AdSense was Approved - But No Ads are Showing!

We've been seen a lot of this lately. People get a notice that their account is "fully approved to display ads" ... but then, after waiting for several days ... well, none of the ads are showing up.

There could be several reasons for this, including the fact that sometimes mistakes happen. We've also seen a number of instances (more than a few) where people received an approval email, and hours or days later received a disapproval. The mistake was the approval email, which is corrected by the disapproval email. This is not a rare occurrence, but it isn't all that common either. It's just that it does happen, so if it happens to you ... find out why your site was disapproved, and make whatever changes are necessary before trying again.

Other reasons for ads not showing include not being fully approved, or being approved with a host account which will only show ads on host URLs, or a host account that will only show ads on host URLs (like YouTube).



Have a look through the following list - these are a few of the reasons your ads might not show up if you were, or think you were approved.

If you don't think any of these are the reasons, go through the troubleshooter (#9 on the list below). If the troubleshooter doesn't turn up any resolutions, and doesn't provide a contact form (in some cases it will, in others it will not) then post a question in the AdSense Help Forum and see if anyone can offer further suggestions.

Keep in mind when you post in the forum that the people answering questions aren't staff. If you don't provide enough information in your question, they'll have a hard time answering it. See "The First Consideration" below and make sure you include your information.

The First Consideration

When you come to the AdSense forum and simply state "my ads don't show, why is this?" ... nobody can answer you.  

Why?  Because nobody will know

• if your account is approved at all
• if it is approved in the first or second stage of the review process
• if your code is entered properly
• if your account is a host account or standard (full) account ("Host" accounts show as Host accounts in red in the upper part of the page)
• if your account is a host account that was approved for blogger, for ad mob, for youtube, or for use on some other partner site
• if your AdSense account is showing any messages or notices
• if the site you put the ads on is the site you applied with
• if the site you put the ads on is already disabled (this can happen if you purchased a new domain or bought a website from someone)

So if you would like help in answering the question of why the ads might not be showing up, you'll need to provide a lot more information than just saying "why can't I see ads on my site".  Provide as much information as you can when posting your question (using the above as a reference when deciding what information you need to give).

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In the meantime, some of the following information can help you troubleshoot through some of the possible reasons on your own.  Please take time to read the following information. If none of the following information helps, open a question of your own (or add to your own question if you already posted one).

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1. You applied for Adsense using YouTube or AdMob

If you have an approved Adsense account that you obtained by applying through AdMob or your YouTube channel, you won't be able to use Adsense anywhere except host URLs.

(a) Since AdMob is only for displaying AdSense in mobile apps, you need to upgrade your account to use it on a website. You "should" be able to link it directly to your YT channel though.

Upgrade to display on a website following instructions in this link: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/2534771?hl=en&ref_topic=2811251&rd=1

(b) If you applied through your YT channel then you can only display ads on YouTube unless you are approved for an account upgrade.

YouTube: If you have signed up for AdSense via a YouTube account and you’d like to show ads on other host domains, then you’ll need to provide us with a top-level domain. At this time there's no possibility of monetizing other hosted properties for AdSense accounts created via YouTube without upgrading the account by providing a top-level domain.

To request an account upgrade you need a top level domain (you can't submit a blogspot or other subdomain URL for an upgrade request).
So basically that means you can't show AdSense on a blogger url without first submitting a domain to get your account upgraded.
See the instructions here: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/2534771?hl=en&ref_topic=2811251&rd=1 

2. You applied for AdSense using a blogspot (Blogger) URL and are trying to show ads on your own domain (or a custom domain on Blogger).

If you have a hosted adsense account through blogger, then you need to request an upgrade to your account before ads will display on your own/custom domains.

Follow these instructions here: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/2534771?hl=en&ref_topic=2811251&rd=1

3. You applied for a Host account upgrade by submitting the URL and placing the ad codes, but no ads show up.

That's probably because the upgrade isn't approved yet. During the upgrade process, your website/blog will go through the same review process as if you were applying for a new Adsense account, so it can take anywhere from a few days, to a couple of weeks for Adsense to complete the review. If they approve your upgrade request, ads will begin showing, and you'll receive an approval mail. If they don't approve it, you should receive an email notice saying the upgrade was not approved. In that case, no ads will show. 

4. Your AdSense PIN was issued, but you haven't received or entered it, and it has been SIX (6) MONTHS since the first PIN was issued.

In this case, ads will not begin showing until you complete the PIN Process and enter your PIN -note that it can take up to 48 hours after entering your PIN/verifying your address before the ads display, so be patient. (See: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/157667?hl=en&vid=1-635792076383490765-1595138867)

5. The AdSense Code

(a) The Adsense code is not correct in the page.  In some types of templates, even if you copied the correct code from your AdSense account and pasted it into your website/blog as required, the code will be corrupt when you save the edit. This is a matter of the template or blogging platform, and you'll need to take steps to correct it.

Wordpress.com: you cannot place Adsense code on Wordpress.com hosted sites, not even if they have a custom domain. Wordpress doesn't allow it, and the codes will not enter correctly.

Wordpress.org: if you are not using the official Adsense-Wordpress plugin and have placed the code manually, check to make sure it is not corrupt. Some templates will do funky stuff with the ad code (most often what we see is line breaks at the end of each line of Adsense ad code - you'd need to remove those. To install the official plugin if you want to try it see:  https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/3380627?hl=en&vid=1-635792076383490765-1595138867

Blogger: if you are trying to paste the AdSense code into the <head> or after the <body> tag of the template's html you'll get errors. Paste the ad code into an html gadget for blogger (layout page, + New Ad Unit, paste code, position gadget), OR use an Adsense Gadget (layouts page, +New Ad Unit, Adsense Gadget), OR use the earnings tab of your blog to place ads in the sidebar and posts.

Other web builders: if you are using a website builder provided by your hosting company (like Godaddy's web builder, or Yahoo Site Builder) then  you should ask for help at the support center for the product you are using. Unless one of the volunteers in the Adsense forum has used these other products, it isn't likely any of us can provide much help with specific products.

(b)  There are too many AdSense ad codes in the page. AdSense allows a maximum of 3 AdSense ad units per page. If you try to put more than that (i) it violates policy and is a cause for warning or disabled accounts (ii) not all of the ads might display or (iii) none of the ads may display. Make sure you only have 3 Adsense ad units on a page.  (You may also use 3 Link Units (or "link ads"), but these are not the same text ad units, so make sure you haven't confused the codes.)

6. Your Adsense account was approved, but ads aren't showing.

You may still only be approved for Stage 1 of the approvals process.  Check the approval email that you received from Adsense.

If it says to place the code on your site, then you'd only be in the first stage of the approvals process. When you place the ad code, an ad won't show up. Not until they complete the second review. Placing the ad code allows them to continue with the second part of the review.

That  can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks (depending on how much traffic the site has) after you put the code on your site.

When they complete that part of the review, you'll receive another email that says whether your site is approved or not.

7. You have a fully approved non-host Adsense account that's showing ads on other websites, but not showing on your new website.

Your new domain or website may already be disabled from serving adsense ads. This can happen when you purchase a domain or website. The previous owner may have used AdSense and had the site/domain disabled at that time either for a policy violation or invalid activity.  There are very few ways to correct this. If you earn enough to qualify for direct contact with Adsense staff, then you can use the "contact us" link in the AdSense help center, or in your AdSense account. You can explain the situation and ask them to review your new site.  If you have no contact with staff, there will likely be no way to get AdSense ads to show up on it.

In order to prevent this happening, check any domain or website you intend to purchase before paying out money for it. Use these tools (I use both because it's a good way to confirm it if both tools show a site as disabled/banned).

The AdSense Sandbox:  http://ctrlq.org/sandbox/

Isbanned: http://www.isbanned.com/ 

8. Your site may be written in an unsupported language. Languages not supported by AdSense may not use Adsense ads on them. Please refer to the language list: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/9727?hl=en

9. Check the troubleshooter for reasons why ads might not show: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1208336?hl=en

posted by J. Gracey Stinson