Google has been tightening AdSense identity checks hard over the past year, and it's catching a lot of legitimate publishers off guard. If you've been rejected, you're not alone — and it's almost never because you did anything wrong on purpose.

Here's what's actually going on under the hood, and how to fix it:

1. Name mismatch between your AdSense account and your ID

Google's system does an exact string match. If your account says "Mike Johnson" and your passport says "Michael J. Johnson," that's an instant rejection. Fix: update your AdSense payee name to match your ID exactly before resubmitting — don't try to fix the ID.

2. Poor document image quality

Blurry photos, glare on the ID, or cropped corners are the #1 cause of "unreadable document" rejections. Fix: use a scanner app (not just your camera roll), shoot in natural light, and make sure all four corners of the document are visible.

3. Address format issues

If your address doesn't match the postal format Google expects for your country, verification silently fails. Fix: use your country's official postal format exactly — including abbreviations Google expects (e.g., "St." vs "Street").

4. PIN mail never arrives (for postal verification)

If you're on postal PIN verification, Google gives you a limited number of resend attempts. If it doesn't arrive in 3-4 weeks, don't keep waiting — switch to a supported alternate verification method for your country instead of retrying the same one.

The core issue is that Google's rejection messages are vague on purpose — "we couldn't verify your identity" doesn't tell you which of these four things went wrong. Most publishers waste weeks resubmitting without fixing the root cause.

If you're stuck on this, happy to take a look — that's literally what I do. Drop a comment or check my profile.