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Google drops Adsense referral scheme

Google has ditched its Adsense referral scheme outside the Americas and Japan in a move that has not gone down well with some of its publishing partners.

The programme, which rewards sites that introduce new users to Adsense, will be “retired” in the last week of January, according to a post on the service’s blog. 

So what does this tell us...?

Well, it suggests that Adsense is nearing market saturation, at least among publishers that are large enough to generate fees for sites that refer them. Smaller publishers, the veritable Long Tail, might not be worth the referral fees Google has been paying out.

The Google announcement offers little in the way of explanation, except to say the scheme had “not performed as well” as Google had hoped. It also doesn't include regional referral data in its financial results.

Google said users would still be able to earn cash by encouraging sign-ups to other Adsense-related products.

Nevertheless, there seem to be some unhappy publishers out there, judging by responses to the news on the Adsense blog and other news sites.

All that aside, we still can't believe that Yahoo hasn't launched its Publisher Network here in the UK, more than two years after rolling it out in the US. Adsense generates vast revenues for Google, and publishers would love more competition in this area, but the folks at Yahoo don't seem to recognise a no-brainer when they see one. 

Related research: Online Ad Networks Buyer's Guide




Reader Comments

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1. Adsense Referrals didnt perform well anyway. At least on my site
This is yet another reason to look for other Programs beside Adsense.
Unforunally thats not possible for my kind of website. Wanne see why?
Check it out: www.AdFlora.com
2. Many people have observed their Adsense earnings dropping since they started monetizing through Google Adsense. A possible explanation could be that some of the sites their Adsense accounts are on have low click-through-rates (CTRs), thus it affects their overall Adsense earnings even on sites which have high CTRs. One can try removing all adsense ads from such low-performing sites, to see if one's Adsense earnings do improve after a week or so.

However, quite some internet marketing gurus these days feel that the "Adsense Game" may not be as profitable in the past, and it is a known fact that many people who used to have numerous sites to play the Adsense method have since decided not to renew their domain name subscriptions. A good way of earning through internet marketing would be through List-Building and through Affiliate Marketing. List-building creates a good relationship with one's clients and customers, and the long term relationships lead to repeat sales and much bigger purchases due to the trust and respect built up over time in servicing and giving value to one's list members. Affiliate Marketing on the other hand earns you a lot more per sale, as compared to typical Google Adsense clicks which leads the traffic away from your website.

To this effect, to learn more about the proven techniques and strategies used in Internet Marketing, I would strongly recommend the FREE and value-overloaded online <A HREF="http://internetmarketingschool.org"> Marketing School</A>. For those willing to pay a small but affordable monthly subscription of USD20, the up-and-coming <A HREF="http://world-internet-academy.org"> Internet Academy</A> portal offers superb step-by-step guidance on all the key foundational subjects of marketing online!
3. Adsense - God, please don't get me started. It's mostly used by site owners that can't make money off their sites own back, and resort to affiliate programs to meet running costs. Running a website is hard work and not a 'game', it's a serious business, where reputations are at stake. If you can't do it properly, then don't do it at all, and this is why many fail.

As soon as I see anything adsense or affiliate - I click off that site. Why can't people do something good in this world........ and for the internet, which is much needed.


www.eventdomain.co.uk
4. are you sure its for Japan and outside Americas?

so that means, if my visitors are Americans, I can still have this program?

what about Firefox? I hope that dont go....
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