Przemysław Alexander Kamiński, developer of RACE, a native macOS terminal multiplexer written in Rust, launched a Google Ads campaign to promote the application and its website at race-term.com. After spending $500, Google suspended his advertising account, citing “Malicious software” and “Compromised Site” as reasons.
Kamiński states he found no evidence supporting these claims. He conducted a comprehensive security review of the application, website, and download infrastructure. According to his report, Google Safe Browsing reported no issues for the distributed DMG file or either domain. VirusTotal identified the distributed DMG and binary as clean. The application’s signatures were independently verified as valid. All JavaScript source files and bundled outputs were reviewed and found to contain no malicious, injected, obfuscated, or unexpected code. Google Search Console reported no security issues for either race-term.com or downloads.race-term.com.
Kamiński appealed the suspension multiple times, each time receiving rejection without explanation of what specifically triggered the flag or how his submitted evidence failed to address the accusations. After several rejections, he was blocked from appealing for a week. Google suggested he delete his account if he had no new information to provide, and directed him toward EU redress options.
Kamiński hypothesizes the suspension may result from a false positive related to RACE’s legitimate functionality. As a terminal multiplexer, RACE by design launches and manages background terminal processes—behavior he notes may resemble security-sensitive software but is neither hidden nor malicious. The application’s subprocess-management mechanism is documented in its configuration, and users can configure alternative multiplexing backends.
He released version 1.0.39 with modified cleanup behavior after application deletion, but reports the account remains suspended. Kamiński states he plans to continue appealing or pursue legal action through EU courts, describing himself as caught in a “Catch 22” with no clear path forward.
Key facts
- Google Ads suspended the account of RACE developer Przemysław Alexander Kamiński for “Malicious software” and “Compromised Site” after he spent $500 on advertising
- Multiple security verifications—including Google Safe Browsing, VirusTotal, and Google Search Console—found no security issues with the application or website
- Kamiński appealed the suspension multiple times but received rejections without explanation of what was flagged or how his evidence failed to address the claims
- RACE’s background terminal process management, while legitimate to its function as a multiplexer, may have triggered automated detection systems