AdSense confusion
The other day I applied, like so many bloggers, to serve Google's AdSense banners on this site. The first thing I noticed while filling out the application was they ask for the base URL of the site, i.e. I entered www.panix.com instead of www.panix.com/~jbm/snappy, thinking that I'd get to qualify this later on in the application process.
As it turned out, this was not the case, thus meaning that I was applying as though I were the owner of panix.com. ((I actually have registered snappytheclam.com, but have not yet got round to finding hosting for it. Suggestions welcome, I've heard good things about cornerhost.)
Not the case. Later that day I got an answer back from Google:
Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. We've noticed that you have submitted an application for www.panix.com on more than one occasion, with different contact information. As you have previously been approved, it is not necessary to submit an additional application.
Our records show that you were approved to participate in Google AdSense with this URL on July 31, 2003. An email was sent to (address snipped, but not mine) with details on how you can get started. If you did not receive this email, please reply to this email and I will be happy to re-send the information to you.
If you have any further questions about the program or about your account, please reply to this email and I will be happy to assist you.
Sincerely,
The Google Team
D'oh! Just missed it. Seriously, what had happened was that another person with webspace at Panix, my ISP, had applied before I did and was given an account. I had been wondering whhether I'd be accepted to begin with - I vaguely remembered having seen some traffic round the net saying that they were rejecting "personal" sites, whatever that meant, though this would seem to cover weblogs in general. Whether this shuts everyone else at Panix out of serving AdSense remains to be seen - I replied to the email explaining the situation but haven't heard back from them yet.