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?

A few of the publishers who qualify for direct contact with AdSense staff have contacted staff and asked that exact question.

A few indicated that the response said their accounts were under investigation and until that was complete, the payment wouldn't be issued.  How long one of these "investigations" takes is anybody's guess. I really don't know, but I would expect for the most part, it isn't going to be "a few days". Anyone that's been around AdSense long enough already knows that there isn't much that AdSense does "quickly".  I would think it wouldn't be a surprise if the investigation took a week or two, or ... unfortunately, even longer than that.

What sort of investigation it is, or why the account was chosen is something else I can't really answer. We do know that all publisher accounts are monitored by AdSense. We also know that when AdSense finds something to be "irregular" in a publisher's account they'll investigate further. (Also see reasons for payment holds in the help center.)

• Your account is currently under review for compliance with our program policies
  All accounts are monitored for policy compliance and invalid activity. At times, while your account is under investigation, your payments will be temporarily placed on hold. You do not need to contact us about this hold; the hold will be automatically removed at the end of the investigation if your account is policy compliant and your traffic is valid.

Whether that's an odd batch of traffic and/or clicks on ads, or whether it's multiple reports coming in from the website reporting options (such as spam websites, or publisher's spamming groups or people with emails they didn't sign up for, or improper ad placements, etc.) or a payee name change in an account (which isn't allowed), AdSense is going to investigate these issues to make sure the account doesn't become a risk for the advertisers whose ads appear on on our sites.

The bottom line is that nobody can answer for AdSense when it comes to payment issues. If you qualify for direct email support from AdSense you'll be able to access the contact email form in the help center, in which case you can ask for yourself why your payment hasn't been sent.

So far, I haven't personally had to deal with an investigation issue myself, so there isn't much in the way of help that I can offer. I can, however, tell you what I would do if I found myself in this position.

1. I'd start by looking at my traffic over the last few months: where it came from; the referring sites; checking my promotional methods. Fairly often, bad traffic can be an issue, so that's the place I'd start investigating my own stats.
2. Then, I'd consider my methods of promotion. Did I hire someone who might have sent spam emails to promote me? Did someone put my site link on a link exchange (cause I surely would not)? If I hired some off-beat SEO firm, the first thing I'd be doing is asking for an exact copy of every single thing they did to promote my site. (Often, these people do things way outside of AdSense policy without telling you.)
3. Next, I'd review my blogs or websites for content compliance. Is my content original (my own/did I write it myself or copy it?); is any of my content in violation of any policy?; are any of the comments users leave considered spam, or lead to spammy websites?; is my own content sort of spammy and poorly written?
4. Then, I'd start investigating my own social pages and links. Have I spammed my site/post links all over the web using social services? Have I misused social sharing in some way? Have my personal friends or family gone on a "sharing spree" without telling me (which would only make things worse).

I can tell you that if my own account were under investigation by AdSense, I'd be spending 100% of my time investigating my own site, it's visitors, it's contents, and my own actions to make sure that there wasn't anything "odd" going on.

... I wouldn't be sitting around just waiting for AdSense to finish up.

posted by J. Gracey Stinson

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.

Unfortunately, while they seem to be a really "open"people, they also have no problem publicly discussing the types of topics that aren't suitable for Adsense.

Many blogs we see rejected have contents that have been copied from other news sites, and the majority of sites from Nigeria that are rejected have a similar bent ... copied news, and copied celebrity gossip, much of which often contains contents of an adult nature.  That's frowned on by Adsense and by AdWords advertisers, which is an important fact in whether or not the site can be approved.

I personally don't understand the preoccupation with gruesome news, but I expect it's because they seem to live in middle of it and are forced to endure exposure to things most of us in this area of the world can only shudder at. It's sad, and frightening, but this sort of gruesome content isn't acceptable for Adsense either.

I also don't get the preoccupation with celebrities. They're just people, like the rest of us. I've never understood that, and it's pretty popular in all cultures. But copying a celebrity's images from someone else isn't allowed, and can actually cause you to be sued by the celebrity, never mind being rejected by Adsense.

All sites (no matter where the publisher lives) are expected to comply with copyright laws, including the copyright laws of the US, and the copyright guidelines issued by AdSense.

So although it might not seem that simple to some, the answer really is simple.

1. Write your own contents based on your own personal experiences. Don't copy it, don't edit someone else's articles, don't write about the same thing others are writing about unless you've personally got experience to draw from.
2. Don't copy other people's images. Only use images with permission, or pay a licensing fee to use it.
3. Don't write about gruesome news, don't show gory or disturbing images, don't write about women/children being abused in horrible ways using graphic language.
4. Don't go for the most common information available all over the web. Write something different. BE different ... and be yourself.

DON'T be a follower of all the others around you. Be a leader to others in your culture and break away from the multitude of "same" type blogs. Come up with your very own, very unique ideas and start writing; start photographing; start painting or drawing or doing whatever it is you do best ... as long as what you do best isn't copying others.

posted by J. Gracey Stinson

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.

"Why Can't I Get my Payment by Cheque ?" OR "I don't have a Bank Account"

In some cases, the payment method that once existed in your AdSense account may no longer be available in your AdSense account.

This would mean that you will need to set up a new payment method in order to continue receiving your payments. In most of the countries where AdSense used to offer payment by cheque and now offers EFT payments, you will no longer be able to get your payment by cheque. You will most likely only be able to choose EFT as your payment method and will require a bank account.

When I enter and verify my bank account, when will I get my payment?

This depends on a couple of things. If you haven't actually reached the payment threshold (usually set at $100US or equivalent in local currency) then you wouldn't receive a payment until your verified earnings reach that, and then you'd receive a payment during the normal payment cycle. (See "When will I be paid.")

If you just reached the payment threshold and entered your bank account, you would also be paid during the normal monthly payment cycle for that month.

If your AdSense Payment page has shown that you have been at or above the payment threshold for a few months, but haven't yet received a payment because either you hadn't entered a PIN or hadn't entered and verified a bank account, then you may see your payment issued within a few days after verifying your bank account.

This doesn't apply to accounts that still receive payment by Western Union or cheque. Accounts still using those payments would have their payment issued in the regular payment cycle.

Can I use someone else's bank account, like a parent or friend?

No, you won't be able to verify a bank account unless your name is on the bank account. The account holder of the bank account needs to match the payee name in your AdSense account. Since you can't change the payee name in your AdSense account, you need a bank account in your own name.

If a parent has signed up for you, the parent would most likely be the payee name in your AdSense account. That means the parent needs to enter their bank account.

For spouses, or anyone else who holds a joint account with someone else, as long as your name is also on the joint bank account, you can use a joint account to receive your payment, as long as the payee name in the AdSense account is one of the names on the joint bank account.

Also note, the bank account must be located in the same country as the address in your AdSense account, so as an example, if you live in Canada (like me) and your AdSense account has your Canadian address, you'll need a bank account in a bank in Canada.

posted by J. Gracey Stinson©

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.

Because you need original contents, if your pages only contain a bunch of affiliate links from somewhere like Amazon, and only contain the the original reviews and summaries, don't put Adsense ads on those pages. Pages like that would fall into the "thin affiliates" category.

Don't put Adsense ads on a page whose sole purpose is to promote an affiliate - pages like that are nothing more than a gigantic advertisement for the affiliate product. If it looks like an affiliate promotion, smells like an affiliate promotion, and sounds like an affiliate promotion ... leave Adsense off of that content. Don't put adsense on e-stores with no original contents, and almost no textual contents. This would also be considered a "thin affiliate" site.

Make sure any page(s) that contain your affiliate links use the "no follow" attribute for all the links, and make sure you have more original contents of your own than affiliate links. One or two lines of text with half a dozen affiliate links is not going to be considered as:

• sufficient
• original
• unique
• useful

Write an article, one that provides some useful and personal insights, then you can include an affiliate link or two with the article, along with your Adsense ads.

Learn to think like Adsense. When an AdWords advertiser puts their ad on your site ... why are they putting it there?  They want people to see their product or service, they don't want it alongside a dozen other similar products owned by different companies. The chances of someone being interested enough to visit the AdWords advertiser grow smaller with each affiliate link that's on the same the page.

That's not great news for the AdWords advertiser. It may not even be that good for you either. If people visit your affiliate links and move away from your site onto a shopping site (like Amazon), you'll only make money if those people buy a product. If they don't buy and leave Amazon to go search for something else, you lose out altogether. The AdWords advertiser loses out. AdSense loses out.

Keep your affiliate links on your AdSense monetized pages to a small, reasonable amount and you can have an effective page that can work for both types of advertising, and may earn you money from both.

posted by J. Gracey Stinson