Approvals and Adsense - What's Not Happening

All publisher's (or would-be publishers) want to know why they aren't getting approved for Adsense, or why their websites or blogs aren't acceptable. And many times, that's not an easy question to answer, because the answers may not be based on a policy or standards.

While this isn't "official" information, here's what some of the TCs in the AdSense forum have been noticing much more of over the last six months to a year.  Blogs and websites containing some subjects are not being approved, even though they might contain originally written articles.

And to give a truthful answer, I'd have to say there isn't anything in the policies we can really point to and say "this is the problem" because the problem seems to be the subject matter the blog/website owner chose to write about. So, some of the most rejected blog contents we've noticed over the last year (in no particular order):

• technology - software reviews, gadgets, mobile technology, and any similar subject
• blogging - blogging tips, blog how-tos, blog coding etc.
• online marketing - make money online, how to earn money on line, sites built around affiliate contents
• jobs, resumes - sites listing job openings, job searches, resumes etc.
• education - sites containing educational papers, exam results, sample exams and questions etc.
• coding and programming - sites giving instructions on programming and programming languages, possibly because basic coding and programming languages aren't considered original contents.
• health - sites with widely general health information (much of it not sanctioned by health professionals) If you aren't a doctor or certified health professional, it's best not to write about it.
• hollywood/bollywood gossip - too many of those already, and most of them contain nothing new or different than the others, and also often contain a great deal of copyright infringing materials.
• newspapers/aggregate sites - almost none of these appear to contain original contents because they get their news from other news feeds, or pay to use contents from other news sites. Paying for it means it doesn't violate copyrights, but it's still not original and it still is duplicate contents.
• wallpaper sites - enough said; everyone knows what these are and nobody needs anymore of them. Almost none of these contain original contents of any kind.
• facebook knock-offs - sites that look like facebook; sites that use aggregated contents from facebook (statuses, likes, etc.). None of this is original contents; some it may violate not only copyrights, but the privacy of some individuals.

As for why these seem to be rejected nearly all the time now, we can only guess. In the case of tech sites most of us are thinking that there are already results in the trillions for tech sites, many of which are already monetized. Most sites that review technology review the same things - even though they might actually write their own articles. You have to ask yourself, just how many reviews of the same mobile phone or tablet does the web really need? Search results for "tech reviews" return 1,010,000,000 results from Google search;  somewhat less from Bing, and 962,000,000 from Yahoo.

If your site isn't on the first page of search results for your content keywords, you'll be down near the bottom of the pile providing similar contents to the big review sites, so this is a difficult area to break into, and one which Adsense doesn't appear to want any more of at the current time.

Of course, things change because nothing ever stands-still but if you plan on applying for Adsense with a tech-related site, you may be disappointed. Unless your site is spectacular by Adsense standards, it would probably not be accepted. So, what is "spectacular" - that's one I honestly can't answer but unless your site is better than one of the top 10 or so in the world of techmology sites, it probably isn't going to be "spectacular" enough for Adsense right now.

These sort of circumstances would cover sites with blogging contents - unless you can provide something unique and different than found on all the other "blogging tips" sites, you probably will have issues getting approved.

Some of those subjects in the list actually do violate the program policies (ie: educational materials) and job sites usually end up containing duplicated contents because, let's face it, how many jobs are out there and where are all these sites getting their job listings? From the same newspapers, the same job boards, and the same human resources sites, making the contents unoriginal and really not that helpful or suitable for Adsense. Now, on the other hand, if you do own your own company that finds jobs for applicants, and finds applicants for jobs (ie: often known as "head-hunters") and you have jobs that nobody else has, you might have something original enough to get approved. However, that being the case one would expect you also own a proper website, and not just a free blog, right?

So in the end, while none of us in the forum can actually say with 100% certainty you "won't" get approved with one of those subjects, we're fairly sure that unless your site is "out of this world" in terms of quality and originality, the chances are greater for disapproval than for approval.

One other thing to note which I think a lot of publishers overlook. IF your site is one of the above and DOES NOT get approved when you submit it to Adsense what that means is that it isn't suitable for Adsense. And if it isn't suitable for AdSense, then you DON'T put ads on it later if you get approved with another website. That's just asking to get your account disabled.

by J. Gracey Stinson

Gmail About to Be Disabled? STOP!

Another try by spammers/scammers to get your login information for your Google Account (and therefore, the access to your Adsense account).

The email you'll receive, on the surface, looks real enough. But how do you know it isn't?  To start with, I'd be suspicious of the email address the email was sent from. I don't know for sure what email address Gmail pros have, but most product pros have an email address that relates to their area - like an @google address.

The email I received purporting to be from Gmail came from an @service address. I'd be hesitant about that alone.

The second thing I noted is that the email wants you to click through a link - one that looks like it leads to a google support page, HOWEVER, when you hover over that link, you will note that the link doesn't go to a google page at all. It goes here:  http ://www  .pertiwi.cn/www_logs/   maill.   htm

That's not a gmail help page - it's not a google page at all. Most likely it's a page that will harvest your personal data.

Along with those two factors, the statement in the email that mentions the Google policies looks like it should lead you to a Google Policy page, but the link isn't active, and doesn't work.

The silliest part of this mail, the least thought out, I suppose is that they send it to your Gmail account (where it lands in spam in my box). If your account truly is disabled, you wouldn't be accessing your Gmail account at all, and would never see the mail anyways. If it were coming from Google, the mail wouldn't exist. You'd get that message for a disabled Gmail account on a web-page, not in your mail box, which you can't even log into.

If you can't login to your email and you do get a page with a disabled notice, check the links carefully before following any of them. It's up to you to ensure your own security. The best thing to do is check links in any mail before clicking on them.

If you find yourself with problems logging into your Gmail, you can ask for help at the Gmail/Google Product Forum.

More AdSense Questions With Answers

Every now and then we get a spate of questions in the AdSense forum that are basically the same question (or very similar) multiple times. Some of recent questions we've noticed appear to be increasing in numbers, and while many have already been answered before some of them are worth a second look, so without further discussion, onto the questions.


Do I have to create a new ad unit for each article or page?

No, you can use the same ad unit code on each article if you don't want to use different colours or sizes. AdSense ads are targeted to the content of your article, so even if you write about different subjects in each article, the same ad unit code will show different ads on different pages.

If you want to track the performance of the ad unit on each page, you can create a Custom channel or a URL channel for each page.

Can I get my PIN sent by courier, SMS, or email?

No, that it isn't possible. The PIN is sent by regular postal services. The reason for that is because AdSense needs to verify your physical address - in other words, they want to be sure you live at the address/country that you've given in your AdSense account.

If you aren't able to receive your PIN in three tries, Adsense will make alternate arrangements with you (through a notice in your Adsense account) to verify your address that don't invovle mailing another PIN.

Does AdSense partner with PTC (Pay-to-Click) Sites?

That's a big NO.

Any site related to pay-to-click advertising or "jobs" that require you to click on AdSense ads is absolutely outside of anything related to AdSense, and AdSense  will not partner with them in any way, and any AdSense publisher who uses such a site  (ie: PTC advertising) would soon find their own AdSense accounts disabled.

Not only is advertising your monetized sites on a PTC-type site against Adsense policy, AdSense considers PTC sites to be defrauding AdWords advertisers. AdSense policy is very clear, and it can be found here:

Prohibited Content

What's the policy?

The term "pay-to" refers to sites that promise payment or incentives to users who click on ads, surf the web, read emails, or perform other similar tasks. Placing Google ads on such pages may result in invalid impressions or clicks and is therefore prohibited. Similarly, sites which primarily drive traffic to or discuss pay-to services are not permitted to show ads.

AdWords advertisers pay Google to display their ads in order for them to get some value from their ads - they are looking to advertise and sell their products, or to find new leads for their companies. They are not looking for someone to just click their ad because they've been paid to do so.

From the Adsense Help Center - Prohibited Content

Adsense ad clicks from PTC sources would be considered invalid and the publisher will not get paid for them because the advertiser will not pay for them.

If you use AdSense on your sites, then stay away from sites of this nature, and do not be taken in by any who say they have a contract or partnership with AdSense. This is a big fat lie, and the only thing a site like this will do for you is get your AdSense account disabled.


How long does the second stage of AdSense approvals take? Why is my approval taking so long?

The second stage of the Adsense approvals process can take anywhere from four business days to a week or two - usually not longer than that. (Business days exclude weekends and US holidays)

The final approval stage begins when you place the required ad code on your website. Once you have placed the code correctly, the final approval (second stage) process begins.

Note that if you applied through a YouTube channel for approval, placing the code is not required.

If you haven't had an approval email after a couple of weeks at most, you should check the status of your application using this form: Check Application Status


Adserving was disabled to my site and I don't know why.

Adsense emails generally give a rather generic reason in these sort of notices. It is up to the publisher to read through any reference links AdSense has included in the email to see if any of the policies have been violated.

Because AdSense publishers come from around the globe, some things which might be considered okay from a "legal" standpoint in their country may not necessarily be considered "okay" by AdSense Policies, sometimes making it more difficult for publishers to understand what the violation is.

The answers generally lay in the AdSense help center, which is why AdSense includes those links in many of the emails. If you are unable to determine the reason, you can ask for help in the Group Support forum.


Why is my new tech site rejected?

Ahhh. This is one question that has become more and more frequent. And one of the harder to ones to answer.

Not wanting to offend anyone here, but the easiest answer is that tech sites are "a dime a dozen" - and that's partly beause in some countries, new technology is often a hot topic.

The problem itself doesn't lie in the fact that it's a site related to technology, the problem seems to be that for the most part, tech sites aren't all that original. While a publisher might write large parts of their own articles, they tend use images from the web or from the company's website, and they repost standard technical details taken from the manufacturer's website. These aren't considered original contents. Then there is the fact that almost every tech site will be covering the same product, and usually in the same way.

Because AdSense is looking for sites that add some sort of new value to the internet, more tech sites with similar contents aren't of that much interest to AdSense right now. Most of these new sites don't add anything new to the world of tech-blogs because their subject matter has been covered "ad nauseum" by hundreds or thousands of similar sites.

To get a tech blog approved, it would have to be spectactularly different and unique - in it's presentation, and in the way it covers new technology. The same tired articles and reviews aren't going to cut it for AdSense at this point in time.


Is there a human to contact at Adsense?

Well, there are in fact many humans that work at Google, including the AdSense product staff but for the most part, there is little direct contact between staff and publisher without going through some troubleshooting.

Many of the troubleshooter's have direct contact forms if the troubleshooter doesn't resolve your issues. Asking for help in the forum can also get you contact with a staff member when the situation warrants it, but even in cases where issues are escalated you may not always get direct contact with the staff if the issue can be corrected without any interraction.

This page in the Adsense help center contains troubleshooting links, and contact links for publishers:

Troubleshooters and Contacting AdSense

This isn't necessarily because they don't want to offer support, but because they receive thousands of requests daily, and the AdSense staff are limited in numbers. They also don't just handle escalated forum complaints - these are only a small part of the job they do so while it may seem to some they aren't doing enough, their responsibilities are much more than just dealing with publisher complaints.

And no, there is no telephone support for publishers. We often see questions that ask if there is an Adsense telephone number. I'm sure there is, but it isn't one that a publisher would ever get an answer at. All calls to Google are routed through very well trained receiptionists - polite, but tough as nails. You won't get past them, even if you do have a phone number to use.

There is an Advertisement on my site that interests me can i click it?

Absolutely NOT.

AdSense publishers may not click on any AdSense ads on their own websites. That is one of the first things you are told when signing up for AdSense. Please be sure you read and follow the instructions.

Program Policies - Beginner's

Don't click on your own Google ads.
If you'd like more information about one of the advertisers appearing on your site, please type the URL of the ad directly into your browser's address bar.

AdSense policies forbid publishers and family members or friends living in the same household from clicking ads on your site(s), so make sure that this does not happen.

If you truly are interested in the product or website listed on an ad on your own site, note the URL given on the face of the ad and visit the advertiser's site that way, not by clicking on your own ads.


Will I be approved?

Even if the forum volunteers review your website, none of us can say for sure if your site would be approved or not. That's something which is entirely up to AdSense.

Some of the reasons a site may not be approved are:

• duplicate contents (you've posted your articles on more than one site)
• copied/scraped contents (you've copied contents from other places)
• copyright infringements (using images with no authorization or license, linking to or hosting copyright infringing contents like free online movie sites or free music sites)
• hosting or linking to contents that contain hacked/cracked/pirated/warez downloads or similar offerings.
• not having enough content (one or two posts/pages isn't enough, you need about six months worth of your own original work to qualify)
• you've had a previously disabled AdSense account (which means you can't have another account at all)
• you are under 18 (publishers must be 18 or over to qualify)
• your site is written in a language AdSense doesn't support
• you have an aggregator site
• your site is only a search bar

There are many other reasons, but those above are the ones we see most frequently. If your site contains or is similar to any of those mentioned, we can tell you that you probably won't get approved, but none of us have an actual say in what gets approved and what doesn't.

Only AdSense has the final say.

YouTube Monetization for Minors (Under 18)

This is fast becoming one of the most prevalent questions we're seeing in the AdSense Help Forum, and most likely in the YouTube Help Forum as well.

Minors under the age of 18 can't sign up for their own Adsense account, even if you can have your own YouTube Channel (YouTube's age requirement is 13 I believe). This becomes a problem when the minor tries to sign up themselves and AdSense rejects their application. Instructions given in some areas simply tell the minor to have a parent sign up for them. But don't explain exactly how to do that.

What you can't do is resubmit your application through your YouTube Channel by changing the email address from your own, to one of your parent's email addresses. That will get you rejected again. You also can't directly submit an application for AdSense with one of your own email accounts and put your parent's name on the application form.

The steps to sign up for an AdSense account need to be taken separately by the parent.  The parent needs their own Google Account/Email address in their name. And the parent will also need to have a website, or blog (Blogger.com), or YouTube Channel (in their name, not in your name) to apply with.  Once the parent has an approved AdSense account, it can be linked to your YouTube Channel.

However, in some cases, the parent doesn't have a website or blog, or even a monetizable YouTube Channel, so in effect, there isn't any way for the parent to apply for Adsense for the minor.

The simplest thing for a parent to do is to create a YouTube Channel under their own name. Their YouTube Channel doesn't need a lot of videos to qualify for monetization.  Once they create a YouTube Channel, the parent can upload one video (or have their child upload the video for them) and wait for YouTube to enable the Channel for monetization. Once it's enabled, the parent can apply for Adsense through the Channel's monetize tab (on the monetize page, the parent will need to look for and click the link that says "how do I get paid" to get the Adsense application).  Once the parent's account is approved, the minor can link it to their own channel, following instructions to do so on YouTube.

If you are a minor who is hoping or planning to get a full Partnership someday on YouTube and are working towards monetizing your videos, you need to plan ahead a little, in order to make this process simpler, and trouble-free.

Make sure you are aware of the content requirements for monetized videos, particularly if you use visuals from gameplay in your videos.




HOW TO PREPARE FOR MONETIZING

1. Sit down with your parent(s) or legal guardian at the computer and explain the monetizing process to them - especially if they aren't very familiar with the web.
2. Explain why you can't sign up yourself for AdSense, and why you'd like your parent to sign up for you.
3. Go to the AdSense Help Center and read through the AdSense Program Policies and Terms and Conditions with your parent.  This part is important, because it will be your parent who is the party owning the AdSense account, and they should be aware of the requirements. The parent's name will be the "payee name" in the AdSense account, and the parent will be responsible for collecting the earnings, and for paying any taxes due on the earnings (no, I'm sorry I can't help you with tax requirements for whatever country you live in). And because they will be responsible for that, they should understand the requirements. YOU should understand the requirements in the Terms and Conditions as well,  because you will still be responsible for following them since the account will be monetizing your channel.
4. Next, if your parent doesn't have a Google Account, help them sign up for one. If they don't have an email address, have them sign up for a gmail account. 
5. Then take your parent to YouTube and have them set up a YouTube Channel under their own name. Even if they don't plan to use it. This YouTube Channel will be the way you submit an application for AdSense. If your parent has no interest in making their own videos, create one or two videos yourself - make sure their contents are suitable for monetizing. Upload those videos to your parent's YouTube channel.

This YouTube account owned by your parent(s), will be the way you apply for Adsense directly from a YouTube channel.  Now you have the requirements in place, and your parents are aware of what's happening. 

Once the parent's channel is enabled for monetizing by YouTube, the application for Adsense is made directly through the parent's channel with the parent's email address.  That means either you, or your parent will need to login to their Google Account, and their YouTube Channel and submit the AdSense application directly through their channel.

Preparing this in advance (before trying to monetize your own videos) will mean a lot less hassle and aggravation, and less problems in trying to get your own channel monetized.

With a parent's channel already monetized and approved by AdSense, you can now simply link your own YouTube Channel to your parent's AdSense account.

This solution seems to me a lot simpler than trying to make a suitable website or blog for your parent, particularly since the requirements for using Adsense on a blog or website require a lot of written articles (original articles, not copied from somewhere else), and in some cases, a wait of six months before it would be approved.

A FINAL WORD

Keep in mind that when a parent monetizes your channel, you should also take the time to find out the best options for safe-guarding both your Channel, and the AdSense account against invalid activity. It can happen to anyone - even on a YouTube Channel, so be sure you use the tracking options available to you.

If Your Adsense Account is Disabled ... You Need Your Publisher ID

This is a very simple, but very important tip for all publishers - in particular, it will be important for those monetizing their YouTube channels with Adsense, but every publisher who still has an active Adsense account should pay attention to this one fact.

When your Adsense account is disabled, you NEED your publisher ID to file your appeal. If you've removed your ad codes from your website, or if you have a YouTube channel, you'll have problems finding that Publisher ID if you haven't kept track of it.

The time to store that information in a safe place is BEFORE you find yourself with a disabled account. In truth, no publisher wants to have their account disabled, and most publisher's going into Adsense don't give much thought to the chance that their account may be disabled, so most don't think much about safe-guarding their adsense information.

FIRST STEPS

The first steps are to create a new folder in the "My Documents" section of your computer. Title it simply "Google Stuff".

Inside that new folder, create a folder for Adsense, and one for Blogger (if you use Blogger), and one for "Google Account".

Go to your email account and download emails you still have from Adsense - if you still have your approval email, you should save that.

To save mail from your gmail account, open the email, click the "printer" icon in the upper right of the mail. That will open your email on a printable page. Select the small arrow from the printer on the left hand menu to get the drop down menu - you don't actually want to print the page, you want to save it. Choose the option to save as a .pdf and save the email to your Adsense folder.

Any other important emails you've received from Adsense should also be saved - policy violation notices, etc. can be saved for future.

Next, you'll want to login to your Adsense account (www.google.com/adsense) and go to your Account Settings page. Take a screenshot of that page. The account settings page in your adsense account provides all the personal information associated with your Adsense account - your login, your Publisher-ID, your Customer ID (which is different from your Publisher ID), your payment details, etc. It will even provide a list of sites you've authorized to display your ads if you use the allowed sites list.

A larger version of the above page can be downloaded here.

Save the screenshot in your Adsense folder.

Finally, go to your Payments Page.  If you aren't a US publisher, you don't receive tax forms like the 1099, but you can access a printable "earnings statement" for each payment you've received. On your payments page, click the "details" link next to the payment issued, and click the "Statement of Earnings" at the bottom of the blue box. That will load a printable earnings statement. You probably don't really want to print them, so take a screenshot for the Statement of Earnings and save it in your Adsense folder. Save as many as you think you'll need.

You should save a copy of your earnings statement each time you get paid. If you should be unlucky enough to have your Adsense account disabled, you will not be able to get back into your account to get this information, so it only makes good sense to get it at payment time, each month.

Now you not only have the information you'd need to file an appeal for a disabled account, but you have records of previous payments and all the data associated with your Adsense account. This takes very little time to set up, but can save you a world of grief in the future.

NEXT STEPS

Because your Adsense account is also linked to your Google Account, you'll want make sure you go to your Google account page and set up the security information if you haven't already done so. As well, click the link on the left of the page for "Data Liberation".  The Data Liberation page will allow you to download information stored for a number of Google products, like all the images in your Picasa albums, or the information in your Google Profile, and your circles. Simply download the information package to your Google folder on your computer.

Along with that, you may also want to take a screenshot of your Google account page, since it also provides the login information for your Google account, and the alternate email address you've provided (if any).

Lastly, if you use Blogger for any of your sites that use Adsense, download your blog to back it up (do so regularly), along with your template. You can save the template by going to the "Template" page in your Blog and saving the xml file.

To export and backup your blog's data (posts, etc.) click the settings link, then choose "Other" and from that page, select "export blog". This will export your posts in the proper file format and you can save these in your Blogger folder on your computer. Should something happen to your blog, you can restore it using the "import" button on the same page.

by J. Gracey Stinson

Security Scams by Phone?

What next.

Just had a super dumb call from some computer place trying to convince me my computer was connected to their server and I was downloading viruses and they were getting error messages. The guy can barely speak english, and he tries very hard to convince me they can tell it's my computer because of my computer license. Yeah well, nice try dude.

Not possible since my security systems won't download viruses; besides, I scan every day with Spybot Search & Destroy, a trusted antivirus, and hijack this, and I have a firewall. You don't spend 2 years on a security forum and not learn a thing or two about avoiding virus crap.

Dope. Don't fall for this people...just don't. And tell your friends not to fall for it either.

First, get the company name they work for. If you've never heard of them - don't trust them. No way they're connected to your computer if you don't let them. If they say they're from Microsoft security, trust them EVEN LESS.

IF you're concerned about virus, then run your scans using your own software - if you don't use spybot search & destroy, get it ... and use (it's free). Make sure your antivirus is up to date, use a firewall. Learn how to protect your computer - don't trust some guy calling from god-knows-where and DON'T, DON'T, DON'T them into your computer, and that goes double for giving them any information at all. Just hang up.

...But Everyone Else is Doing It!

Really? Everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay, right?

We see so many new publishers (and even some "older" publishers) giving this as an excuse for not following the Adsense Program Policies and Webmaster Guidelines.

Let me ask you something. When you tell your child to do something, you expect them to do it. You set up rules in your household that you expect the kids to follow. So when one of your kid's doesn't follow the rules, what do you think?  When your child says to you "everyone else is doing it, so why can't I?" what do you say?

If you are like most parents, you'll tell them that as parents it's your job to set the rules for your household, and your job to make sure they are followed. You probably don't care much what the rules are in other households, and you'll tell your kid's that you expect them to follow your rules, not someone else's.

Well then, what makes you publishers think that it's okay to follow what another website does, instead of following what Adsense tells you to do?

One of the recent posts in the Adsense forum is from an ex-publisher, who thinks that all ex-Adsense publishers should "band together and force Adsense to reform".  This isn't really anything new in the forum, we see similar posts regularly, but it is probably time to address this publicly.

Adsense has a contract with publishers - it's called the Terms of Service (which have previously been addressed here).  Publishers must agree to this contract before they can actually use Adsense. It's your responsibility as a publisher to understand that contract BEFORE you agree to it, and once you agree to it, it's your responsibility to uphold that contract, even if you don't like all the parts of it.

The person posting in the forum, replied with this statement:

If the contract was so one-sided and was designed to make the employee fail in their duties at some early stage, then of course. (of course the business should reform is what they mean).

In reply to that, I'd have to disagree. Based on principle. In fact, since the "employee" would have had to agree to that contract in order to be hired, the onus is on the employee. They can make their own decisions about whether they'll accept the contract or not, BEFORE getting into the "hired" stage.  Adsense is the same. You have the option when you get approved to agree to the contract, or not. That's your choice. If you choose to go forward, then you must choose to agree to abide by the contract, whether you like it or not.

People who don't read the contract and just agree to it, will find themselves having problems. It is our responsibility as publishers to make our own choices and decisions. I personally read all Terms of any site I sign up at, and there have been a few sites whose terms dissuaded me from going forward, because I couldn't live with the terms of their contract. That's my choice, the same as it's any publisher's choice. The options exist - you choose to abide by the contract, or you choose to not use the service.


People need to learn to become responsible for their own decisions at the time they make them, instead of complaining about what they signed "after-the-fact".

Not all of us actually like the Adsense terms, but many of us are only too aware of what they say, and what can happen based on those terms. Unlike a lot of others, I agreed to the terms knowing full well what they meant.

Businesses of all sorts work in a similar way. The business has the right to decide how they will run their business. I wouldn't much appreciate someone else telling me how to run my business, or what my contract should say. Neither, I'm sure, would many other businesses allow such a thing.

Another statement of note from the ex-publisher (and we also see this from many publishers who have been disabled) is that AdSense operates as a scam hiding behind a legit organisation for cover.

I don't think so.  I've had my Adsense account since late 2006, and haven't had any problems ever collecting my earnings - I am not a large publisher and don't earn mega amounts, but I get my check every time it's issued, without any problems. And I'm not a US citizen, nor do I live in the US. Many of our forum regulars live all over the world, and collect their earnings regularly too.

The difference between those who are able to keep their accounts long term and those who run afoul of the policies in their early stages is probably a lot simpler than some might think, and most of it is unrelated to being "click-bombed". The percentage of people who are innocent and actually do get click-bombed is extremely small (maybe as low as 3 or 4%, if that) compared to those who have solicited the click-bombing by joining click-rings.

- new publishers don't take time to understand the rules, not to the letter of the policies, nor to the "spirit" of the policies.  They are more interested in covering their sites with ads to "make money" than to "waste time" learning the ropes first. Nobody should ever rush headlong into something they don't understand. Far too many new publishers don't have any idea how to even edit a website, or place their code, let alone understand how Adsense works.

- new publishers want money, more than anything else and tend to run off slapping their sites on link exchanges, and traffic sites to get a boost in their traffic. Most of which are traffic sources that fall outside of the "okay" limit for Adsense. The traffic quality section has lots of information about how to increase your traffic levels appropriately, but I would guess that 90% of the new publishers have no clue it even exists, because of course they don't take time to read the information available. It's too much work to read all that stuff, so ... just put the ads on and hope to get rich.

- new publishers tend to follow what they see on other websites, and not what they do read (if they read it) in the policies. This is one of the biggest issues I've seen. "That site does it and gets a way with it (for a while), so I'll do the same. It must be okay."   Even if the policies say it isn't.  This is another area people must learn to take responsibility for their own choices. Adsense policies are written for a purpose; that purpose is so publishers know what you can and can't do. If you want to blindly follow another site without even knowing if they are doing the right thing, that's your problem.  

Personally, I believe I could make more money by doing things other than I am, however, from my standpoint if Adsense hasn't specifically said something is "okay and allowed" I'm not going to take any chances by doing it. If it specifically says it isn't okay, you can bet I won't do it, regardless of what any other website does.

And like many publishers (both active and disabled), they also think that there should be warnings rather than account dismissal for early "violations".

That would be nice.  BUT, Really. How many "warnings" does the law give before issuing a ticket for a traffic violation? Not too damn many, and they don't care if you are a new driver or not. They expect you to know the rules of the road. Ignorance is not a defense.

There are multiple warnings scattered throughout the Adsense Program Policies, and also in the Webmaster Guidelines. If people aren't going to take heed of THOSE warnings, then you begin to wonder if there is any point at all to issuing a warning. How many warnings to do people need?

The way I see it, if you're told not to touch the hot stove, you've been warned. If you touch it and get burned, then it's your own fault. You shouldn't need yet another warning. Pay attention to the warnings that exist throughout the Adsense Help Center files, and you shouldn't need a warning. For anything you don't really understand or aren't sure is okay, you can ask before you do it. That's called being "proactive" about your choices.

So are there problems for new publishers who sign up for Adsense? Yes, of course there are. Most of these problems could be resolved in the beginning if publishers took the time to understand how everything works before actually using the services.

What I see as inherently wrong with the Adsense recruitment methods is the lack of education BEFORE allowing a new publisher access to any Adsense ad codes.  New publishers should be required to attend an online webinar that explains all the policies in-depth, and then should have to complete a questionnaire without having any access to the answers from the help center. At that point, if they pass the "test" stage, they get access to their entire account and the codes. That way, people are educated before they jump in with both feet.  The publisher then becomes responsible for everything they do, and if they still fail, then nobody would be pointing any fingers at Adsense. Right?  Wrong. There are some people who will always try to avoid their own responsibility for failure. 

Like many of us who continue to use Adsense, I see things that should be changed. Things I'd like to see changed. But I don't run Adsense, and I don't get to make those decisions. My options are to continue to use it and suggest changes when we get a chance, and to stick to the rules as they stand now. 

I don't support all their decisions, but I support their right as a business to make the choices they make for their own business...whether I might like it or not is of little consequence. If I dislike it enough, I'll stop using it. For now, I've learned to live within their rules. I hope you'll take the time to learn how to do that too, before you need any "warning".