Age
Whoever opens the account must be at least 18 years old. Minors can use the account of a parent or guardian, who receives the payments.
Use case · Approval
Site ready for AdSense and Ad Manager approval
Before requesting the review, it is worth looking at the site through the eyes of the approver. This guide shows what Google checks, the mistakes that most delay approval and how to get everything in order without guesswork.
- ✓Based on Google's Help Centers
- ✓Reads the site without changing anything
- ✓Fix plan with the exact path
18years is the minimum age to open an AdSense account
4eligibility requirements: age, content, ownership and policies
2 a 4weeks that the AdSense review can take in some cases
2weeks that a site verification in Ad Manager can take in some cases
What it is
Approval is a check of the whole site, not just the home page
When you request the review, Google visits the site to see whether it is online, whether the code is installed, whether there is valuable content and whether nothing violates the policies. AdSense says the review usually takes a few days, but in some cases it takes 2 to 4 weeks.
In Ad Manager the logic is similar. Each site goes through a verification before showing Google ads. The Help Center says this takes a few days and, in some cases, up to 2 weeks.
The problem is that many people look only at the home page and three recent posts. The reviewer may land on a forgotten category, a test page or an old subdomain. So preparing for approval means looking at everything a visitor can open.
Requirements
The 4 AdSense eligibility requirements
The AdSense Help Center lists these four points before anything else.
Content
The content must be original, of good quality and attract an audience. Copied or very short posts delay approval.
Ownership
You must have access to the HTML code of the site you are registering. Without that, you cannot install the code or the ads.txt.
Policies
The site must follow the program policies before signing up. They change over time, and keeping up is the publisher's responsibility.
Before requesting
Signs of a ready site and signs of a site still under construction
Use this list as a quick test before clicking request review.
Allowed
- Complete posts that truly answer the question in the title
- Clear menu, with categories that lead to pages with content
- About, Contact and Privacy policy pages in the footer
- Site opening on HTTPS, with HTTP redirecting to HTTPS
- AdSense code between the head and /head tags of the registered site
Not allowed
- Empty categories or pages with the theme's sample text
- Automatically translated posts with no review at all
- Site protected by a password or with robots.txt blocking the crawler
- Expired or invalid HTTPS certificate
- Removing the site and registering it again to try to speed things up
How to do it
5 steps to request the review with peace of mind
- Check the site like a visitorOpen the site on mobile and on a computer. Browse the menu, the categories and the footer. Everything that opens must have real content.
- Install the code in the right placeIn WordPress, the code usually goes in the header through the theme or an insertion plugin such as Ad Inserter. Confirm that it appears in the page source code.
- Publish ads.txt at the rootThe file must open at the domain address followed by /ads.txt, with the Google line and your publisher ID.
- Resolve what already shows in the Policy centerIf the account already shows a problem, fix it first. Requesting a review with a known violation only delays the process.
- Request the review and waitIn AdSense, open Sites, choose the site, confirm the code and click request review. In Ad Manager, the request is also made on the Sites page.
google.com, pub-0000000000000000, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0Two paths
AdSense and Ad Manager look at similar things, in different ways
Both check content and policies. The difference is in how you install and the statuses you see.
AdSense
You register the site, paste a code and request the review on the Sites page.
- Simple installation, a single code
- Real-time ownership verification when adding the site
- ads.txt status appears in the site list itself
- Review can take 2 to 4 weeks in some cases
- Little control over each ad unit
Ad Manager
Each site goes through verification and shows a status: needs review, getting ready, needs attention or ready.
- Fine control of units, sizes and campaigns
- Clear status of each site on the Sites page
- Common reasons for blocking are reported in the Help Center
- Requires Google Publisher Tag set up without errors
- Missing or invalid ads.txt holds up approval
Common errors
What most delays approval
These reasons appear often in the Help Centers and in audits.
Code missing or on the wrong site
The code was pasted on only one page, or on a different domain from the registered one. Google does not find it and the review does not move forward.
Site offline or too slow
If the crawler cannot open the site at the time of the review, it cannot evaluate the content.
Thin content
Posts of a few lines, lists without explanation and pages that only exist to lead to another page show no value.
ads.txt missing or without your ID
In Ad Manager, a missing or invalid ads.txt is among the reasons that keep the site from becoming ready.
Forgotten test pages
Public drafts, theme sample pages and development subdomains count toward the site.
Resubmitting the site several times
The Ad Manager Help Center warns that removing the site and registering it again can delay the process.
In ConsentMode
What the audit checks before your review
- Reviews the site on mobile and desktop, as a visitor would
- Points out short or low-value posts, signs of scaled content, hidden text and titles that promise what the page does not deliver
- Checks ads.txt, duplicate tags, footer pages, site owner, language and domain email
- Discovers subdomains and audits each one that is online, marking those that show content from another site
- Delivers each problem with a marked screenshot, the reason and the exact path to fix it
In practice
A finance blog that got stuck in review
Before
The site had 60 good posts, but the menu led to three empty categories and there was a test subdomain with the default theme open to the public.
After
The empty categories came out of the menu, the test subdomain was closed and ads.txt got the Google line. Only then was the review requested.
None of this appeared on the home page. The audit found the categories through the sitemap and the subdomain through public certificate records. The owner fixed it in one afternoon and requested the review with the task list all marked as done.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum number of posts to be approved?
Google does not publish a number. What it asks for is original, quality content that attracts an audience. A few complete posts are worth more than many shallow ones.
Do I need ads.txt to be approved for AdSense?
Google says it is not mandatory, but it is highly recommended. In Ad Manager, a missing or invalid ads.txt appears among the reasons that keep the site from becoming ready.
Can I request a review if the site receives visits from several countries?
Yes. Just check that the consent message appears where the law requires it and that the site's language matches the content of each page.
Does the ConsentMode audit guarantee approval?
No. Google decides. The audit shows what is out of the rules and how to fix it, so you request the review knowing the real state of the site.
How long should I wait before requesting again?
Fix everything that was pointed out before requesting again. Requesting without changing anything tends to repeat the result.
Library
Official sources
This guide was written from these official pages. Read them directly at the source:
Request the review knowing what Google will find
The audit reads the whole site as a visitor, without changing anything, and shows what to fix first.