Google AdSense publishers must now verify their identity before earning a single dollar. Google’s help documentation now sets that identity check at $0, down from a prior $10 mark, a change first reported by Search Engine Roundtable. Address verification, a separate check, remains unchanged at $10 or its local equivalent.
The two requirements are easy to conflate but they are not the same gate. Identity verification confirms who controls the account and now applies at the first payment eligibility check, before any ads run. Address verification, which validates a mailing address tied to payouts, still only activates once an account crosses the $10 mark.
Google’s updated support pages describe the process publishers will face starting June 2026: a government-issued photo ID, and in some locations a video selfie. Google’s own documentation frames the step as fraud protection, stating the process “confirms the accuracy of your account information and helps protect against fraud.” The source report does not offer Google’s broader reasoning beyond that quoted line, so no wider motive is claimed here.
The change also removed a prior allowance. The help page previously said publishers with linked AdSense and YouTube payments accounts could verify once, when either account reached the verification threshold. With identity verification now set at $0, that shared grace period effectively disappears at signup for any new account.
Identity verification is a distinct requirement from address verification, and the gap between the two thresholds now matters more than before. A publisher can clear the $0 identity check on day one, run ads immediately, and still not face the address check until payouts approach $10.
For small publishers and hobbyist sites monetizing early AI-era traffic spikes, the practical effect is a new onboarding step before any revenue can be collected, not just before it can be withdrawn. A site that suddenly gets cited in AI Overviews or an AI chatbot answer and starts pulling ad impressions can no longer wait until it earns $10 to handle identity checks. The verification now gates the very first ad served, which changes how quickly a new site can actually start monetizing traffic rather than just accumulating it.
Publishers running multiple AdSense accounts, or accounts tied to a YouTube channel, should expect to complete identity verification earlier in the account lifecycle than before. Anyone setting up a new AdSense account, or a site pivoting into monetization after months of unpaid growth, should gather a government-issued photo ID and prepare for a possible video selfie before the first ad impression generates revenue, not after.
Search Engine Roundtable, reported by Barry Schwartz, first covered Google’s updated AdSense help documentation on the identity verification threshold change.
