The procedure to sign up for Google AdSense is not always straightforward.There are sometimes stumbling blocks. This hub is a picture tutorial showing the exact steps required to get approved for AdSense. With actual screen images, you’ll see what Google wants from you to successfully activate your AdSense Account for Hubpages.

I'm going to show you every step I took to get my AdSense account activated. This will help you achieve success simply by following along. I'm also going to show you what stumbling block you may run into. Looking over the forum, I found that other Hubbers have run into the same problem I had. Getting past the hurdle just took an additional day until ultimate success. The entire process was completed in three days.

How To Begin

I did not have a Google AdSense account yet, so I chose the option to let Hubpages apply for it. You do that by going to your Affiliate Settings page. Click the "My Account" tab and then select "Affiliate Settings" to get there. You will need to apply for the Google AdSense by clicking the button on the left of the Google line. Then select one of two options.... Either you already have an AdSense account and you want to use that one, or you want HubPages to get one for you. If you already have one, select that option and you can skip a lot of these following steps. If you don't have one, as I didn't, then select the option to have Hubpages apply for you.

What Happens Next

Hubpages immediately displays a Google Affiliate Code, but it is not active until Google approves you. You will get an email from Google similar to this one...

I clicked on the link in the email. (Note: For security I scratched out the link from the email above). It took me to the following page...

I made the appropriate selections as shown above. I already had a Google account. You have one too if you use Gmail or any other Google services. So just make the proper selection as it applied to you. If you don't have a Google Account, you can chose to apply for AdSense without a Google Account. But I suggest you get it under a Google Account so you can use the other great services that Google offers, such as Google Analytics, which you can use to monitor your Hubpages' traffic in detail. But that is not the subject of this hub.

After making your selections, fill in the requested information.

1. If you indicated that you have a Google Account and that you want to use your existing account for AdSense, then you will see a box (see above) used to log into your existing Google Account. Enter your email and password for your Google Account and click "Continue."
2. If you chose to create a new Google Account, then you will see a different box at the bottom (not as shown in the above screen shot). Fill in your desired login info for that new account and click "Continue."
   

Possible Stumbling Block

Now, from this step our situations may be different. Since I had wanted to create my AdSense account under my existing Google Account, I ran into trouble, which I think is a bug in Google's programming. Hopefully that may change by the time you follow along in this tutorial. But in reviewing the Hub Forums, I found at least one other Hubber who had the same problem I ran into, as shown in the next screen shot...

As you can see above, Google is complaining that a user with my email already exists. Of course, that's ME. But how can we get around that. I tried to do it again by selecting the correct option on that screen, as shown above. But I only got into a loop, repeating the same complaint.

Going Direct

So what to do? I decided to log into my Google Account directly, as I always do. Then I selected Google AdSense as shown below...

I was taken to a signup form, where I entered all my pertinent information. If you do that, you are probably requesting a duplicate account, since Hubpages already started the account request. But I didn't know that at the time. I filled out a new application without knowing it, and I specified www.hubpages.com as my primary URL. But that was wrong, as you'll soon see. Read on and I'll save you lost time in the application process.

The Waiting Game

Less than 48 hours after I submitted my application, I received the following email...

As you can see from that very last line in that email, I was rejected because Google could not confirm my ownership of hubpages.com. Now we all know we don't own hubpages.com, but this is what Google wants to see. That email continued with further detail as follows...

Well, I followed the instructions in step 2, placing the requested statement in my Hub Profile as follows. I used bold font to make it stand out...

Then I logged back into my Google Account and when I clicked to AdSense, I saw the following screen...

I resubmitted my application with the change to the "Website URL" as shown in the next screen shot, as per Step 3 in the prior email.

I was notified that my application will be reviewed again and I will be notified in 1 to 2 days.

Since Google was able to clearly see that my profile on Hubpages had that statement they requested, it was a no-brainer. They approved my application and in less than 24 hours I had received an approval email.

But Another (Small) Problem

I quickly logged into my Google Account and clicked my way to my new AdSense account. I compared the assigned Google Affiliate Code to that which was automatically assigned from Hubpages. It did not match.

I assume I had this discrepancy because I was not able to log in by following the link from the email that was sent when I first requested a new AdSense via HubPages. Since I started a new application, Google did not use the other, which I guess will forever be in limbo. But that no longer matters. All I needed to do is enter the correct Affiliate Code so I get credit for clicks.

Important Steps

I could not change the Affiliate Code since the field was not one that can be modified. But I found my way around the Hubpages site until I discovered a page where I can change the AdSense code. I'll save you the trouble. Here is the link to Edit AdSense Affiliate Code.

That link allowed me to enter the correct code into my HubPages Account that was assigned by Google. But the status was still pending. I had to go back to my Google AdSense account again and read and approve the following Terms and Conditions...

...Then I also had to grant access to Hubpages...

When I went back to my HubPages Affiliate Page, I saw that he status had changed to "active." How pleasing that was!!!

I then removed that extra statement from my profile. The blurb that Google needed to confirm that the profile belonged to me. There is no need for that after approval.

We're basically done at this point. Now the big job begins, bringing in those hits. There are a lot of well-written hubs by other Hubbers where you can learn more about that process. Use the search field in the top right corner of any page on Hubpages.

Extra Recommended Step

I logged into my active AdSense Account and clicked to the Earnings Page. Of course it was zero as I expected. Give it time. But I noticed an interesting link stating "Integrate your AdSense account with Google Analytics." I recommend you do that. It will help track every little detail about the visitors who read your hubs. Click that link and then select one of the options as shown at the right.

Then select hubpages.com, as in the following screen shot, to link Google Analytics with AdSense.

Don't forget to go back to your Hubpages' Affiliate Page and enter your Google Analytics code. Hubpages will automatically insert the code in all your Hubs.

That's it !!!

Thanks for being so patient following along. I leave you with wishes that your Google AdSense Earnings will grow nicely to reward you for all your great efforts writing and publishing your Hubs for Hubpages.

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