If you have been running a Blogger blog on a free blogspot subdomain and recently switched to a custom domain, there is a good chance you are asking yourself this exact question. I know because I was in that same position not too long ago, staring at my blog wondering whether all the work I put into getting AdSense approved was about to go to waste.
The short answer is no, the approval does not transfer automatically. But the longer answer, which is what this post is really about, is actually more helpful than that simple no. Because understanding what actually happens when you switch domains, and what you need to do about it, is what will save you from making the wrong move and potentially complicating your AdSense account.
Let me walk you through the whole thing from my own experience.
What Happens to Your AdSense Approval When You Add a Custom Domain
When you first get approved for AdSense through Blogger using your blogspot.com address, what you receive is called a hosted AdSense account. This type of account is tied to the Google-hosted platform you applied through. In this case, that platform is Blogger.
A hosted account is different from a standard non-hosted account. With a hosted account, your approval essentially covers your blog as it lives on Blogger's infrastructure under the blogspot.com subdomain. When you buy a custom domain and connect it to your Blogger blog, your domain changes, but your AdSense account does not automatically update to recognize the new one.
What this means practically is that once you connect your custom domain, ads may stop showing on your blog. That is exactly what happened to me. I connected my custom domain, everything looked fine on the surface, but the ads disappeared. No errors, no obvious warning, just no ads.
If you are going through something similar, that is not a sign that your AdSense account has been suspended or that something went badly wrong. It simply means your new domain has not been approved under your AdSense account yet, and you need to take action to fix that.
Why Ads Stop Showing After You Switch to a Custom Domain
The reason this happens comes down to how AdSense verifies and approves websites. When Google approved your blogspot blog, they reviewed that specific site. Your custom domain is technically a new site from AdSense's perspective, even though it is the same blog with the same content sitting on the same Blogger platform.
Google needs to verify ownership of the new domain and confirm that it meets their program policies before ads can run on it. Until that happens, the ads will not show, regardless of whether your AdSense account is in good standing.
This is something a lot of Blogger users do not know before they make the switch. They assume that because their content has not changed and their Blogger account is the same, the approval carries over. It does not, and finding that out after the fact can be pretty stressful if you were already earning from your blog.
What I Did When My Ads Stopped Showing
When my ads stopped showing after connecting my custom domain, I did what most bloggers do. I started searching for answers. I found a lot of conflicting information. Some people said you just need to add the new domain in AdSense under Sites and wait for it to be reviewed. Others said you need to apply from scratch with a brand new AdSense account, which is completely wrong advice, by the way. Never create a second AdSense account. Google only allows one account per person, and creating a second one can get both accounts banned.
What I ended up doing was going back into my AdSense account and reapplying with my custom domain. Not creating a new account, but submitting my custom domain for review through my existing AdSense account. This is the correct approach, and it worked. I got re-approved for my custom domain without losing my AdSense account or having to start completely from scratch.
The process felt nerve-wracking at the time because I was not sure if submitting again would be treated as a new application and whether my previous approval history would count for anything. But it went through without any major issues, and my ads were back up after the review was complete.
The Difference Between a Hosted and Non-Hosted AdSense Account
Understanding this distinction will make the whole situation a lot clearer, so it is worth spending a moment on it.
A hosted AdSense account is what you get when you apply through a Google-owned platform like Blogger or YouTube. The approval is granted at the platform level, which means your ads are allowed to run on that platform. When you move to a custom domain, you are stepping outside of that hosted environment, and your hosted account needs to be upgraded to cover the new domain.
A non-hosted account is what you end up with once your custom domain is approved. This type of account has more flexibility. It allows you to run ads on any site you own, not just one that is hosted on a Google platform. So in a way, adding a custom domain and going through the review process is actually an upgrade, even though it does not feel like one when your ads have just stopped showing.
According to Google's official AdSense help documentation, hosted accounts can be upgraded to show ads on non-hosted sites by adding the new site and going through a review. That is the process I went through, and it is the right path for anyone in this situation.
Step by Step: How to Get Your Custom Domain Approved in AdSense
If you have already connected your custom domain to your Blogger blog and your ads have stopped showing, here is what you need to do.
Step 1: Make Sure Your Custom Domain Is Properly Connected
Before doing anything in AdSense, confirm that your custom domain is working correctly. Type your domain into a browser and make sure it loads your blog without any errors. Check that your SSL certificate is active, meaning your site should be loading with HTTPS and not HTTP. If there are connection errors or your site is not loading properly, sort those out first before approaching AdSense.
Step 2: Log Into Your Existing AdSense Account
Do not create a new account. Go to adsense.google.com and sign in with the same Google account you used when you first got approved. Everything needs to happen within this existing account.
Step 3: Add Your Custom Domain as a New Site
In your AdSense dashboard, look for the Sites section in the left-hand menu. Click on it and then click Add Site. Enter your custom domain in the field provided. Make sure you enter the root domain correctly, for example yourdomain.com, without any extra subfolders or page paths.
Step 4: Connect the AdSense Code to Your Blogger Theme
After adding your site, AdSense will give you a code snippet to add to your blog. For Blogger users, this goes into your theme HTML, placed between the opening and closing head tags. Go to your Blogger dashboard, navigate to Theme, click Edit HTML, and paste the code in the correct location. Save the theme after adding it.
Step 5: Request a Review
Once the code is in place, go back to AdSense and request a review of your new site. Google will then crawl your custom domain and evaluate it against their program policies. This review can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the current review queue.
Step 6: Wait and Keep Your Blog Active
During the review period, keep publishing content and make sure your blog is fully accessible. Do not make major changes to your theme or remove any pages while the review is in progress. Keep everything stable and let Google do their work.
Will Google Treat This as a Brand New Application?
This is probably the question most people worry about, and it is a fair one. The honest answer is that Google will review your custom domain as they would any new site submission. They will check your content, your site structure, your pages, and whether everything aligns with their AdSense program policies.
However, because you already have an approved AdSense account in good standing, you are not starting completely from zero. Your account history counts for something. The main thing Google is evaluating is whether your custom domain site is ready to host ads, which means the same quality standards that got you approved the first time still apply.
This is actually good news if your content is solid. If you built a real blog with original, helpful content, the review process for your custom domain should go smoothly. The issues tend to arise when bloggers switch to a custom domain but their blog content is still thin or their site structure is incomplete.
If you are unsure whether your blog meets the standard Google expects before you request a review, it helps to go through a checklist first. Understanding how many posts are typically expected before AdSense approval gives you a useful baseline to work from before you submit.
What If Your Custom Domain Review Gets Rejected?
It happens. Even with a previously approved account, the custom domain review can come back with a rejection. This is not the end of the road, but it does mean there is something on your site that Google is not happy with.
The most common reasons for rejection at this stage include content that has become thin over time, missing essential pages like an About page, Contact page, or Privacy Policy, or issues with how the site loads and navigates on mobile. Sometimes the problem is something as specific as a post that edges into restricted content territory without the owner realizing it.
If you receive the message telling you there are issues to fix before your site is ready, that message is actually your roadmap. Go through what the "fix some issues" AdSense message means in detail, address each one systematically, and then request another review once the fixes are in place.
Do not rush the resubmission. Give yourself at least a couple of weeks after making changes so that Google has time to recrawl your updated content before the review team looks at it again.
Should You Switch to a Custom Domain Before Applying for AdSense?
If you have not applied for AdSense yet and you are planning to eventually move to a custom domain anyway, this section is for you.
The simpler path, based on my experience and what most Blogger users report, is to connect your custom domain first and then apply for AdSense. When you apply with a custom domain from the beginning, you skip the hosted-to-non-hosted transition entirely. Your approval comes in as a non-hosted account right away, your custom domain is covered from day one, and you do not have to go through a second review cycle later.
There is also a practical SEO reason to do this. Your custom domain is what you want ranking in Google search, not your blogspot address. The sooner you establish your custom domain and get it indexed, the better. Applying for AdSense with your custom domain already in place means your monetization is aligned with your long-term domain from the start.
That said, if you already have AdSense approval on your blogspot address and you just switched, you are not in a bad position. The re-approval process through your existing account is the right route, and it works. It just requires a bit of patience.
Common Mistakes to Avoid During This Process
A few mistakes come up repeatedly when Blogger users try to navigate this transition, and they are worth calling out directly.
Creating a Second AdSense Account
This is the biggest one. When ads stop showing and people get frustrated, the temptation is to start fresh with a new email address and a new AdSense account. This will get you banned. Google has a strict one-account-per-publisher policy, and violating it has serious consequences for your ability to ever use AdSense. Always work within your existing account.
Submitting the Wrong URL Format
When adding your custom domain in AdSense, make sure you enter the correct format. In most cases, this means entering the root domain without www, for example yourdomain.com rather than www.yourdomain.com. Some setups work differently, so check how your domain is configured and enter it in the format that matches how your site actually loads.
Not Adding the AdSense Code to Your Theme
Some Blogger users add their domain in AdSense but forget to add the verification code to their theme. Without the code, Google cannot verify that you own the domain, and the review cannot proceed. Always confirm the code is properly placed in your theme before requesting a review.
Making Changes Mid-Review
Once you have requested a review, try to leave things alone. Changing your theme, removing pages, or publishing a large volume of new content all at once while a review is in progress can disrupt the process. Keep your blog stable during the review window.
Does Your Blogspot Blog Still Work After You Switch Domains?
One thing worth clarifying is what happens to your original blogspot address when you connect a custom domain. Blogger automatically sets up a redirect from your old blogspot URL to your new custom domain. So anyone who visits your old blogspot address gets redirected to your custom domain automatically.
This redirect is good for SEO purposes because it preserves the link equity and traffic that your blogspot address had built up. It also means your existing readers who have bookmarked the old address will still find you without any confusion.
From an AdSense perspective, the blogspot address essentially goes dormant once you connect a custom domain. The ads run on the custom domain after it is approved, not on the blogspot redirect. This is another reason why getting the custom domain properly approved in AdSense matters, it is where all your real traffic will be going.
What About Blogs That Got Rejected Before Switching Domains
This situation comes up sometimes. A blogger applies for AdSense on their blogspot address, gets rejected, then buys a custom domain thinking the switch will somehow reset things. That is not how it works.
If your blog was rejected because of content quality issues, missing pages, or policy violations, switching to a custom domain does not fix any of that. The same issues that caused the rejection will still be there on your custom domain because the content is the same. The domain name is just an address. What Google cares about is what is on the site.
If this applies to you, fix the underlying issues first. Read through what the site under construction AdSense rejection actually means and how to resolve it, because many of the issues that cause that specific rejection are the same ones that lead to broader content quality problems. Address those properly, then connect your custom domain and apply.
Taking shortcuts at this stage almost always leads to more rejections and more frustration. The foundational work matters more than the domain name.
How Long Does the Custom Domain Review Take
In my experience, the review for my custom domain took about a week. Some people report getting a decision in two or three days. Others wait up to two weeks or slightly longer during busy periods. There is no way to speed up the process once you have submitted, so the best thing to do is use the waiting time productively.
Keep publishing content. Keep building internal links between your posts. Make sure your site is properly indexed in Google Search Console. All of these things strengthen your blog during the review window and put you in a better position regardless of how the review goes.
If more than three weeks have passed with no update, check your AdSense account for any messages or notifications. Sometimes there is a flag on the account that needs to be addressed, or a verification step that was missed. Reaching out to AdSense support through your account dashboard is also an option if you are genuinely stuck.
One More Thing Worth Knowing
When your custom domain gets approved in AdSense, your account transitions from a hosted account to a non-hosted one. This is actually a broader approval than what you had before. A non-hosted AdSense account can be used to monetize other websites you own, not just your Blogger blog. So if you ever start a second blog or website in the future, you can add it to the same AdSense account without going through a full new application, as long as the new site also meets the program policies.
This is one of the underrated benefits of going through the custom domain upgrade process. It feels like a hassle in the moment, but the end result is a more flexible AdSense account that can grow with you as you build more online properties.
And if you have been wondering whether Blogspot blogs can even get AdSense approved in the first place, the answer is yes, they absolutely can. The platform itself is not a barrier. What matters is the quality and compliance of your content, whether you are on a blogspot subdomain or a custom domain.
Wrapping Up
Switching to a custom domain on Blogger does not automatically transfer your AdSense approval. Ads will likely stop showing once the domain changes, and you will need to add your custom domain in your existing AdSense account and go through a review to get things running again.
The process is straightforward once you know what to do. Log into your existing AdSense account, add your custom domain under Sites, place the verification code in your Blogger theme, and request a review. Do not create a new account, do not panic when the ads stop, and do not rush the process.
I went through this myself, and while it felt uncertain at the time, it worked out. My custom domain got approved, my ads came back, and the account I ended up with was actually stronger than what I had before. If you approach this the right way, the same outcome is absolutely within reach for you.
Take your time, follow the steps, and give Google the chance to review your site properly. The approval will come.
See you in my next post 😊
