Google Forgave a €100,000 Debt to a 12-Year-Old Blogger Who Mixed Up AdWords and AdSense

Jose Javier, a 12-year-old video blogger from Spain, wanted to earn by placing advertisement on the YouTube blog of his music band, The Salties (Los Salerosos). However, he confused two Google services, and accidentally bought advertising on other platforms for €100,000. Google made an exception and forgave Jose’s debt, given his young age, El Pais reports.

According to the AFP, Jose wanted to earn on videos of the band, where he plays a trumpet. Together with a 15-year-old friend they set out to monetize their blog, but used AdWords service for it, where advertisement providers buy advertising on Google platforms, and not platforms receive money for placing advertisements, like on AdSense.

Jose registered a bank account on AdWords, which his parents used to save money for his education and driving licence. The spendings were not significant at first (in the first day, the cost of advertising was only about €15), but then they rapidly increased up to €19,700. When Jose’s parents received a bill for €100,000, they blocked his bank account.

Jose will not have to pay — company’s representatives say that taking into account age limitations of AdWords, he could not use the advertisement purchase service at all. “We have analyzed this case and we haven’t received any money from the user. We are going to cancel the outstanding AdWords debt. Many online services, including Google Adwords, have age restrictions,” the representative of the corporation said, added that they were committed to making the Internet safe for families.