In this article, we walk you through ways to fix the YouTube Step 2 Error for Google Adsense when monetizing a YouTube channel. We also cover our own experience of getting the step 2 error and how we went about solving it.

YouTube Step 2 Error Explained

The Step 2 error occurs when you try to connect a Google Adsense account to YouTube for monetization. The step two error message looks like this.

It says that your associated Google Adsense account was disapproved. Adsense lets you solve issues to comply with Adsense program policies. Later, you can resubmit your request again through the Adsense website. Yet, if you look around Adsense program policies, they are mostly applicable to websites. There is very little information about YouTube monetization issues.

How To Solve a YouTube Step 2 Error

As it stands now, there is no way to get in touch with Google Adsense. There is no chat, phone number, email or anything else for that matter. That was the biggest surprise for us, given the size of Google. You would think that Adsense will have some way to get in touch with them, but no. Therefore, there are really very few ways to fix the YouTube step 2 error.

1. Close Duplicate Google Adsense Account

The typical reason for a step 2 error is having a duplicate Adsense account under the same name. You need to delete your old Adsense account first, if you want to connect your new Adsense account. Otherwise, Google will see this as a duplicate attempt and throw a step 2 error at you.

Once you delete your duplicate Adsense account, you will have a chance to resubmit your application to connect your Adsense account to YouTube. You can do so through the Google Adsense website.

2. Get Access to YouTube Chat Support

In case you do not have any duplicate Adsense accounts, then the only way to solve the step 2 error is through YouTube chat support. The chat is available to anyone enrolled in the YouTube partner program. To start a chat, click on the chat icon in the upper right corner of your YouTube Studio webpage.

Just be aware that you must convince the YouTube representative to create a ticket for you. If they do not create a ticket for you, you will be beating around the bush with them and get nowhere. Once they create a ticket for you, YouTube will get in touch with Adsense program through their internal channels. It may take several weeks to solve the step 2 error.

But, if you are in the process of getting monetized on YouTube, you won’t have access to this chat. This leads to another risky strategy some desperate content creators employ.

3. Ask Someone with Access to YouTube Chat Support for Help

If you know someone you can trust, you can ask them to access YouTube chat support on behalf of your channel. This person must have a monetized channel to have access to the chat support. To do so, you will need to grant this person a manager’s role for your YouTube channel. Then, he or she can talk to YouTube chat support and create a ticket for you.

While this is a viable strategy, it is a risky one. You must know well this person because he or she can do many things to your channel using a manager’s role.

4. Other Strategies to Fix a YouTube Step 2 Error

While researching the step 2 error, I came across a few suggestions. Before connecting your Adsense account to YouTube, fill out all necessary forms and information on Adsense. This includes addresses, tax information and anything else you may have left out. It may help in your case.

Our Experience with YouTube Step 2 Error (Business Adsense)

The background for our situation is this. There are two types of Adsense accounts you can create: individual and business. In our case, I created an individual Adsense account under my personal name. Then, I connected it to our YouTube channel. We had no issues because that was my first Adsense account.

Connecting Business Adsense Account

Yet, this is where things got different for us. Shortly, we decided to have a business company for all our YouTube channels. So, I created a separate business Adsense account. When you do so, you must list your organization name and the name of a contact person.

In our case, I listed my name as a contact. This was the same name as on my individual Adsense account connected to YouTube. Next, I disconnected my individual Adsense account from YouTube. Then, I submitted a request to connect our business Adsense account to our channel.

About several days later we got a rejection. The typical email from Adsense said that there could be many reasons. But one of them is a duplicate account. However, why would Google think that my personal and business accounts are duplicates? Yes, I used the same name for both individual and business Adsense accounts. But, our business account was under our organization name, not my personal name. I listed myself only as a contact person. It could be that this triggered the rejection for us.

Thinking that this is the issue, I closed my individual Adsense account. Then, I resubmitted the request to connect my business Adsense account to YouTube again. About 5 days later, we got a rejection again. This time, I had no clue what is going on.

Getting in Touch with YouTube Chat Support

Luckily, we were part of the YouTube partner program at that time and had access to YouTube chat support. After I contacted YouTube through the chat support, they created a ticket for us. This ticket was later redirected to Adsense internal team to solve.

It took YouTube over 3 weeks to get back to us. Actually, they did not get back to us. Instead, I noticed that our business Adsense account got connected to YouTube.

I tried to ask YouTube chat support what caused this problem. But, the reply from YouTube was that it was the Adsense internal team who solved our problem. YouTube support staff could not confirm the reason for our problem. Overall, YouTube support staff were very friendly and helpful throughout the resolution process.

Lessons from Our Step 2 Error Experience

There are several lessons that you can draw from our experience with connecting a business Adsense account.

Duplicate Adsense Account

Having a duplicate Google Adsense account is the typical reason for getting a step 2 error. So, as I said, make sure there is no other Adsense account that exists under your name. If a duplicate account exists, delete it first.

But as you can see, deleting such an account may not solve the problem, as it was in our case. My only explanation is that there needs to be certain time to pass for Google to close an Adsense account. If we waited 2+ weeks before attempting to connect our business Adsense account again, the issue may not have been there. But, I do not know this for sure.

YouTube Chat Support is King

If you got a step 2 error message, your best bet is to contact the YouTube partner program chat. In case you do not have access to that chat, your only other option is to ask someone else. If we did not have access to this chat support, we would have been in trouble.

Thinking of Starting a Company for YouTube Business?

If you are pondering over forming a company for your YouTube business, the time could be now. As you can see, we had to wait for over 3 weeks to get this problem solved. If you are earning money from YouTube with your individual Adsense account, your earnings will be foregone. Yes, you earn nothing while you wait for your problem to get solved.

If you find yourself going down our route, you can do the following. When creating a business Adsense account, consider having someone else under the contact name. If you have a multi-member company, you can include the other co-owner’s name on application. Doing so may not trigger Google’s duplicate accounts rejection.

Concluding Remarks

We still do not know for sure what happened and what caused YouTube step 2 error. But our problem got solved thanks to access to YouTube chat support. If you have any thoughts or other suggestions on how to solve step 2 error, please let us know in the comments or get in touch with us.