Adsense, US Tax Info, & W-9 Forms

Let me just say that I am NO expert in this area because I'm not an American citizen, and don't have an AdSense account with a US address. I live and work in Canada, and only visit the US for several months of the year. 

I'll attempt to address this in the simplest way, because this year, we seem to be getting a lot more (more than usual) questions about the W-9 (which AdSense doesn't offer help with) forms, and while some of the problems come from US citizens having problems with the form submission, many are from individuals who don't live in the US, and who aren't citizens in the US, and students who don't qualify to work while in the US. The latter are the issues I'm hoping to help explain a little, so this is for individuals who don't have a US-registered business; who don't live in the US; who don't have permission to work in the US. 

This information is NOT for those with US Business accounts, US citizens, Green Card Holders, etc.

AdSense is Retiring their Official Wordpress Plugin

For publishers hosting their sites on wordpress.org sites, this recent information will be of interest to them, particularly if any of you are using the official AdSense Wordpress Plugin. They'll be saying good-bye to plugin pretty soon.

Key dates

• Early March, 2017: New publishers will not be able to sign up for AdSense by using the plugin.
• Early April, 2017: Existing publishers will not be able to change their ad settings or ad units through the plugin.
• Early May, 2017: Google will no longer provide support for the plugin.

AdSense Help Center Article 

Early March has already come and gone, so any new publishers trying to sign up for AdSense through the plugin probably won't be able to, and since it will no longer be much use to publishers after the beginning of May, it doesn't make much sense to install it now. If you've tried to apply through the plugin and get an error notice, you'll probably need to re-apply at the Adsense homepage; if you applied in March through plugin and don't receive any notices from AdSense in about 4 weeks or so, I'd suggest you will probably need to reapply as well.

AdSense Help in Other Languages

Did you know that AdSense support forums are available in languages other than English? Several other forums are available for their non-English publishers (please see: Available Language Forums) and there are reasons why it's important for those who don't speak or read English well to use the forums in a language they are most proficient in.

I spend my time in the English forum because it's the only language I'm fluent in (oh, a smattering of French because it was forced on us in school but not by any means fluent) and the only language which I feel comfortable using. It's my "native tongue" and so my brain thinks in English too. What language your brain is used to using can make a difference in the way you write your question, and when it's translated to English from another language it might not always make sense.

AdSense offers a variety of help forums in different languages so that publishers can ask for and get help in their own language. Unfortunately,  not every language has a help forum which I think is kind of sad ... some of the translations we see in the AdSense-English forum are so difficult to figure out, it becomes impossible to really offer any useful help to these people. That isn't their fault of course, but it's frustrating for everyone (the helpers, and those needing help) when neither side can communicate with the other in a way that makes sense.

Questions and Answers from the AdSense Help Forum

In the AdSense help forum there are hundreds of questions asked every day. Many of them have already been answered dozens of times by helpful publishers and by the AdSense TCs and Rising Stars.  The publishers that come to the forum are often frustrated, or confused or just in a hurry and many don't bother to search the forum for similar questions and answers.

While the forum exists to help AdSense publishers, having to respond to so many similar questions can slow things down a lot, so if you come to the forum and don't get an answer to your post right away you either need to be patient until someone finds your post, or do some searching through the forum yourself. You might find the answer you need in another post, or even in the help center itself.

If there aren't answers that seem like they fit your question, then open your own thread and wait for help.

HOW TO SEARCH THE FORUM

Scam Warning - or Is AdSense a Scam?

Of course AdSense isn't a scam. But this is something we see asked in the forum on a pretty regular basis. If it was a scam, you don't think they'd still be in business do you? AdSense have been one of the most recognized, most trusted (and sometimes most maligned) ad services for over 10 years. You don't have a long-running business like that if you really do perpetrate scams on people.

Having said that, I'm sure a lot of people are thinking "oh sure, you'd say that because you help them" ... well, I don't actually help them. The purpose of the forum isn't to help AdSense, it's to help publishers.

Many of the people who come to the forum yelling "AdSense is a SCAM" have already been paid, multiple times. So the question I ask is ... how is this a scam? Scams don't pay you at all, in fact, scams don't pay anyone. With over 2 million publishers, the majority receiving regular payments, how is it a scam?

It really isn't. A percentage of those yelling "scammer" are the people who are violating policies (some of them on purpose, some of them by accident, or simply because they lack knowledge).  Lots of publishers out there simply don't understand that to get paid, you have to follow the rules. Others don't even realize what the requirements are for AdSense, and fall afoul of the policies by accident, or by signing up with some promotional site that tells them it's safe for AdSense (most aren't, just so you know).