'noindex' Error Blocking AdSense? A 3-Step Fix for Blogger

Quick Overview:

Posts "Excluded by 'noindex' tag"? This AdSense-blocking error is common on Blogger. Here’s the 3-step fix to get your site indexed.

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'noindex' Error Blocking AdSense? A 3-Step Fix for Blogger

It’s the most soul-crushing error. You’ve written 20, 30, or even 50 high-quality tech articles. You apply for AdSense, wait two weeks, and get rejected for "Site Under Construction" or "No Content."

How? You have 50 posts! You check Google Search Console (GSC) and see the horrifying message under "Pages":

Excluded by 'noindex' tag

This means you've been telling Google, "Don't look at my site!" The AdSense bot obeys, sees an empty blog, and rejects you.

This is a common, frustrating Blogger-specific problem. Don't panic. Here is the 3-step fix to get your site indexed and ready for AdSense approval.

Step 1: Understand *Why* Blogger is Using "noindex"

This error is almost never because of a single post. It's a sitewide setting. In Blogger, this happens for two main reasons:

1. Your Custom robots.txt is wrong and blocking Google.
2. Your Custom robots header tags are wrong and telling Google "do not index" on every post.

We will fix both. This 3-part solution will set your site up correctly for indexing and AdSense.

Step 2: The 3-Part Fix for Blogger's 'noindex' Error

Follow these steps exactly. This will fix 99% of "noindex" issues on Blogger.

Part 1: Check Your Main Blogger Settings

This is the master switch. We need to make sure it's on.

1. In your Blogger Dashboard, go to Settings.
2. Scroll down to the "Crawlers and indexing" section.
3. Find "Enable custom robots header tags".
4. Make sure this switch is ON (blue). This is what allows you to control indexing.

Part 2: Set the *Correct* Custom Robots Header Tags

This is the #1 culprit. Most new users get this backward. These settings are "traffic signs" you give to Google's bots. Here's what they mean in plain English:

• all: This is the big GREEN LIGHT. It tells Google: "You are allowed to index this page and show it in your search results. Come on in!"
• noindex: This is the big RED LIGHT. It tells Google: "Stop! Do not show this page in your search results. Hide it from the public."
• nosnippet: This tells Google: "You can index this page, but DO NOT show a text description (a 'snippet') under the title." This is useful for hiding the messy, repetitive link lists on tag pages.
• noodp: This is a useless, ancient tag from the 2000s. It told Google "Do not use a description from the Open Directory Project (DMOZ)." DMOZ has been dead since 2017, but the tag is harmless. We check it just to be thorough.

Now, let's apply these signs to the right pages.

1. In that same "Crawlers and indexing" section, click on "Home page tags".
   • Check all (The green light for your most important page)
   • Check noodp (The harmless old tag)
   • Click Save.
2. Click on "Archive and search page tags".
   • Check noindex (The red light for your low-value tag pages)
   • Check nosnippet (The "no description" tag, just in case)
   • Click Save.
3. Click on "Post and page tags".
   • Check all (The green light for all your high-value articles)
   • Check noodp (The harmless old tag)
   • Click Save.

Critical AdSense Pro-Tip: Why do we set "Archive and search page tags" to noindex? Because AdSense *hates* tag pages. They see them as "thin content" (a page that's just a list of links). By telling Google "don't index these," you are only showing AdSense your *real*, high-value articles. This one setting fixes both "noindex" AND "thin content" rejections.

Part 3: Check an Individual Post (Just in Case)

Sometimes, a single post has the wrong setting.

1. Go to "Posts" and open any post you want indexed.
2. In the post editor, on the right-hand side, find "Custom robots tags".
3. Make sure it is set to "Default".
4. If it's *not* on Default, check it. The "Default" setting will use the "Post and page tags" (all, noodp) we just set in Part 2.

Tech & AI Niche Pro-Tip (Advanced): If you prefer to use a manual robots.txt file instead of the UI settings, you *must* enable "Enable custom robots.txt" and paste in the correct code. This is the *only* code you should use.

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google
Disallow:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /search
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://www.tateytech.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.tateytech.com/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500

---

What This Code Means (A Simple Translation)

Think of this as a "bouncer's list" for your blog. Here's what it says:

• The VIP Pass: The first two lines (`User-agent: Mediapartners-Google` and `Disallow:`) give the Google AdSense bot a VIP pass to look at everything.
• The Velvet Rope: The next two lines (`User-agent: *` and `Disallow: /search`) tell all other bots to *ignore* your messy "search" and "label" pages. This is critical for preventing "thin content" errors.
• The Helpful Maps: The two `Sitemap:` lines hand Google *two* different maps to your site. This is a "belt-and-suspenders" approach, making absolutely sure they can discover and index all your articles fast.

Step 3: Tell Google to Re-Index Your Site (Validate the Fix)

Now that you've fixed the problem, you need to tell Google to check again.

1. Go to your Google Search Console.
2. Click on "Pages" in the left menu.
3. Find and click on the "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" error.
4. A new page will load showing the error details. In the top-right corner, click the button that says "Validate Fix".

That's it! You've told Google you fixed the problem. It may take a few days or even a week, but you will start to see your pages move from "Excluded" to "Indexed." Once they are indexed, you are ready to re-apply for AdSense.

Why Trust This Guide? (My 'noindex' AdSense Story)

This is not theory. I've lived it. When I launched one of my first tech blogs, I was rejected for "Site Under Construction" despite having 30+ posts.

• Experience: I opened GSC and saw the same error: 50+ pages "Excluded by 'noindex' tag". I was horrified. My settings were completely backward.
• Expertise: I realized my "Archive" pages were being indexed, but my "Post" pages were not. Google saw my site as 10 "thin content" tag pages instead of 30 high-value articles. This guide contains the *exact* 3 steps I took to fix the settings.
• Authoritativeness: After I validated the fix, my pages were indexed within a week.
• Trustworthiness: Two weeks later, with a fully indexed site that Google could *actually see*, I was **approved for AdSense**. This guide is the blueprint to solve that exact problem.

Indexing & AdSense FAQs

Why are my archive/tag pages set to 'noindex'?

This is a good thing! You *want* them to be "noindex". AdSense often rejects sites for "thin content" if they see your tag pages (which are just lists of links) in the index. By noindexing them, you force Google and AdSense to *only* look at your high-quality, original blog posts.

How long does "Validate Fix" take in GSC?

Be patient. Google says it can take "up to two weeks," but I've often seen it start working within 2-3 days. You will get an email from GSC when the validation process starts and finishes.

Will this fix my "low-value content" rejection?

This fixes the *first* and most important part. If Google can't *see* your content (because of 'noindex'), it's automatically "low-value." Fixing this gets your content indexed. After this, if you *still* get a "low-value" rejection, you need to focus on improving your E-E-A-T and content quality.

Discover More TateyTech Tools

Getting indexed is Step 1. Make sure your site is fully compliant with these other essential tools:

• Free Website Privacy Policy Generator (AdSense & Blogger Compliant)
• Contact Us Page Generator (Builds E-E-A-T Trust)
• Free Terms of Conditions Generator for Blogs