You probably know what it’s like to get banned from a tech site seemingly out of nowhere, either because someone reported your account, bots flagged your account as suspicious, or you committed some kind of infraction that you didn’t even know was against the terms of use. It’s also common to get banned for violations you never committed. Or maybe you genuinely messed up and got banned. In any case, getting banned can be a horrible experience when you really enjoy using a platform, but it’s worse when your presence is involved in running your business.
Why bans are so hard to fight
Many years ago, bans were easy to appeal because companies had real people managing accounts and there wasn’t a heavy focus on automation. To get banned, a human would need to report the account, and then another human would need to review the alleged violation and make a decision.
Today, this process is largely automated by algorithms that detect a complex series of factors determined to be red flags, but those factors are often not actually sinister. As a result, bots frequently ban perfectly valid accounts. This is the price we pay for automation and convenience.
Although some companies do hire real people, they still employ automation, and as many people are starting to notice, this doesn’t go very well. For example, after talking with the support team and verifying that their account isn’t violating any terms, they get their account reinstated, only to get banned again by the automated system with no ability to appeal.
In most cases, people have found that it takes a lot of work to get unbanned on a platform. However, each platform is different, and there are a handful of ways you can get around a ban or suspension.
- Hire a professional to get your account back
When it comes to accounts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, there’s probably not much you can do to get your account back. However, if you’ve been banned from a platform like Google Ads, there are professional companies whose sole mission is to get your account back.
Fighting and winning a Google Ads suspension is possible, but you need to hire an expert. Don’t look for someone on Fiverr or Upwork, for example. If you rely on Google Ads to run your business, you can’t risk choosing an amateur. Find a company that has a track record of successfully getting their clients’ accounts reinstated.
- Delete your cookies
Some platforms use cookies to store the data they use to determine connections between accounts. While there are often other factors involved, like your IP address, MAC address, and browser, you’d be surprised how many platforms rely mostly on cookies.
Try deleting your cookies and then sign up for a new account with a brand new email address. This tends to work on social media sites, like Reddit.
- Change your IP address
You might be surprised to know that you can change your IP address. Most internet accounts come with a dynamic IP, which means your IP address will change periodically. Turning off your router for a while and turning it back on will usually change your IP. However, if you have a DSL connection, you won’t get a new IP by resetting your router. You might need to cancel your existing service and sign up for a new plan.
For an additional fee, you can get a static IP address, which will be completely different from the ones you’ve been assigned in the past. Another option is to change your internet provider to get a new IP address.
- Change your MAC address
Some websites go the extra mile to record and ban accounts by MAC address. Thankfully, you can change your MAC address pretty easily.
- Use a VPN
On some websites, all you need to do is use a VPN to get around a ban. However, this may not always work because VPNs recycle IP addresses to people all across the world, and if you happen to use an IP that is associated with a banned account, you’ll just get banned again.
However, this only applies to sites that use IP to terminate accounts. Not all websites will terminate an account because it shares an IP with a previously terminated account. If that’s the case, then using a VPN should be fine. However, you’ll need to experiment to find out.
- Don’t use a VPN
Some websites are ban-happy where VPNs are concerned. There are some websites that will ban your account on the spot the second you log in from an IP address on their blacklist. Sites that have large IP blacklists tend to be a bit more edgy, since most people use a VPN to access those sites in the first place. Using a VPN can be risky because you never know when you’ll be assigned an IP someone else has used on a terminated account.
- Don’t trigger the algorithms to think you’re a scammer
There are a variety of actions that can trigger an automated system into thinking your account is fraudulent. For example, too many uploads in a given period of time is a known trigger for many tech sites. For instance, say you upload a profile or banner photo and you don’t like the way it looks, so you make a small change, upload the new version, make another change, and upload your new image – and do this over and over again. This will trigger some systems to automatically terminate your account.
On the back end, customer support won’t even know what specific infraction triggered the termination because they won’t see “user uploaded too many images in a short period of time.” They will only see whatever short description the programmer has designated that class of trigger. Unfortunately, these small triggers usually get lumped in with other, more serious violations, like using a bank account from a country on the company’s blacklist. The company will tell you that you’ve used a blacklisted bank account, but that’s not always the case.
This is completely a programming oversight, and there’s nothing you can do to get your account back. However, you can create a new account and you should be fine as long as you don’t trigger the bots to flag your account again.
Know when to move on
Although there are many ways to circumvent a ban, suspension, or termination, they don’t always work. It depends on your account specifics as well as the platform and representative you contact. If you can’t manage to keep an account for long, you may need to cut your losses and move on. Know which accounts are worth fighting for because the automated system might terminate your account again. As a general rule, if it impacts your business, it’s worth the fight.
