For one week, if you were banned, you were just gone.
Yes, that happened to a lot of folks.
So, why were they banned? I’ve explained it here.
There was no Contact Support or no “Appeal” button, just a blank screen and a lot of regret.
That changed with the latest update (Yes, the update came on 27th Feb, but it’s a gradual release. My friend got it yesterday)
Google has introduced a formal Account Remediation Pathway specifically for accounts suspended due to Terms of Service violations.
The update isn’t just a backend fix, it’s a dedicated interface.
The changelog explicitly mentions an Account remediation UI for suspended users.
It’s a literal path for the developers who got caught in the crossfire of the recent compute wars to fix their standing and get back to their repos.
And it’s funny. Because the reaction across the community is hilarious.
Developers who were previously locked out are suddenly praising the premium feel of the ban screen.
Someone even commented that "getting banned is like an upgrade for better UI".
While it's funny, it points to a serious technical trend:
Google is now spending design resources on managing the violation experience just as much as the "development" experience.
So, why the ban and the unban?
As you know, OpenClaw became a bigger thing in Feb, and you know our developers.
They started using everything to bridge the gap, essentially treating Google’s TPUs like a “tamagotchi” for their automation scripts. This caused a massive traffic surge that Google simply wasn't prepared to handle, leading to the draconian bans we saw earlier.
Later, Google realized how many potential builders have they lost. More importantly how many developers will choose to go away.
Or they realized that most of these “violations” weren’t malicious, they were just builders trying to cope with a loss of quota.
For my friend, this was the difference between a dead project and a second chance.
- The Verification: He had to formally acknowledge that using third-party wrappers like OpenCode was a violation of the terms.
- The Cleanup: The UI required him to disconnect any unauthorized OAuth tokens.
- The Return: After a quick automated review, his access was restored.
The Pro and Ultra quotas are still tight, but at least the doors are open again.
My friend is already back to work on his sports-tech project, and the energy in the room is finally back to where it should be.
Don’t ignore the terms, but don’t stop building either. The pathway is live.