What to do if Your AdSense Application is Rejected - A Guide (2024)

A popular question in any Google AdSense forum is: why did my AdSense application get rejected? There are a number of reasons why this may happen (listed below). But if you haven’t already applied for AdSense and are just doing your homework (kudos!), the first step towards getting accepted by Google is to plan very carefully.

Step 1: A Clear Plan

A website should be built with a goal and a purpose. Start preparing for Google AdSense approval by designing a clear site plan that includes:

• Great content that’s useful and purposeful (like this blog post!)
• All the standard site pages (About, Home, Info…)
• A design that is simple and easy to navigate
• Useful details that site visitors will want to know

Let’s jump into that site plan a bit more, starting with your site content.

Step 2: Create Something Worth Reading

Google’s original search goal was to provide Internet users with search hits that were useful and informative. As concepts like SEO grew, this quest became a lot harder. Google bots now have to find truly helpful or relevant websites that are full of more than just keyworded fluff. This means that you have to prove your worth by setting up a blog that stands out before you even consider applying for AdSense.

Related Read:Google’s Warning to Affiliate Publisher Sites

Basic blog rules:

• Create at least 10 posts that are shareable and useful
• Add images and other data that pertain to your topic
• Make those posts 500 words or more.

If you aren’t the world’s best wordsmith, consider hiring a professional to create your posts for you.

Related Read: Google’s Warning to Affiliate Publisher Sites

While content is crucial, this is just the first step.

Step 3: It’s Design Time

Is your site easy to navigate? Does it have a clear purpose and provide users with clear details? Even though colors, fonts, and flashy designs can be fun to play with, simpler is much better when it comes to blog design. White space,basic font, and images that are well-developed make the most sense to Google.

Step 4: Apply To Google AdSense

Ready? Here’s the link to submit your AdSense application.

You will need to provide your name, address, and legitimate phone number (don’t use a number that doesn’t exist!). Your site must be completely original, which means that AdSense has never accepted it before, so keep this in mind. After 24-48 hours, you should get a response from Google. If your site follows the guidelines above, approval should be granted rather quickly. But, what if your site follows the steps listed above and you still aren’t approved?

Insufficient content

To be eligible for Google AdSense, a website must have a significant amount of original and high-quality pages. Websites that lack content, have content copied from other sources, or contain poorly written content are likely to be rejected by Google AdSense. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that your website has enough unique content that adds value to your visitors.

Violation of AdSense policies

Google AdSense has strict guidelines and policies for publishers that must be adhered to. Publishers who violate these policies by promoting illegal activities, adult content, hate speech, or copyrighted material on their website will not be eligible for AdSense.

Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure that your website’s content aligns with Google AdSense policies to avoid any violations that could result in your account being suspended or terminated. As a publisher, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your website content complies with AdSense policies and guidelines to maintain a successful monetization strategy.

Non-compliance with Google’s webmaster guidelines

Google AdSense requires websites to adhere to its webmaster guidelines, which outline best practices for website design and content. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in AdSense applications being rejected. Examples of non-compliance include having spammy content, hidden text or links, or using cloaking techniques to hide content from users. It’s essential to ensure that your website complies with these guidelines to maximize your chances of being approved for AdSense.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your website provides a positive user experience while also meeting Google’s standards. As a publisher, it’s crucial to stay informed about any changes to Google’s webmaster guidelines and to make any necessary updates to your website to remain in compliance.

Poor website design and user experience

Insufficient traffic

Google AdSense requires websites to have a certain amount of traffic before they can be approved for monetization. Websites with low traffic or no traffic are likely to get rejected.

Optimize your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) to improve its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). This may involve techniques such as on-page optimization, link building, and content marketing.

Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly, as these factors can significantly impact user experience and search engine rankings. Don’t forget to leverage social media platforms to promote your content and reach a wider audience.

Inappropriate ad placement

Google AdSense has strict policies regarding ad placement on websites. Websites with inappropriate ad placement, such as placing ads too close to navigation menus, using excessive ad units on a single page, or placing ads that mimic or are confused with website content, may not be approved for AdSense. Such practices can lead to a negative user experience and result in lower engagement with ads. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that ad placement on your website is user-friendly and does not interfere with the user’s ability to navigate and consume content.

By following Google’s ad placement policies, you can increase the effectiveness of your ads while maintaining a positive user experience. As a publisher, it’s important to prioritize the user experience and ad placement to meet AdSense policies and guidelines, resulting in higher engagement and potential ad revenue.

Invalid traffic

Google AdSense has a zero-tolerance policy for invalid traffic, which includes traffic generated from click fraud or botnets. Websites that generate such traffic may not be approved for AdSense. Therefore, it’s important to monitor your website’s traffic and take steps to prevent invalid traffic.

MonetizeMore’s award-winning IVT Solution Tool, Traffic Cop, can help you identify and block invalid traffic to ensure your website meets AdSense’s requirements. Using Traffic Cop, you can protect your website’s reputation, maintain AdSense eligibility, and maximize your ad revenue. Get started with the best IVT solution here.

Unavailable or inaccessible website

No questionable content

What is questionable content? Anything that’s p*rnographic; promotes alcohol, tobacco, or firearms (or sells these items); any content that includes a lot of swear words. If you aren’t sure about your content, ask yourself this question: would your grandmother approve? If not, delete it!

Related Read:Top Google Content Policy Violations for Every Website Type

Plagiarism problems

Google has very strict rules when it comes to plagiarism. If there isanyquestion as to whether or not you ownanymedia on your site,give proper attributionif it’s fair use, andget permissionif it isn’t fair use. Fair use usually means that you’re only quoting a minor part of the infringing content and linking back to it with proper attribution.

If you’re quoting an entire article, then that doesn’t count as fair use; it’s plagiarism.

This is true of images, too. If you’re using images you’ve found on Google Images without proper attribution or permission, then you’re plagiarizing that content, too. Google wants to avoid potential copyright issues and problems with their advertisers, so they’ve (rightfully) taken a hard line on plagiarized or copyrighted content.

Helpful note: if you’ve hired a blogger to create content for you and aren’t sure where that content came from, this could be an issue. Try editing your content (including images) and replacing it with words and photos that have been used fairly (see above).

Related Read:Avoid GoogleAdSense“Copyrighted Content” Rejections

How can I improve my website’s content to increase AdSense approval chances?

To improve your website’s content and increase AdSense approval chances, follow these steps:

1. Choose Quality Topics: Select topics that resonate with your target audience and are engaging, informative, and relevant. Before content planning, research popular keywords related to your niche using tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs.
2. Create Unique Content: Ensure your content is original and not copied from another website. Use reliable sources and give credit where it is due by linking back to the source material when necessary. Always aim for a minimum of 500 words per post to provide enough valuable information for readers and meet Google’s requirements.
3. Optimize for Displaying AdSense Ads: Ensure your website’s layout, design, and formatting are compatible with ad placements. Avoid elements that may interfere with the proper display of ads, such as overlapping content or excessive pop-ups.
4. Interlink Relevant Posts: Interlinking posts can add value to your content and enhance the user experience, a key factor in AdSense approval.
5. Regularly Publish New Content: Publishing new content regularly, ideally at least once per week, shows Google that your site is active, has a proper sitemap, and continuously provides fresh information to users.
6. Monitor and Fine-Tune Your Website: Regularly monitor your website’s presence in Google search results using tools like Google Search Console and fine-tune your content for better visibility.
7. Ensure Compliance with AdSense Policies: Familiarize yourself with AdSense policies and guidelines, and ensure your website complies with them. Avoid deceptive or harmful advertising practices and ensure that your traffic is genuine and free from bots or spammers.

Understanding Google’s strict approval process for AdSense

Some of Google’s AdSense rules may seem like Google’s trying to nanny all their network sites into being PG and kid-friendly, but the purpose is to make advertisers feel safe spending money on Google’s ad network.

Just think about it: if Google allowed ads to run on sites with p*rnographic material on them, then family-conscious advertisers would feel concerned about the effect on their brand and move elsewhere. That’s not a good strategy for Google. While being rejected isn’t fun, you can usually clean up your site and gain approval – or, even better, make sure that your site complies with Google’s AdSense rules from the start.

If you have any questions about why you’ve been rejected, post questions in the comments orreview Google AdSense’s Terms and Conditions. Need help taking your ad revenue to the next level? Sign up for a Starter account at MonetizeMore today!

Related Reads:

• Top Adsense Ad Violations
• Avoid GoogleAdSense“Copyrighted Content” Rejections
• Preventing Inappropriate User Generated Content
• Keep It Clean: Avoid Adult Content on Sites With Google Ads