Google is “Retiring” AdSense Referrals

Google will be retiring the AdSense Referrals program during the last week of August. Are you a Google Affiliate or Publisher? Here are some alternative options they are asking users to consider before this version of AdSense goes away:

The Google Affiliate Network as part of the integration of DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate Network, will now operate as the Google Affiliate Network for advertisers targeting users located in the United States.

The AdSense Referrals program enables publishers to apply for advertiser programs and get paid based on advertiser-defined actions instead of clicks or impressions. For further details, please visit: www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork.

AdSense for content ads *NOTE: If you have less than three AdSense for content ad units on a page, you may wish to replace the referral ad units with standard AFC ad units. If you currently use referral ads, either to promote Google products or offerings from AdWords advertisers, AdSense Referrals code will no longer display ads beginning the last week of August. Google is encouraging you to take the following steps before the product is retired:

1. Remove the referral code from your site(s): Remove all referral code from your sites before the last week of August, so you can continue to effectively monetize your ad space.

2. Run and save all referrals reports on your desktop: Create and save all reports related to the referrals program on your desktop, so you continue to have access to your valuable campaign information.

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Why is this happening?

We are constantly looking for ways to improve AdSense by developing and supporting features which drive the best monetization results for our publishers. Sometimes, this requires retiring existing features so we can focus our efforts on the ones that will be most effective in the long term. For this reason, we will be retiring the AdSense Referrals program. If you have any additional questions, contact the Help Center.
The Google AdSense Team”

So could this effect what you earn from your referrals? You might want to check your AdSense Account and make the necessary changes as announced by Google.

Source: Google