AdSense rejected you?

Every rejection reason, and what fixes it

AdSense shows its reasons inside your account, and Google does not publish the exact labels anywhere public, so yours may be worded slightly differently. The meaning behind each one is in Google's help centre, and that is what is summarised here.

Low value content, or not enough unique content

Google's help centre describes this as a site that "doesn't have enough unique content or provide a good user experience". It is a judgement about the whole site, not a technical fault.

• Finish or remove unfinished pages, and remove or noindex empty category and tag pages. Google says not to sign up while a site is under construction or only a template, and it may review every page of the site, not only the one you applied with.
• Remove or rewrite copied, spun and unedited auto-generated pages. Google's policies bar ads on content rewritten from other sources "without adding value" and on automatically generated content "without manual review or curation", and its spam policy calls many pages made without adding value "scaled content abuse", however they were written.
• Give each page real substance: complete sentences, original detail, a reason to read it. Google asks for enough valuable content and a good user experience, and says test pages that are empty except for the ad code will not be approved.
• Click through the site on a phone as a stranger would. Fix broken menus and links, remove fake "download" or "play" buttons and surprise redirects, and cut pop-ups that get in the way.
• Keep ads to pages with real content. Google does not allow its ads on screens without publisher content, including dead-end pages such as thank-you, exit or error pages.

Site down or unavailable

Google's crawler could not load the site when it checked. This is almost always technical: access, the address, or the certificate.

• Make the site public before you request a review. Google cannot approve what its crawler cannot open.
• Make the address in AdSense match the one your site actually answers on, and redirect the other versions to it.
• Install a valid certificate (most hosts do this free) and redirect http to https. Google lists a valid, not self-signed, certificate among the checks for a reachable site.
• Allow Mediapartners-Google (and Google-Display-Ads-Bot) in robots.txt, and check that bot protection in your host, CDN or security plugin is not blocking Google.
• Add one of the three: the AdSense code in the page head, the line Google gives you in ads.txt, or the meta tag. Clear any caching plugin and CDN cache, check the page source in a private window, and try another method if one keeps failing.

Policy violations

Something on the site breaks the AdSense programme policies or Google's publisher policies. The Policy center in your account often names the page.

• Remove anything you do not have the rights to. Copyrighted material is one of the most common policy violations, and the fix is removing the page or the file, not only the ads on it.
• If it is, AdSense may never be the right fit. Google's publisher policies limit or block ads on those subjects, and no amount of editing changes that. Selling ads directly is how most sites in restricted subjects earn.
• Remove or rewrite copied, spun and unedited auto-generated pages. Google's policies bar ads on content rewritten from other sources "without adding value" and on automatically generated content "without manual review or curation", and its spam policy calls many pages made without adding value "scaled content abuse", however they were written.
• Stop any paid-to-click, exchange or bot traffic. Google names these traffic sources as a reason to disapprove an application.
• Add one. Google does not list it as an approval step, but its publisher policies require a privacy policy that discloses cookies and data collection, so you need it the day ads run.

Site behavior: Navigation

Pages that show ads should be usable and give real information. Broken links, misleading buttons and unexpected redirects trigger this.

• Click through the site on a phone as a stranger would. Fix broken menus and links, remove fake "download" or "play" buttons and surprise redirects, and cut pop-ups that get in the way.
• Finish or remove unfinished pages, and remove or noindex empty category and tag pages. Google says not to sign up while a site is under construction or only a template, and it may review every page of the site, not only the one you applied with.
• Keep ads to pages with real content. Google does not allow its ads on screens without publisher content, including dead-end pages such as thank-you, exit or error pages.

We couldn't verify your site

Google could not find your AdSense code, ads.txt line or meta tag on the site you added, or could not reach it to look.

• Add one of the three: the AdSense code in the page head, the line Google gives you in ads.txt, or the meta tag. Clear any caching plugin and CDN cache, check the page source in a private window, and try another method if one keeps failing.
• Make the address in AdSense match the one your site actually answers on, and redirect the other versions to it.
• Make the site public before you request a review. Google cannot approve what its crawler cannot open.
• Allow Mediapartners-Google (and Google-Display-Ads-Bot) in robots.txt, and check that bot protection in your host, CDN or security plugin is not blocking Google.

Google-served ads on screens without publisher content

Google does not allow its ads on screens with no content of your own or with low-value content, on pages under construction, or on pages used only for alerts or navigation.

• Keep ads to pages with real content. Google does not allow its ads on screens without publisher content, including dead-end pages such as thank-you, exit or error pages.
• Finish or remove unfinished pages, and remove or noindex empty category and tag pages. Google says not to sign up while a site is under construction or only a template, and it may review every page of the site, not only the one you applied with.
• Give each page real substance: complete sentences, original detail, a reason to read it. Google asks for enough valuable content and a good user experience, and says test pages that are empty except for the ad code will not be approved.

Replicated or scraped content

Pages that copy, frame, scrape or rewrite other sites without adding value, or are generated automatically without review, are not eligible for Google ads.

• Remove or rewrite copied, spun and unedited auto-generated pages. Google's policies bar ads on content rewritten from other sources "without adding value" and on automatically generated content "without manual review or curation", and its spam policy calls many pages made without adding value "scaled content abuse", however they were written.
• Remove anything you do not have the rights to. Copyrighted material is one of the most common policy violations, and the fix is removing the page or the file, not only the ads on it.
• Give each page real substance: complete sentences, original detail, a reason to read it. Google asks for enough valuable content and a good user experience, and says test pages that are empty except for the ad code will not be approved.

Unsupported language

The site's main language is not one AdSense supports, so Google will not place ads on it.

• Google does not allow its ad code on pages mainly in an unsupported language. Check your language against Google's list before you apply again.

Still "Getting ready" after weeks

Google says checks "usually take a few days, but in some cases can take 2-4 weeks". A site stuck longer is often one Google cannot see properly.

• Add one of the three: the AdSense code in the page head, the line Google gives you in ads.txt, or the meta tag. Clear any caching plugin and CDN cache, check the page source in a private window, and try another method if one keeps failing.
• Make the site public before you request a review. Google cannot approve what its crawler cannot open.
• Allow Mediapartners-Google (and Google-Display-Ads-Bot) in robots.txt, and check that bot protection in your host, CDN or security plugin is not blocking Google.
• Make the address in AdSense match the one your site actually answers on, and redirect the other versions to it.

My application or account was disapproved

Disapprovals at account level are about the applicant rather than a page: a duplicate account, the applicant's age, or where the traffic comes from.

• Google allows one AdSense account per publisher. If one exists, use it instead of applying again. Accounts terminated for invalid traffic or policy violations cannot open a new one.
• AdSense only accepts applicants who are at least 18. A parent or guardian can apply instead, and payments then go to them.
• Stop any paid-to-click, exchange or bot traffic. Google names these traffic sources as a reason to disapprove an application.

What Google does not require, whatever blogs say

A minimum number of posts or words. Google gives no number. It asks for "high-quality, original" content that attracts an audience, and says test pages that are empty except for the ad code will not be approved. Figures like "30 posts of 1,000 words" come from blogs, not from Google.

About and Contact pages. Google does not list them as approval requirements. They are still worth having for readers and advertisers. A privacy policy is different: Google's publisher policies require one that discloses cookies and data collection, so have it before ads run. Visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland also need a Google-certified consent tool before Google will serve them personalised ads.

A site that is six months old. That rule is not on Google's current eligibility page. It came from older guidance, mostly for some countries, and blogs still repeat it.

How long a review takes

Google's wording, on several of its help pages: checks "usually take a few days, but in some cases can take 2-4 weeks." While the site says "Getting ready", leave it alone. Google says removing and resubmitting a site can delay the process.