When to apply for adsense?

How long after a site is new?

[edd1]

How long after you post a new site should you apply for adsense. In the past I've always applied for it years after the site was first active. Now we have a new site and its full of good and varied content, perfect for adsense but don't know whether to put ads on it or not. Could it keep the site in the sandbox longer or prevent other SEs ranking it quickly. Really not sure what to do - would love to put the google search bar on there.

[ronburk]

I read all the posts about the dangers of starting AdSense when your site is small. Finally went and did it anyway. No problems. Even accidentally clicked on my own ad once; told Google, got my "bad boy -- don't do that anymore" reply, they seemed very reasonable and pleasant to my low-traffic site.

And really, when you look at the Google profit numbers, they surely *need* all those thousands of low-traffic sites (the "power of the long tail") to make sure they've got ad space to sell in every conceivable topic area, no matter how obscure. IMO.

One big advantage is that you start to get an early feel of a) what the potential profitability of your chosen topic area is and b) which sub-topics have a better return on investment.

The alternative to me seems to be to refuse to accept payment you could be getting while your site is growing and do a lot of work in the blind, not knowing if it's going to be worth it or whether you are giving the most attention to the most profitable directions.

[edd1]

Sounds like great advice, but I think my main concern is can it affect the natural growth in the search engine listings. In other words, would your site hits rise more quickly, less quickly or the same? I know it's always a guess but wonder what people think.