Section 8.1. Applying for an AdSense Account

8.1. Applying for an AdSense Account

To apply for a Google AdSense account, visit the Google AdSense home page , http://www.google.com/adsense/, and click the Click Here to Apply button. The form shown in Figure 8-1 will open.

Figure 8-1. You apply to open an account with the Google AdSense program using this simple form

There are only a few issues you'll need to bear in mind as you complete this form:

Type of business entity

You need to tell Google whether your web site is published by an individual or a corporation.

Web site address

You need to provide Google with the URL for your primary web site (see "Providing a Web Site Address" in the nearby sidebar).

Product selection

You can sign up for AdSense for Content or AdSense for Search or both (see "AdSense Content and AdSense Search" later in this chapter for information about the distinction between the two programs). There's really no reason not to sign up for both.

Contact information

You need to tell Google what name to put on the checks and where to mail those checks.

Login information

You need to set up an email address and password for logging into your AdSense account. If you have a Google AdWords or Google Print account, you can use the same login; otherwise, you should provide this information.

Providing a Web Site Address

Google will review the web site address you provide for compliance with the content policies of the AdSense program (see https://www.google.com/adsense/policies for more information about AdSense policies). It is not unusual for Google to reject web sites for noncompliance with content provisions of the AdSense policies; the prohibitions range from excessive advertising content through adult content, content about hacking, and content using excessive profanity.

It is permissible (and often done) to use one Google AdSense account across multiple web addresses. If you are maintaining half a dozen sites, it is easier to work with a single AdSense account than to keep up with statistics on multiple accounts (see Chapter 9 for information about what you need to do to monitor your AdSense performance).

This leads to the possible scenario of submitting one URL for acceptance into the program and eventually placing AdSense ads on noncompliant sites. You could probably get away with doing this for a while, but it is a bad idea. If you are caught, Google will most likely terminate your entire account.

The best approach is to apply for a separate account for any web site with questionable content. That way, you are aboveboard. If Google accepts the account application, it can have no beef with you because of the content. If Google rejects the application, then you'll need to work with one of the less squeamish vendors mentioned in Chapter 5.

It's pretty simple, really, to fill out the AdSense form; as these things go, it is not a lot of red tape. The next step is to wait for Google to review your application, which usually takes one or two days.