Putting Adsense ads on your site is a great way to earn a passive income. After the initial setup process you can virtually sit back and let your compound ad revenue grow. However, in the past just about anyone could create a site purely for Adsense purposes. Quality was almost irrelevant, and this had a negative impact on legitimate advertisers, as well consumers.

In an effort to combat this problem, Google has announced a new two-step review process that will assess the quality of prospective Adsense publishers before they are allowed to display ads.

In a blog announcing the improvements to the review process, Max Cohen, Google Product Manager, said that the change is intended to create a stronger Adsense network which will promote interest and increase demand in Adsense ads and, ultimately, contribute to greater earning potential.

The first change comes directly after publishers submit their applications and will involve site checks and verification of publishers’ details. If everything is on the up and up, Google will send prospective publishers an email granting them access to an Adsense account. Publishers will also receive an ad code that they can place on their sites.

However, as the second step has yet to be completed, sites won’t run live ads. Google will supply “blank ads” which will look like the real thing but which obviously won’t bring any income.

Publishing sites will be subjected to a final approval and if they pass they will receive another email notification. Ads will appear automatically on their sites. Cohen says, “These publishers are then welcome (and encouraged!) to add more ad units to their submitted site and to any other policy-compliant sites they own.”

The new two-step review process isn’t foolproof, however, as Pamela Parker (Search Engine Land) says that it could be circumvented by publishers who place the approved ad code on Google approved sites and then simply copy and paste to unapproved web pages.

Prospective publishers are strongly advised to read the policies that regulate Adsense ads. For instance:

• The pages that are intended to carry ads must not violate Google’s content guidelines.
• Adsense ads are also not allowed on pages protected by copyright.
• Once supplied, publishers aren’t allowed to alter the Adsense code or manipulate the manner in which the ads are delivered.
• Ads may not appear as pop-ups or in emails.

You can read more on google.com.

(Image by SeattleClouds.com, CC by 2.0, via Flickr)