AdSense Approval Requirements, Rejection Reasons and Fixes
Kamran Liaquat Ali- posted on
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Quick answer: To be eligible for Google AdSense you must be at least 18, own (or control) a live website where you can add code, and publish original, useful content that follows the AdSense Program policies and Google Publisher Policies. Google does not publish a minimum number of posts or visitors. Most rejections come from thin or copied content, unfinished sites, navigation problems or policy violations, not from low traffic.
Official AdSense Requirements
| Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Age 18+ | The account holder must be an adult; use your own details |
| Site ownership | You need access to the site’s HTML to add the AdSense code and ads.txt |
| Unique, valuable content | Original articles or tools that help visitors, not copied or auto-generated text |
| Policy compliance | No prohibited content such as adult material, violence, piracy, hacking guides or misleading claims |
| Live, functional site | Pages load, navigation works and there are no “under construction” sections |
Always check the current requirements and policies in the official AdSense Help Center before applying, because Google updates them.
What Reviewers Look for on Your Site
Original, helpful content
Each article should answer a real question better than a quick search would. Avoid publishing large batches of AI-written or lightly rewritten posts; “low value content” is the most common rejection reason.
A clear focus
A site about a defined set of related topics looks purposeful. A mix of unrelated subjects with a few posts each looks like it was built only for ads.
Easy navigation
Visitors should reach your main categories from the menu, and every menu link should work. Remove empty categories, placeholder pages and links that point to #.
Trust pages
- About: who runs the site and why it is credible.
- Contact: a working form or email address.
- Privacy policy: explains cookies and that Google and partners may use them to serve ads.
- Terms or disclaimer: especially for finance, health or legal topics.
Technical basics
- HTTPS on every page.
- A mobile-friendly theme that loads reasonably fast.
- Pages accessible to Google (not blocked by robots.txt or
noindex). - For visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland, a Google-certified consent management platform (CMP) for showing personalised ads.
How to Apply Step by Step
- Sign in at the AdSense website with your Google account and add your site.
- Choose your country and payment currency.
- Copy the AdSense code into your site’s
<head>, or connect through Site Kit if you use WordPress. - Add the ads.txt line AdSense shows you to
yourdomain.com/ads.txt. - Request a review and leave the site live and unchanged in structure while it is being reviewed.
Reviews commonly take from a few days to a few weeks. You will receive an email with the result.
Common Rejection Reasons and Fixes
| Message | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Low value content | Thin, generic or duplicated articles | Improve or remove weak posts; add depth, examples and original insight |
| Site down or unavailable | Server errors, firewall or wrong URL | Check the domain works for all visitors, including Google’s crawler |
| Policy violations | Prohibited topics or copyrighted material | Remove the content and review the policies |
| Valuable inventory: no content | Pages with little text or mostly ads/images | Add substantial content to key pages |
| Navigation issues | Broken menus or hard-to-find content | Fix menus, categories and internal links |
After Approval
- Start with Auto ads or a few well-placed manual units, then test layout changes.
- Avoid placing ads where they could be clicked by accident, and never click your own ads.
- Keep publishing quality content; ad income grows with trusted traffic.
- Payments are issued once your balance reaches the payment threshold for your currency, after address (PIN) and identity verification.
For more income ideas beyond ads, read our guide to making money from a blog.
Pre-Application Checklist
Run through these AdSense approval requirements before you click Apply:
| Check | How to verify |
|---|---|
| Enough helpful, original posts in one niche | Review your best posts; improve thin ones using how to write a captivating blog post |
| About, Contact and Privacy Policy pages | Link them in the menu or footer |
| No broken links or empty pages | Scan with the broken link checker |
| One clear H1 and descriptive titles | Check with the bulk H1 tag checker and title length checker |
| Fast pages and optimised images | Check images with the image size and WebP checker, then fix them with the WebP converter |
| Site verified in Search Console | Follow connect Blogger to Google Search Console (Blogger) or verify your domain |
| Valid sitemap submitted | Test it with the XML sitemap checker |
If you are just starting, our guide to creating a Blogger blog and the SEO basics guide will help you build a site that meets these requirements from day one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many posts do I need for AdSense approval?
There is no official number. What matters is that the site offers enough original, useful content for a visitor to benefit from it. Quality matters far more than quantity.
Do I need traffic to get approved?
No minimum traffic is required, but a site with no visitors earns very little, so build content and traffic alongside your application.
Can a Blogger blog get AdSense?
Yes. Blogger has a built-in Earnings section that connects to AdSense. See our Blogger settings guide for the ads.txt setting.
How long after rejection can I reapply?
You can request another review after fixing the issues. Make real changes first; reapplying with the same content usually gives the same result.
For the full path from a new blog to steady traffic, read our blogging and SEO guide.
