was being flagged on Aweber’s click-tracking reporting page–

You know, good old straight laced, been around forever, respectable Aweber, that I use for emailing my newsletters because of their great deliverability and friendly support.

So is Aweber now a spammer or malware site?

No and NO... actually, this is where GOOGLE comes into it.

When I sent in a query to Aweber support, this is what Aweber told me….

So apparently A SINGLE CUSTOMER of Aweber did have a malware problem at an external link that was being click-tracked by Aweber, and that problem was then reported to Google using Aweber’s click tracking link as the problem link…

…who decided the “sensible” thing to do was just BLACKLIST Aweber, lock stock and barrel, till the malware on the SINGLE customer’s external site was taken care of.

(Shoot first and ask questions later, right Google?)

And when Google issues a malware alert, all of the OTHER Virus scanners pick it up and start (wrongly in this case) singing the same chorus like a bunch of drunk frogs.

Which meant that pretty much hundreds of thousands of email links running through Aweber, including mine,just STOPPED working this morning, and started showing those panic inducing warnings.

Pretty kneejerk and irresponsible of Google to just blacklist an ENTIRE Autoresponder and all customers using it, right?

Now I’m sure that Aweber is big enough to work it out with Google shortly… Unlike most of us who can’t get Google’s ear at all…

(In fact Aweber have just sent me a followup stating that the problem has been resolved, even as I finish this post)

But I said there was a MORAL to this story and HERE IT IS:

When in business, diversify everything you can to prevent there being a single point of failure that can bring down your ENTIRE business.

(For Aweber, that single point of failure appears to be their click tracking page since every customer’s tracking is funneled through a single page)

To stay safe in YOUR business you need to set up backup traffic sources, ad sources, revenue sources, and payment sources, or sooner or later,you’re going to get BURNED.

Because as we’ve seen today with Aweber, you don’t have to be doing something wrong to get flagged, and even being big and respectable is no guarantee of being treated fairly.

This even ties back into yesterday’s email that I sent out about my bonus for the WP Fan Machine plugin.

Because Facebook ads, while great for building an audience, can be a single point of failure in your business that can be shut off on a whim…

Just like the whims of Google can shut down thousands of legitimate email links a few minutes when the single point is compromised.

And this goes doubly for Facebook with their Jekyl and Hyde personality mood swings. (I’m sure you even know a few people who have had their ads accounts shut down by equally trigger-happy Facebook with no real reason given).

So having a backup method of building a fan base and moving that audience off to properties YOU control is a VERY wise move.

So check out WP Fan Machine now and put another backup plan in place for yourself.

And remember, there is a huge bonus package of awesome plugins waiting for you when you grab WP Fan Machine through my link. (Bonus Package Details Below)

Click here to grab WP Fan Machine (and claim my $297 plugin bonus package)
Best Wishes,
Lisa Allen

The $297 Plugin Bonus Package Details 🙂

Because I want to help you succeed, I’ve put together a special bonus package of THREE awesome WordPress plugins to help you make the most of your fan traffic when you grab Fan Machine through my link.

Bonus #1: WP Retargeted Content Plugin – Unlimited Site License
Facebook does it. Amazon does it. Google certainly does it. It’s called retargeting, and it’s an incredibly powerful marketing method that helps turn one-time visitors into fans, and fans into buyers.

Using WP Retargeted Content you can:

• Encourage repeat visitors to opt-in to your mailing list.
• Remind subscribers about a coupon code or other offer.
• Provide handy links to downloadable guides available only to subscribers.
• Create special offers and upsells for buyers.
• Show older, evergreen content to new visitors and more.

Bonus #2: WP Team Sync Plugin – Unlimited Site license
Keep your team or writers, editors, graphic designers and other content creators in sync for better content creation, and so you always know who has done what in your blog content creation sequence. If you have a content team, you’ll love this plugin.

Bonus #3: Hilight to Share Plugin – Unlimited Site License
With this new WordPress plugin, you can create compelling “click to share” quotes right from your post editing screen. Not only that, but it gives your readers power to choose her own text from your post as well, so when something grabs her attention or touches a nerve, she can easily spread the word with a tweet.

Standard Social sharing buttons are starting to be invisible to your readers, but with Hilite-to-Share, your reader will want to share the quotable parts of your articles.

How to Claim your $297 WP Fan Machine bonus plugin pack

1. Grab WP Fan Machine through my link (Make sure you buy through my link and don’t visit any other affiliate pages in between)

2. Login to your JVZoo customer account and go to your WP Fan Machine purchase.

3. Download your bonus plugin bundle from the WP Fan Machine receipt page in JVZoo. EASY.