Pre-flight checklist for AdSense applications. AdSense policies change; treat this as a starting point and read the latest rules in the AdSense Help Center before you apply.

Site fundamentals

A real domain (not a free subdomain) with at least a few months of consistent posts.Brand-new sites and free subdomains often miss the bar.
Original, helpful content on every indexed page.Thin or scraped content is the most common reason for rejection.
Clear navigation: home, categories, key articles within two clicks.Reviewers (and readers) need to find content quickly.
Mobile-first responsive design with no broken layouts.Most reviewers test on mobile.

Required pages

About page that names the publisher and the site's purpose.Establishes who is behind the site.
Contact page with at least one verified contact method.Reviewers expect a way to reach you.
Privacy Policy that mentions cookies, third-party ads and analytics.Required by AdSense and by most data-protection laws.
Terms of Service / Disclaimer where the topic involves advice.Especially important for finance, health, and legal topics.

Content checks

No copied or AI-only content presented as original work.Reuse of others' content is a common rejection cause.
No prohibited content: adult, hateful, dangerous, deceptive, copyrighted-without-license.Read the AdSense content policies before applying.
Image rights are clean: own photos, licensed stock, or public-domain.Stolen images can sink an application.
No 'click here for ads' or 'support us by clicking ads' invitations.Encouraging clicks is a hard violation.

Technical setup

HTTPS works site-wide and the domain is indexed in Google Search.If Google can't crawl it, AdSense won't either.
AdSense verification snippet placed correctly in the head.A common cause of stalled reviews.
ads.txt file present after acceptance, listing your AdSense publisher account.Required to fill ads at scale and prevent inventory spoofing.

Other checklists