AdSense, Where's my Payment?

Over the last month or two I think I've seen more payment related questions in the AdSense help forum than ever before. There seems to be a small flood of them, this month alone. Some of the questions have related to the new line entry on the payments page, where Adsense now shows the amount of earnings that have been deducted due to invalid activity (usually accidental clicks, or from "bad" traffic and/or bots - often not the direct fault of the publisher).

Prior to this change when deductions were made, it wasn't noted how much of that deduction was due to invalid clicks. For more on this update to the Payments page, see the recent article on the Inside AdSense Blog.

But the vast majority seem to be "why wasn't my payment issued?" ... these questions have come from publishers world-wide, and many are from publishers that have been collecting payments regularly without any problems.

Most of the publishers have either reached, or exceeded the payment threshold and have long ago entered all the required details to verify their accounts and payment methods. So where is the payment? Why hasn't it been released (issued) this month?

AdSense and Nigerian Publishers

In the last couple of years Adsense has seen an increasing number of Nigerian publishers jockeying for approvals for their websites and blogs, and fairly often what we see in the AdSense Help Forum are, sadly, rejections.

The same as any publisher with a rejected website, they wonder why. Most are simply baffled, and not aware of the policies, but some cry foul because of race. AdSense doesn't reject websites based on race or nationality. Most of the time, rejections are based on content suitability, and many of the contents on Nigerian blogs aren't suitable for AdSense.

So it's not a race issue, and it's not even really a country issue, since publishers from Nigeria can be approved for AdSense provided they produce the right type of content. What it probably boils down to is a culture issue. Every country (in fact, even within a country every province) and it's people develop in different ways. Britain is often known for it's restraint (or what some people call their stuffiness); Canada is often referred to as the "polite" or "politically correct" country (frankly, I live here and beg to differ, but hey, that's how people see us), and Nigeria is no different. They have their own unique culture - colourful, boisterous and full of life.

Choosing the AdSense Payment Method

Over the past several years there have been ongoing changes to the payment system for AdSense.  More countries have been moved from payment by cheque or Western Union to EFT (electronic funds transfer) or Wire Transfer, and some countries now have SEPA payments. The actual steps to set up your payment method and to see what is available to your country, see the AdSense help center articles "Setting up your Form of Payment" and "Payment FAQs".

Why can't I choose my payment method?

At one time, as soon as your estimated earnings crossed the Payment threshold (usually around $10) the option to choose and confirm your payment method became available in your AdSense account. That, however, has changed now.

If you aren't able to choose your payment method, check your "Payment" page in your account. Are there verified earnings showing that reach or exceed the threshold ($10) on that page? If not, you won't yet be able to choose a payment method. Instead of working off the estimated earnings, AdSense payment method now only becomes active shortly after the verified earnings are posted to your payments page, and have reached the verification threshold.

For those earning only from a YouTube channel, this would mean waiting until around the 15th of a month for your YouTube earnings to be transferred from your channel onto the Payment page in your Adsense account.

For publishers earning from websites or blogs, the finalization takes place between the 1st and 7th of a month.

Can I use Affiliates with Adsense?

That's a question we seem to be getting more often than we used to, particularly from newer publishers.  The simple answer is yes you can. But it's more involved that just a simple answer (and that's pretty much how a lot of things are with Adsense.

You can use an affiliate link (or even two) on a blogpost or website page that also has Adsense ads on it. But there are things you need to know. Don't run off to plaster affiliate links on your site before reading the rest of this, or you could find yourself in a world of hurt.

AdSense doesn't provide guidelines on using affiliate links, but it does provide guidelines on the contents you can place Adsense ads on. One of those stipulations is that your contents must be original, another involves not using unsuitable contents (such as adult contents, or contents on drugs and some types of supplements that might be illegal in the US, or gambling) ... there are too many "Prohibited Contents" to mention one-by-one here. Just make sure to read the policy.

Those policies basically mean that anything you put on your pages that have an AdSense ad on them must also comply with the policies, and that means any affiliate links should also comply. Don't use affiliate links to sites that contain contents prohibited for Adsense.

Safeguard your AdSense Account Against Hackers

Every AdSense publisher is responsible for keeping their own AdSense account safe, and for protecting themselves (and their own websites) against hackers. AdSense will not protect your account for you (beyond the safeguards given in your account). So the question is, how do you keep your accounts (and yourself) safe from hackers?

Regardless of what anyone else tells you or what you might read on blogs or websites, there is no 100% foolproof method to protect yourself. You can do everything "right" and still may (at some point in your life) find yourself the unhappy host for something you don't want.

That doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't take the steps required to protect yourself. The more protections you set up, the harder you make it for someone to get into your accounts. Don't offer them an open door, which so many people seem to do because they haven't thought much about protection, until they really need it..

Where to Begin - the Google Account