Is AdSense really too much work for your return on time and investment?

Is AdSense really too much work for your return on time and investment? 

How much can you make with AdSense? I haven't made a single dollar yet after 3 months of trying to get AdSense Approvals. Here's why:

Really, is it worth it - is the juice worth the squeeze on this effort. 

Maybe. I'm here to explore some of the pros, the cons and the detrimental journey they make you hoop through before you get to any monetization or even making $1. Then you can decide if it's worth it for yourself. 

I started off three months ago thinking this is all going to be easy with the help of AI. I'll use ChatGPT, Perplexity and some other at this point commonly known tools. But I was wrong. First it was easy to come up with a few articles. I created 36 in my first month which was enough to apply. I figured it's unlikely I'd get approved the first time around, but I was still hopeful. 

Then the rejection came and I was a bit surprised - what I was flagged for was not only low quality content but Webmasters quality guidelines. I watched all their videos they provided and yet they were all bogus. All full of fluff! I was surprised Google would product such quality of videos... funny skits where I need informational article or a direct tutorial. Their own content is of low quality because it doesnt actually help those who submit get value out of those videos. Pretty hypocritical but I suppose when you own the domain you get to govern the laws. 

Next I improved my User Experience on my site, the main categories, the navigational distinction for the user, the headers. Added a sitmap. Revised my articles for having at least 1500 word count on many occasions (and left some as is, because let's be real, going back to redo or rework old articles is a PITA (pain in the 'Arse') - sorry that's my deep tech acronyms side coming out. 

So i improved all these number of things and re-applied. Rejected again. Urgh!

Now I was upset. Upset that I spent quite a bit of time, maybe several days, working through these pages, adding custom CSS to my Blogger Theme and significant improvements, adding Contact Us pages, the Terms and Conditions, the Partnerships section (which I now merged with the T&Cs) and yet... rejection. It was a stab in the heart - considering how much time I've spent without still making a single buck out of this. I thought it was going to be a lot simpler. Easier, effortless. I was very wrong. So i started to look for contact for Google AdSense so I can get real help, my site specific after again reviewing their multiple pages of 'help. 

I'm not here to complaint but my hope is someone from AdSense team or Google will finally realize how terrible the User Experience is of their own program and platforms! 

Here are the pages I reviewed without getting ANY concrete info about MY site and the issues that may be triggered from my own blog:

https://support.google.com/adsense/thread/117085181?hl=en

https://support.google.com/publisherpolicies/answer/11035931?visit_id=638876936976925470-885365823&rd=1#zippy=%2Ctips-for-the-spam-policies-for-google-web-search

https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/81904?hl=en&sjid=6598391601225741672-NA#content_quality_issues

All essentially useless if you are getting rejected 2nd time and reviewed the content of these videos. All vague. For example they ask and say to resolve "Thin Content" the blogger needs to provide product comparison or unique experience. Updated site regularly (yes already doing) but please define regular? Where are those definitions. Where are the definitions of 'unique' - not scraped they would say and I have to disagree because even scraped content combined with editing can be deemed or not deemed unique. Applying your own special knowledge? Yes this one is good - if you have used ChatGPT - is any knowledge now really special? I just watched a 2027 AI theory. Go watch that and tell me if any knowledge will be your own, special and unique.

Finally I got frustrated and found a page where you can submit NOT a ticket, not a question by e-mail but a SUPPORT forum. Do you know what happened - they replied to my following request (screenshot):

My original post on the help forum:

The reply was given on this forum within 72 hours was this:

Great I thought, it is a duplicate - someone else had the same exact or very similar situation and questions! SO I figured if i click 'View' I'll see some helpful answers!... WRONG! As I clicked View, the next screen was from the Community Manager of AdSense answer from 2021!!! (In 2025?! how is that current or relevant anymore by the way, one of the AdSense guidelines for having quality content) - their own support is Round Robin! A cul de saq endless 'marketing' loop. Awful User Experience. No contact for support, related articles are repetitive and duplicated and linking the the exactly same thing as one of the links from my prior mentioned links.  

Published years ago! Outdated. Irrelevant - on an issue that is a TRENDING issue. This is bad - bad for the brand and how they don't allocate resources and leave people hanging like this is just shocking. Gabe and the entire team is MIA. 

I scrolled down more...

These were exactly the same videos again! 

But now look, the real truth is visible even more - 1719 other people had the SAME exact question that did NOT get answered - I guarantee! 

So I hope now Google finds this product review compelling, useful and unique. Despite thousands of people having this issue they have not addressed this. 

In conclusion I'd like to leave all this with a thought.. 

How much can you make with AdSense? Technically, the sky’s the limit but only if you can make it past the endless, vague, and often contradictory hurdles that Google throws your way. After months of effort, I haven’t made a single cent. And the kicker? The very company demanding high-quality, “unique” content from creators can’t even deliver clear, helpful, or up-to-date content themselves. Their tutorials are fluffy, their guidelines are ambiguous, and their support is essentially non-existent.

It’s hypocritical. Google expects creators to meet standards that they themselves don’t live up to. They reject sites for having "thin" or "low-quality" content, while their own support forums and videos feel recycled, outdated, and totally disconnected from real user issues.

So is it worth it? That depends on how much you're willing to tolerate being judged by a system that doesn’t practice what it preaches. If you’re okay with trial by fire, maybe AdSense can eventually pay off. But if you're looking for a fair, transparent, and supportive platform? You might want to keep looking.

I’ll be submitting this for yet another round of AdSense approval, hoping that someone on their team finally takes notice of this honest review. It's time they either allocate real resources to improve the program for first time onboarding and first time novice users or shut it down altogether — because right now, Google is wasting people's time, energy, and opportunity with a system that offers no real support and even less accountability.

All in All - AdSense is really too much work for your return in my opinion. 

The answer depends on your expectations, your niche, and how strategically you approach your content. For some, AdSense provides a nice stream of passive income that grows steadily with consistent effort ( I don't know those folks well yet). For others, especially those in low-traffic or low-paying niches, it can feel like spinning wheels for cents.

If you're treating your website or blog as a business, AdSense is just one tool in a much larger monetization toolbox. When paired with SEO, quality content, audience engagement, and possibly other income streams like affiliate marketing or product sales, it may be worth it.

However, if you're expecting to "get rich quick" or set up a few pages and watch the money roll in, you’ll likely be disappointed especially in their never ending approval process. It's not necessarily too much work it just requires the right kind of mindset, stamina not to give in or up and pushing on consistently over time until maybe, one day you will be approved and have correct the 'right' thing for which they triggered and rejected you. 

Till then, I'd suggest other income streams - like real consulting work, 1099s, K1s and W2s. 

Drop a note, a comment if you had a similar experience or if you've figured out the magic formula please share to help at least those vocal 2k users who are trying to make a dollar on their hours of their blood, sweat and tears of effort. 

~The very triggered AI Mom Lab