Google Adsense is a platform that allows creators to earn money from their digital content through ads. When advertisers pay Google to display their ads through AdSense, these ads are set to appear on a publisher’s content, Google keeps track of the revenue and pays the publisher 68% of it.
Most people consider AdSense as one of the best ways to make significant income online, whether you’re running a blog, mobile site, AMP-enabled site, responsive website, YouTube channel, game, or even search result pages on your site.
Why is Google Adsense approval preferred by publishers
You may wonder if Google Adsense is the best option for making money off of your website, as there are a number of options accessible. Let us tell you that there are many benefits to using Google Adsense; now, over 58.5 million websites are using it. Examine this:
The official eligibility requirements for AdSense by Google
You Have to Be Older Than Eighteen
You need to be over eighteen years old to qualify for AdSense, according to Google’s terms and conditions. This requirement might frustrate talented 16-year-olds who create successful websites but can’t monetize them yet. However, if your website is good enough to earn money, you can register it using your parents’ information until you’re old enough to do it yourself.
You Have to Be in Charge of Your Website
To be eligible for AdSense, you must have control over the content on your website. Using content that isn’t yours can violate Google’s terms of service and may result in copyright infringement issues. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if your website has permission to republish content from certain sources, you can still monetize it.
Having control over your website generally means having access to its source code. If you can’t add the ad code to your website, AdSense won’t be effective. But there are some exceptions to this as well. Platforms like HubPages allow authors to add their own ad code, displaying their ads alongside their content. Additionally, with AdSense for YouTube, you can monetize your YouTube account without needing to modify any code.
Content on Your Website Has to Be Interesting and Unique
This guideline falls under the “Make sure your site’s pages are ready for AdSense” section, providing additional criteria for website eligibility. If your website primarily consists of empty pages, plagiarized or scraped content, nonsensical information, or lacks value for readers, Google is likely to reject your application.
Essentially, this guideline emphasizes the importance of producing quality content that engages readers, rather than focusing solely on SEO tactics. The standard isn’t exceptionally high, as long as your content adds value to your audience. However, the primary aim is to weed out Private Blog Networks (PBNs), sites involved in content theft, spam sites, and similar low-quality websites.
You Need Easy Navigation on Your Website
Google requires websites to be easily navigable for its team to review during the approval process. This means having a user-friendly layout with the following elements:
While Google doesn’t enforce a specific standard web design, it expects navigation to be intuitive and functional. Alternative navigation methods like hovering footers or inverted sidebars are acceptable as long as they are clear and practical, although they may not suit everyone’s preferences. It’s important to ensure that both the desktop and mobile versions of your website comply with these navigation guidelines, as they are part of Google’s policy.
It’s Not Allowed to Send False Traffic
Sending false traffic is strictly prohibited by Google’s AdSense policies and is considered a serious offense. While this rule is crucial, it’s often challenging to detect or test before your AdSense application is approved. However, if Google identifies any evidence of fake clicks or impressions being generated to your AdSense ads, they may choose to ban you from the program immediately.
Google regularly monitors traffic and clicks to ensure compliance with their policies, and violating this rule can lead to severe consequences, including permanent expulsion from the AdSense program.
Google Content Policy Compliance Is Required for Your Content
The kind of content that can be on a website that Google monetizes is subject to numerous constraints. Content such as adult, porn, shocking, violent, threatening, overly profane, malware, drug, or weapon sales are all prohibited on your website.
More exists than what I’ve written here. Here is a link to the content policies section in its entirety. It is generally forbidden to bring “anything obscene, illegal, adult, violent, hateful, or damaging.” Before applying, confirm that your website conforms to all of their guidelines.
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Restrictions on Copyrighted Content Circulation
When it comes to your website content—be it text, images, or videos—it’s crucial to ensure that everything is legally free to use and distribute, adhering to copyright regulations.
For example, your blog posts should be original, as should any photographs you’ve taken or logos you’ve commissioned.
However, directly copying text from another website, using images without permission from sources like Google Image Search, or uploading videos under pretenses are violations of copyright and should be avoided.
There are instances where you can legally use content you didn’t create. Embedding a YouTube video or sharing public social media posts is acceptable, as long as you don’t claim ownership. However, it’s often necessary to supplement such content with your original material to provide value. If you have obtained permission to use images from stock photo websites, you can include them on your site.
Given the complexity of copyright law, it’s best to exercise caution and prioritize legal compliance in all instances.
A Supported Language Must Be Used by You
Unfortunately, Google AdSense does not support all languages worldwide. Their goal is to ensure that the advertisements they are showing to viewers can be read. Provided that the bulk of the content on the website is in a supported language, your site may be bilingual with content in an unsupported language.
Be aware that while the AdSense dashboard does not support some of those languages, they are supported for AdSense display advertisements. Furthermore, Google might, at any point, add support for additional languages.
Abusive Experience Must not be found on your Website
Websites engaging in harmful, deceptive, manipulative, or fraudulent activities that violate Google’s policies are deemed to have “abusive experiences.” These can include:
Unofficial Criteria for Google AdSense Eligibility
The final few conditions aren’t mentioned in Google’s documentation, but they might be the cause of your site’s rejection during the application process or the reason you were accepted but aren’t benefiting much from the program. To get the greatest experience possible, it’s a good idea to check these boxes before attempting to apply.
Importance of having Technical Pages
While not explicitly outlined by Google, the absence of technical pages that foster brand trust could jeopardize your site’s standing in the program. The key technical pages—Privacy Policy, About Us, and Contact Us—are essential for this purpose.
These pages don’t necessarily need to be separate; for instance, a straightforward privacy statement can suffice instead of a detailed policy page. Combining an About Us and Contact page is common practice.
An About Us page instills confidence in your brand’s authenticity, while a Contact page with essential details like address and phone number enhances credibility. Including these technical pages is vital for establishing trust with users and maintaining eligibility in the AdSense program.
Your Website should Have a Minimum Age of Six Months
This is an additional “unwritten” policy that may impact a significant number of applicants despite not being a policy.
It was simple to apply and get approved when AdSense initially launched. Google began tightening its rules after realizing that an abundance of newly launched, subpar websites was costing them money. They have encountered and had to outlaw almost all of the above rules.
By limiting who is accepted, Google has been able to stop some abuse on its website. To be more precise, getting clearance could be more difficult if a page is less than six months old, such as if your website was simply built last week.
Not every situation calls for this. Google might approve a completely new domain if you have previously owned profitable websites. Furthermore, neither the US nor other English-speaking nations that speak the language exclusively may use this regulation.
Google requires that You Must Have Enough Traffic
While Google may not always reject sites solely for lacking traffic, it’s essential to understand that without adequate traffic, your earnings from AdSense will be minimal. The level of traffic needed to generate a respectable income varies depending on various factors such as niche, content quality, audience engagement, and ad placement.
It’s crucial to build a loyal audience, create high-quality content, and optimize ad placements to maximize your earnings potential.
