A WebmasterWorld thread asks a question we once touched on in the past, how should AdSense publishers plan for death?
We wrote about this in a post I wrote named AdSense Publisher Ponder Death back in 2005. Besides for the steps one should take to make it easy for a family member, friend, business partner, etc, take over their AdSense account - what does Google do?
Google's AdSenseAdvisor said this is not an atypical question:
We get quite a few emails about this issue, from both publishers and their surviving relatives. Different people choose to deal with the AdSense accounts of deceased publishers in different ways. It's always good to have a plan, but we understand that many people don't.While I can't offer you a "right" answer to the question, know that the team is extremely sensitive to these situations and will work with publishers and their survivors to make sure everything is resolved as smoothly and comfortably as possible.
But seriously, what are the steps Google would take to know when or how to transfer the holdings and management of an AdSense account in case of death?
AdSenseAdvisor promised to get us the official answer:
This is an important discussion. I'm going to escalate this issue through my team and find out what your best course of action is now.
I will report back as soon as I see the answer.
We did document the process to Getting Access to Gmail Accounts of the Deceased, so hopefully we will be able to document the process of gaining access to AdSense accounts of the deceased. Because you can never be too prepared.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.