What Google Actually Requires
Google's public policies come down to a short list: you must be at least 18, you must own or control the site, the content must be original and useful, and the site must follow AdSense's Publisher Policies. There is no officially stated minimum traffic number, post count, or domain age anywhere in Google's own documentation.
The real checklist
- You're 18 or older, or a parent/guardian applies on your behalf
- You own the domain and have full administrative access
- Content is written by you or your team, not copied or spun
- A privacy policy page exists and discloses cookie and ad use
- The site is easy to navigate with working, real pages (not placeholders)
Common Myths That Waste Time
'You need 30 posts' and 'your domain needs to be six months old' are recycled from older, informal advice rather than Google's actual policy. What really causes rejection is thin or low-value content — pages that don't give a reader anything substantial, regardless of how many of them exist.
Applying With a Service or Business Website
Service and portfolio sites can be approved, but they often lean heavily on listings, testimonials, and case study images rather than written explanation. Adding a blog section with genuinely useful articles — like the one this guide lives on — gives reviewers substantial text content to evaluate, which meaningfully improves approval odds for a primarily service-based site.
What to Do After a Rejection
Read the rejection reason literally rather than assuming it's generic. 'Low value content' usually means add more original written explanation; 'site under construction' means finish broken pages and remove placeholder text; 'policy violation' means review the specific page cited before reapplying.