Why Won't Google Adsense Approve Me?

Have you asked that question lately? When I was searching for reasons as to why I was being disapproved, I couldn't find one definitive answer. I want to tell you about my long road to approval and what I think Google Ad Sense is looking for and how hopefully you can get approved, too.

Please note that this advice is for the United States only. I have no knowledge of Google's procedures for other countries.

Hello xxxxxx,

Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. After reviewing your
application, our specialists have found that it does not meet our program
criteria. Therefore, we are unable to accept you into our program...

I joined Hubpages on November 1, 2012. When I joined, I signed up for Amazon, the Ad Program, Ebay, and Ad Sense. I had no idea you couldn't just go ahead and sign up for everything. I thought it was something one had to do when you joined.

Well, it wasn't very long until I figured out that you needed Ad Sense for almost everything if you were going to make money on Hubpages.

The next day I got a nice email from Google Ad Sense telling me that I had been denied. I looked over my application and found a few mistakes, corrected them, and resubmitted it again. Did I get approved? Nope. All in all, I applied four times and was rejected each time. I was very disappointed.

Around the middle of November one of my hubs, How To Be a Court Reporter, won through the Rigorous Review Contest. My prize was $25, but I couldn't receive it if I didn't have Ad Sense. The kind people at Hubpages told me I had until December 14 to hopefully get Ad Sense worked out so I could claim my prize. Now I was really motivated to get approved by Ad Sense!

I decided to really revamp my articles on Hubpages. I sat down and wrote out a list of what I thought might help.

1. Remove any photographs that were not taken by myself
2. Research and begin to implement SEO to gain more traffic
3. Link my hubs to each other or other hubber's hubs
4. Continue to write quality hubs

I posted several questions in thie forum for guidance. People were truly helpful, but I think misguided. Here are a few reasons I received:

1. Your account is too new, reapply when you've been here longer.
2. You need at least 10 hubs. Write 10 hubs and then reapply
3. You're not an expert in your field. Google only wants people who know what they're talking about.

I don't blame anyone who gave me this advice. They just didn't know. Ultimately, I think who does and does not get approved by Google Ad Sense is a mystery. But I think I learned some insight into their thinking through this ordeal.

Now I want to share with you what I think Ad Sense is looking for when they are considering accounts to approve and what led to my approval.

Welcome to AdSense!

We've completed a partial review of your application...Once we've completed our review, your application will be fully approved or disapproved. If approved, you’ll begin to see live ads...

I don't think it is the number of hubs that you have written that Google Ad Sense looks at, I think it is the amount of traffic your hubs are getting on a daily basis.

Here's my reasoning:

Around the first of December I wrote a hub that turned out to be very popular right from the beginning. I began receiving over 100 views a day. My December 14th deadline was a week away, so I decided to give it another go and reapply.

What do you know, I got approved! Well, partially. I applied for Ad Sense around 4:00 in the afternoon. I received this email about an hour and a half later.

I immediately set my account up through Hubpages and signed up for Ebay and the Ad Program. I made .17 cents the first night!

By the next evening I received my final email telling me I had been approved. What was unique about this email is that it didn't list my profile URL, it had listed the URL for my hub that had been receiving the most traffic.

In the end, I don't think it is about the number of hubs you've written, it's about how much traffic you receive. I think this is what Google means when it says it tells you you don't meet program criteria. Which makes sense, why would Google monetize a site that nobody was visiting?

I have made a list of do's and don't's when applying for Google Ad Sense. I think if you are having trouble getting approved by Google and are not sure why you're being turned down, this is good advice to follow.