Banned From AdWords

I've often wondered what it would take for Google to ban a person or company from using AdWords. I know plenty of people who have received warnings for some, well, let's just say using AdWords for some sneaky tactics, but haven't ever talked with anyone who's been banned from AdWords. After all, AdWords is a pay to play system and it's Google makes a huge % of it's income.

I came across a thread today at Webmaster World where a user talks about being banned, forever, from AdWords. It wasn't just his personal account that was banned, the AdWords account owned by the company he works for was also shut down!

WMW member Fehay said:

"I recently had my account suspended and after a brief dialogue with support was told that any past, current and future accounts I started would not be allowed to run. "

The reason for the ban was:

"I had some poker ads I was trying to run and either the destination url was inappropriate or the ad was. Either way it would run for a bit until a human reviewer would decline it with the standard 'inappropriate' response. "

The real kicker is:

"To add insult to injury it looks like they've now suspended the account that belongs to the company I work for! (maybe because I've logged into my own account at work and so they've assumed that I own both?) "

It's that last line that really gets me. I know a lot of people (myself included) that manage multiple accounts, both personal and professional. Does this case show that the actions of an individual can negatively effect the company they work for? If I were use my personal AdWords account for something not exactly on the up and up and that action ended up getting my company's AdWords account terminated would they have any recourse?

In my opinion this is a very serious issue with a lot of potential negative implications for both individuals and companies involved in managing multiple AdWords accounts. I'll keep an eye on this story, that's for sure.