Google Adsense Denial: Looking for help to understand my fatal flaw

1. 81

   geekMachineposted 9 years ago

   Just after being moved from Squidoo, I tried to apply for an AdSense account, which failed for this reason:
   
   "Insufficient content: To be approved for AdSense and show relevant ads on your site, your pages need to have enough text on them for our specialists to review and for our crawler to be able to determine what your pages are about. "
   
   At first I thought it was because my hubs were too new.  Now it has been a few months, and I tried to apply again, making sure my content was good, but I still get the same denial for the same reason.
   
   The 2 published hubs that I have written have a lot of text, and so it makes no sense to me why I'm being denied for this reason. 
   
   Clearly, I'm doing something so drastically wrong that Google's bots won't let me get in the door.  But since the denial feedback is so vague, and since one of my hubs is very successful, I can't figure out what I need to do to be accepted.
   
   Thank you for your time and help,
   Dave

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   1. 73

      relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Your fatal mistake is highlighted in bold.
      
      Two Hubs is "insufficient content" to Google.  You are going to want somewhere between two and three dozen content-and-media-rich Hubs, and it would be best if they have all been published for two months or longer.

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         geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you!  I can't tell you how helpful this is to get a confident answer from others that are experienced.
         
         The reason it is so helpful is because the denial says nothing about how many webpages I need.  It only talks about the pages I currently have not having enough content.   Wouldn't it be great if Google simply said, you're haven't written enough pages so that I could actually address the real problem?
         
         It would also be great if Google would actually read the 2 pages I do have.  One of them has at least 15 pages worth of content.  Yes, I understand that this is bad in the eyes of many, but in my eyes, it is exactly how I want it.  It is a how-to page with tons of helpful information about the subject.  The most annoying thing I could do to those that find this page is divide it up into a bunch of smaller pages that are hard to navigate to find.  Once they have found this page, it is always here, never moved.  Anyway, I know this is a decent page because I have had 10's of thousands of views, and it made a decent amount of money on Squidoo, which didn't require and Adsense account to be a part of its earnings program.  I wish I understood why HubPages requires this.  I've been "losing" a ton of amazon money.  I'm a Colorado Resident BTW, and that's why I need to be in the earnings program to get money from amazon.

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   2. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You have two Hubs.  These days you need 20 Hubs to get approved for Adsense, which equates to about 20,000 words.  I'm not sure if you'd get approved for 2 Hubs of 10,000 words each, but I suspect possibly not - I can imagine the Adsense staffer opening each Hub to make sure it's well written, but not scrolling down to check the word count.
      
      I have to disagree with you about that long Hub.  I don't think it would harm it to split it up into two or three Hubs, each one concentrating on a single aspect of the subject.   Then your Table of Contents could lead to the individual Hubs instead of to sections within the Hub.

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      1. 81

         geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I admit that my opinion about the long hub, as strong as it is, does not necessarily make it right.  Thank you for your feedback.

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2. 91

   Michael Kismetposted 9 years ago

   "The 2 published hubs that I have written have a lot of text, and so it makes no sense to me why I'm being denied for this reason."
   
   There's your problem, while there is no set number of articles to have to be approved..I believe the consensus is to have at least 15-20 articles.

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3. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   You can use your own personal Adsense account here rather than join the Hubpages Adsense program.

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      geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If only.  Being a Colorado resident makes my HubPages life much more complex than that.

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         colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I do not understand. Colorado makes residents jump through special hoops or what is the complexity?

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            psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Residents of some states are banned from being Amazon affiliates because of disputes about payment by Amazon of state taxes.

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               colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Oh yes, I do know that about the Amazon affiliates program.
               My state fits right into that ban.

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         2. 81

            geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            As a Colorado resident, amazon will not let me be an amazon affiliate.  You can read why in the ZDnet article:
            
            http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-ni … rate/31701
            
            So, the only way for me to get commissions from amazon was through Squidoo's, and now through HubPages' earnings program.  But unlike Squidoo, Hubpages requires you have an Adsense account before you can be in its earnings program.  I wish I knew why.  It makes no sense.

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               colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I'm sorry you needed to explain all that. I guess I just take it for granted that that is how it is, and put it at the back of my mind. 
               Yes, it is curious, and it would be interesting to know why HP does it that way.

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            2. 90

               Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               That rule was made before they created the HP Amazon program.  Maybe you should ask in the new suggestions forum.   There may be some technical difficulties that keep them from changing it, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

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               1. 81

                  geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  It is very likely that several hundred of us former Squids have contacted HP support over this issue.  It is very likely that HP is benefiting from this policy in a significant way, monetarily.  I do admit that it has the affect of creating a higher standard of content, but in my case, my content is good, if not great (IMHO).  It's just that I put a ton of effort into one long page instead of several smaller ones.  I don't fit the mold.  So much for diversity.  I'm just kidding.  I'm just a plain old white cracker.

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                     Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     I trust HubPages to look for the benefit of everyone, not simply try to line their pockets.  I can think of two reasons why they  they don't want to separate out the two. This is pure speculation on my part.
                     
                     1.  Technically it would require a lot of coding, and they have higher things to prioritize right now.  Especially, as Marisa said, it only affects you for a short time until you get your Adsense approved.  Maybe by the time they do the coding, testing, etc., they figure you will have had your Adsense approved, and they will have wasted their time.
                     
                     2.  Maybe they can do the coding rather quickly, but would prefer not to, because that would encourage you to add more Amazon capsules than you should in order to earn revenue, which is not what they want.  They probably realize that most people in that position probably wouldn't go back and delete all those Amazon capsules they added.  Their goal is that you would rely on the Adsense earnings, long term, instead of a whole bunch of Amazon capsules for short term gain.

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                        LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

                        And in the meantime, down on the farm, HP is right there to collect 40% of the sales pie!!!!

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                     2. 81

                        geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                        "I trust HubPages"
                        
                        You might think differently if you were making decent commissions from a Squidoo page you worked on for months, only to be moved to a new platform that stripped your ability to receive those commissions, simply because you don't qualify for and adsense account that has nothing to do with Amazon commissions.
                        
                        "Technically it would require a lot of coding"
                        
                        I don't think to simply allow me to be in the Amazon Program would take a lot of coding.  I just want to be in the program.  Just flip the bit.  My one great hub is getting thousands of views.  Please, can I just share the amazon commission for the hard work I have done?
                        
                        BUT, I admit I have no idea what I'm talking about.  There must be something they would have to do, and perhaps they have coded me into a corner.
                        
                        "it only affects you for a short time until you get your Adsense approved."
                        
                        This might be true if I was capable of writing 1 hub per day, or even one hub per week.  There is a lot of effort put into my (basically only 1) hub.  It took me months to write it because there was a lot of research.  Right now, HP doesn't take %40 of my earnings.  It takes %100.
                        
                        It is confusing to me that the thing HP wants it's writers to do most is to create quality over quantity, which I have done to the extreme.  But their adsense/amazon program policy encourages quantity over quality.
                        
                        I do agree with your point about hub quality control.  They are letting Google do there quality control for them.  The cost of this policy has been for me lose amazon commissions. 
                        
                        Yes, of course, if I feel so terribly about this, why not take my hub down, go elsewhere, give up?  I'm not sure.

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                        1. 87

                           Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                           For most people, the lack of Adsense would affect them for just a short time, because most people could manage to write 20 Hubs in two months.  During those two months, even if they had Adsense, the average Hubber earns $2 if they're lucky - so it's hardly a great penalty.   
                           
                           Like I said, for you it's different because you came to HubPages with articles which were already earning money - so you have missed out on a substantial sum by not being paid for your first month.  That's a shame, but what was the alternative?  If you hadn't moved to HP, you'd have to copy and paste your articles to another site, where it had no redirect from Squidoo - which means it would start out as a brand new article with no reputation and no age.  Can you recall how much that Lens earned in its first month?   That's where it would start again on a new site.
                           
                           HubPages has never said so, but I do think that when they launched the Earnings Program, they deliberately chose NOT to remove the Adsense requirement for the reason Relache gives - that it meant they could let Google do the work of vetting new Hubbers.

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                              Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                              I'm really surprised that Google doesn't look at the Lenses (as redirected to hubs) to see the age and volume of the work.  I would have expected all these people to be looked at as seasoned writers. 
                              
                              FYI, I think I got my adsense right away because I was already a blogger, so I don't really understand a lot of this process.

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                              1. 81

                                 geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                 While I'm no seasoned writer, it makes me feel better that you've given me the benefit of the doubt.  Cheers to you!

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                           2. 81

                              geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                              "because most people could manage to write 20 Hubs in two months."
                              Ouch.  I guess the truth hurts.

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                                 Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                 Oops, I'm not saying you're slow!  It's just that most people write shorter Hubs, especially newbies.

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                                 1. 81

                                    geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                    No problem.  I saw posts from you on a similar thread months ago and what i can tell about you is that you are kind enough to spend a lot of time helping folks like me.  If I spent as much time writing new hubs as I have being angry that I am losing my amazon commissions, I'd have an adsense account by now.

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                              Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                              Help me remember.  If you don't join the HubPages ad program, you can still use Amazon ads using your own code to the Amazon program, right?  Unless you live in a location that doesn't allow you to have your own code.

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                                 geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                 "Unless you live in a location that doesn't allow you to have your own code."
                                 
                                 That is me.

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                                    Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                                    You're lucky then, because they only recently (since I started here) added that feature.

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            3. 73

               relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Actually, it makes sense for a lot of reasons.  Why would you want to verify and manage hundreds of thousands of users and payments internationally when someone else will do it? 
               
               Making that decision alone probably prevented a few million spammers from ever getting established on this site.

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                  SmartAndFunposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  I agree. I am not privy to why HP has their ad program set up this way, but I have always assumed it was for the reasons you state. I'm thinking they simply do not have the manpower to handle the large number of people who would be constantly inquiring about their account status, asking what else they need to do, asking why they were denied, complaining that they deserve an account but weren't given one, etc. Not to mention this system surely prevents at least some spammers from joining in the first place.
                  
                  There are lots of people who can't get AdSense who would love to be able to earn online without it, and I feel for those people, but I can see why HP simply can't open the floodgates.
                  
                  I assume this is the reason Google has such limited customer service. They would have to hire thousands of people just to keep up with the incessant flood of inquiries.

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4. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   If you live in a banned state, all is not lost.  Once you have your Adsense account, join the HP Amazon program.  Your sales will be 60/40 split, but commissions a lot higher. You won't have any report other than what was sold, when, price of item, your commission, and percentage of commission.

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   1. 81

      geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      "Once you have your Adsense account..."
      
      Alas, you have nailed my problem on the head.  If only I didn't need an adsense account to participate in the HP Amazon program.  I wish I knew why HP has created this artificial requirement.

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5. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   geekmMachine: We get adsense earnings from adsense.  We get HP ad earnings from HP.  If we join HP Amazon program, HP gives us our ID code that is for HP only, because we are all part of HP Amazon account.   You can use text links for Share A Sale, Commission Junction, Viglink etc, just not Click Bank.  But 2 text links only to same domain.

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   1. 81

      geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, I understand that the two earnings come from separate entities.  But, unfortunately, HubPages has decided to tie my eligibility for it's "HP Amazon program" to whether or not I can qualify for an Adsense account.  It's just the way it is, no reason why.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         The reason you need an Adsense account to be in the HP Earnings Program is simple - the Earnings Program includes some Adsense ads and therefore you need to be approved by Adsense to be part of the Program.
         
         Originally, all earnings methods on HubPages were from a writer's own personal accounts (Adsense, Amazon and eBay) - as it is on several other writing sites.  Many writers prefer it, because instead of trusting the site to be honest and divide the payments fairly, you get paid direct and can check the accuracy of your payments.   You can also use those accounts on other writing sites.
         
         The Earnings Program was added later, and the Amazon and eBay programs were added to help out writers like yourself, who couldn't otherwise get their own Amazon or eBay accounts. 
         
         Squids are in an unusual position, and I agree they are disadvantaged by having to wait to get an Adsense account, because their Hubs are already getting traffic.  For most new Hubbers, it's simply not an issue - even if they have an existing Adsense account, most new Hubbers would earn only two or three dollars in their first few months, so not having an account for that period is scarcely significant.

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            geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            "the Earnings Program includes some Adsense ads"
            
            When I inquired with HP, this was not there their answer.  They simply said everyone must fulfill this requirement to be in the earnings program. 
            
            You might be right, and if you are, it could have solved many of my concerns if they had just said so.  But they didn't.
            
            Thank you for opening my mind a bit.

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               Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               She is right. The Ad Program does consist of Adsense ads.  They are calculated differently for us - impressions instead of clicks, but same ads.  There is an image in the Learning Center which shows which of the ads are Ad Program ads and which ones are pure Adsense ads.

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6. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   colorfulone: Here is a chuckle for you.  Amazon has raised their fees for sellers which will start beginning of New Year I believe.  I wonder how many sellers will jump the Amazon ship!

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7. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Good question.  I really don't know what the reason is. The Amazon program is part of the HP earnings program which requires adsense.  I am not sure about it all being connected to Ads because we get paid by Adsense and HP when it comes to the ads.   Adsense is needed for Ebay as well.
   ..
   Somebody will chime in and answer this one for you.

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      geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Likely, nobody will answer, because I think this is somewhat of a secret.  My direct inquiry to HP support only resulted in the answer that all HPers must have an adsense account to participate in the HP's Amazon program.
      
      Understand that Squidoo never had this requirement.  Only HP.  I think that somehow HP benefits from this in a negative enough way to its hub contributors, that HP does not want it clearly publicized.  I promise that many a Squidooer has scratched their head over this one, all while losing amazon commissions because google denies their adsense application.

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         geekMachineposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         "Likely, nobody will answer, because I think this is somewhat of a secret."
         
         Ha, ha.  Wow did you all prove me wrong.  What I meant was that likely nobody will provide an official answer as to why HP links AdSense to their Amazon program, the reason being that HP will provide no official answer to this.
         
         However, others having explained that HP's earning program includes some AdSense ads, it begins to make sense as to why it might be hard for HP to code around this.  But, there is still no official answer to this question.

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8. 88

   Joel Diffendarferposted 9 years ago

   Being relatively new, and reading other post in various forums related to this, I feared for the worst when I submitted my request.  However, being cautious, I took the advice of several long term Hubbers and read and reread the instructions.  I also took to heart the "goals" suggested as I began to write on HP.  Within five days, "everything" was verified and approved and I saw results (albiet minute) shortly after that. 
   
   I wasn't expecting to be approved because I feel my quality, as of yet, has much to be desired.  I am working hard on improving--again with the help from these forums and other hubbers who have so graciously been willing to mentor. 
   
   I know this probably doesn't help...I was told to first publish at least ten featured hubs, follow the goal benchmarks, work on driving traffic, and be patient...
   
   I will be glad to read your articles, comment, and help drive traffic.
   
   Thanks.

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9. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   He's lucky for being in a state that prevents him from being an Amazon affiliate?

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      Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      He is lucky that HP has created a workaround for this by using their affiliate id.

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10. 52

    JustWritingposted 9 years ago

    Luckily, I know how to create self hosted wordpress websites, and used a Blog i created (it had 15 posts) to apply for Adsense and get accepted.
    
    You will need more individual hubs, not just a couple of large articles.
    
    I suggest creating a blog with blogger, writing a few decent posts about something in a niche you enjoy (ie: Fishing) and then aplpying on there.
    
    Hope I helped.

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