How to Fix Google AdSense ‘Valuable Inventory: Templated Page’ Error

JUST A CENT — nobody really knows the ultimate fix — and this but comes a redundant post reassuring that by trial and error, you can resolve that Google AdSense ‘valuable inventory: templated page’ error all by yourself. But before your visit counts an instant bounce, think about the simple purpose why I wrote this — share the experience and offer some help.

Over the weekend I did a research about the novel error that Google AdSense drops to email inboxes like bombs and leave bloggers and webmasters alike in bitterness and confusion. While resources online do not seem to have a consensus, the fix for sure varies from one site to another, as there’s no way that one size fits all.

When I first resubmitted this blog with its new domain (after the change from i-millennial[dot]com to signedmarco[dot]com), I got a coronavirus-related email response, but around two weeks ago, I started receiving nearly hopeless emails about that same valuable inventory error after pushing through with consecutive resubmissions. I thought at first that Google was just sending me ‘recommendations’ for improving my blog while the review team was on a pandemic quarantine, but I was all wrong until I completely figured it out.

I don’t give any assurance that following these steps would give you the same fix as it did on my end. Making things clear, I did not receive the error notification out of the blue because I had to resubmit this blog after changing the domain name (read the whole context here).

[1] Get the NEW DOMAIN aged for at least a month before the resubmission (or even on your first-time application). As said, Google requires even more than a month to get fully notified about all initiated redirects and completely move the site from one domain to another.

The fastest and surest way of doing the migration is by the use of Google’s Change of Address Tool itself. Bottom line, resubmit (or submit) your site to Google AdSense at least a month after the successful domain propagation.

[2] Make sure all BASIC WEBSITE PAGES are ready for review. You know what I mean. You better set and update the important pages that communicate the identity of your property — About, Contact, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer (optional), and other pages. You cannot run ads on your site without convincing Google AdSense that you’re more than serious about your invitation for a long-term business partnership.

You can always start it TODAY out of interest and imagination. Decide later on if it is still worth doing. @signedMARCO

— signed MARCO (@signedMARCO) April 27, 2020

[3] Keep on writing and uploading quality TEXTUAL CONTENT. It’s never a question on my end as I’ve got over 200 highly textual articles. What worried me during my resubmission were the articles which I outsourced from my blog sponsors. I knew a few of them appear verbatim on other sites, but I got no knowledge about the real score. It was a big work ahead if ever.

Instead of deleting, setting to private, or rewriting them, I kept on writing more and more original posts — one quality article of around 1000 words per day. In two weeks straight, I had the duplicated content pushed below the significant percentage.

[4] Remove all other THIRD-PARTY ADS running on your site. I thought I resolved the error with such pile of fresh and original articles, but I still received the same notice after another attempt. Still, it wasn’t enough or not the culprit after all. I had Innity ads and SiteGround affiliate banners still running across the pages of this site. Although I have proven myself that these ad networks are compatible with Google AdSense, the error notice particularly mentions ‘excessive advertising.’

I suspected that during the crawls, Google AdSense discovered existing ads and assumed that further placements would lead to such excessive advertising. So I removed all the ad codes (even the ads.txt file), and resubmitted the domain for the nth time.

[5] Remove RSS FEEDS from other sites, even from those you already own. Instead of getting hopeless, I became even more aggressive figuring out the problem. I had to pause the resubmission for review for a few days. As I wrote though, I’d give Google AdSense one last try before venturing into sponsorships and affiliate marketing.

Then I remembered that on the sidebar of my ‘about’ page, I once decided to maximize the display with three recent post titles (RSS feeds) from my other all-text website acadshare[dot] com (actually vice versa). I removed the feeds and gave Google AdSense that one last try.

Surprisingly, I got the bittersweet approval to run ads again two days after the resubmission. While I tried almost everything as I detailed out, I guess that ‘valuable inventory: templated page’ error was caused by the RSS feeds on my end. It might be worse on your end, so better start figuring it out!