1. Why You Need to Read This Before You Apply

A lot of publishers treat AdSense policies as fine print — something to skim over once and never think about again. That's a mistake that can cost you your account permanently. Getting banned from AdSense isn't like getting rejected; it means you're locked out for life, with no appeals process.

I put this checklist together because I've seen smart, hard-working bloggers make easily avoidable policy mistakes. The rules aren't complicated, but they're easy to miss when you're focused on growing traffic and publishing content. Use this before you apply, and revisit it whenever you start a new type of content.

2. Content Restrictions: What Google Won't Monetize

Google is selective about what it places ads on. Advertisers spend serious money to appear alongside content, and they don't want their brand next to anything controversial, dangerous, or illegal. So Google draws hard lines on certain content categories.

Make sure your site does not contain any of the following:

• Adult Content: This includes nudity, pornography, and sexually suggestive text or imagery — even if it's not the main focus of your site. One old post with an inappropriate image can flag the whole site.
• Shocking or Graphic Content: Gruesome images, descriptions of physical trauma, graphic violence, or anything designed to shock or disgust.
• Hate Speech or Harassment: Content that demeans, threatens, or incites hatred against any group based on race, religion, gender, nationality, or sexual orientation.
• Dangerous or Illegal Content: How-to guides for illegal drug use, instructions for creating weapons or explosives, or content that promotes self-harm.
• Misleading or Deceptive Content: Fake news, impossible health claims, phishing pages, or anything designed to trick users into a false belief.
• Dishonest Services: Selling fake academic credentials, identity documents, hacking tools, or academic cheating services.

The "Would My Grandmother Be Comfortable?" Rule

Whenever I'm unsure about a piece of content, I use a simple mental test: would I be comfortable reading this out loud to a room of strangers, including an elderly relative and a child? If the answer is no, it probably crosses a line. It's a blunt instrument, but it works surprisingly well for catching borderline content.

3. Traffic Quality: The Rules That Get Accounts Banned

Invalid traffic is the number one reason for AdSense account bans after approval. Google monitors every click, every impression, and every user session. They have incredibly sophisticated fraud detection, and they share data with advertisers who dispute suspicious charges — which means they're very motivated to catch cheaters.

Here's what you absolutely cannot do:

• Never click your own ads. Not once. Not to "test" them. Not accidentally. Google tracks IP addresses, device fingerprints, and behavioral patterns. They know when a publisher is clicking their own ads, and it results in an immediate permanent ban.
• Never ask users to click ads. You cannot write "Please support us by clicking our ads" or anything that resembles a call to action around an ad unit. Not in text, not in a tooltip, not anywhere.
• Never buy traffic from bulk providers. Those "$5 for 10,000 visitors" deals send bot traffic to your site. Google will detect the unusual patterns, flag your account, and ban it.
• Never participate in click exchanges. Facebook groups where members click each other's ads to boost revenue. Google knows about these communities and monitors for the traffic patterns they produce.
• Never use deceptive traffic methods. Pop-unders, automatic redirects, iframe stuffing, or any technique that forces users to your site without their intent.

4. Ad Placement: Where You Can and Can't Put Ads

Where you place your ads matters just as much as the content around them. Google has clear rules about placement, and violating them — even accidentally — can get your account disabled.

• No misleading labels near ads: If your ad is placed under a header that says "Download," "Next Page," or "Click Here," users may click the ad thinking they're doing something else. That's an accidental click — it's against the rules.
• Ads must look like ads: You cannot style your ad units to look identical to your navigation buttons, inline text links, or other non-ad content. Google requires ads to be clearly distinguishable from your site's content.
• Sticky ads must use approved formats: If you use sticky (fixed-position) ads, you must use Google's official anchor ad format. Custom sticky sidebars that overlap content or can't be closed are a violation.
• Don't overload pages with ads: If a user arrives on your mobile site and sees more ad space than content before they scroll, that's a violation. Content must always be the dominant element on the page.

5. User Experience: Keeping Visitors Happy (And Staying Compliant)

Google's policy team cares about user experience because bad UX hurts advertisers. If visitors hate your site, they won't click ads — and if they click accidentally because your layout is confusing, advertisers get charged for worthless clicks. Either way, Google loses money. So they enforce UX standards seriously.

• Clear navigation: Users should be able to find any page on your site through your main menu. Avoid nested dropdowns that break on mobile or require JavaScript to work.
• Reasonable page load speed: Slow sites have high bounce rates and low engagement. Aim for under 3 seconds on mobile. Use Google's PageSpeed Insights to get a free performance report.
• No excessive pop-ups: One newsletter signup popup is generally fine. But sites that layer multiple modals, interstitials, and notification requests before users can read anything are a policy violation.
• Regular broken link checks: A site full of 404 errors looks abandoned. Run a link checker at least once a month and fix dead links quickly.

6. Copyright & Legal Requirements

This section covers the legal side of running an AdSense-monetized website. It's easy to skip over when you're focused on content and traffic, but getting it wrong can expose you to more than just an AdSense rejection — it can mean actual legal liability.

• Original content only: Do not copy-paste articles from other sites, even with attribution. Even if you credit the source, monetizing someone else's writing is copyright infringement. Everything on your monetized pages must be your own original work.
• Licensed images only: Don't pull images from Google Images. Use platforms like Unsplash, Pexels, or Pixabay for free licensed images, or create your own. Using unlicensed images is both a policy violation and a copyright issue.
• Cookie consent for EU/California visitors: If you have any traffic from Europe (GDPR) or California (CCPA), you are legally required to have a cookie consent banner. AdSense specifically checks for this in applicable regions.
• Privacy Policy is mandatory: Your Privacy Policy must exist, be easy to find, and specifically state that third-party vendors including Google use cookies to serve personalized ads based on users' browsing history.

7. The Short Version

If you strip AdSense policies down to their core, they come down to three things: create original value, be honest with your users, and don't try to game the system.

Most publishers who get rejected or banned weren't being malicious — they just didn't know where the lines were. Now you do. Use this checklist before you apply, bookmark it for whenever you're creating new types of content, and check your site against it every few months to make sure nothing has slipped through.

And before you submit your application, run your site through our free AdSense Eligibility Checker — it scans your site against the most common approval criteria in seconds.