192

Adsense Slaps Foreign Webmasters in the Face

Posted January 8th, 2008 by Jeremy Schoemaker

Google today announced they are changing their referal payout system and some big publishers really feel its a slap in the face.

Here are the 2 key points:

If you’re in North America, Latin America, or Japan, the pricing structure for AdSense referrals is changing.

What does it mean? Basically that you are going to make less money… a lot less money. Ill sumerize it for you. The current payment structure you get $5 who makes $5 (in 180 days). You get $250 for referring someone who makes $100 (in 180 days) and if you refer 25 people who make $100 within 180 days you get a BONUS PAYMENT of $2000 WOOT.

What is it going to? Well its going back to the old you only get $100 if you refer $100.

So why does this suck? Well I am guessing 80% or more of the people refered make less then $100 in 180 days. This means you get BUTKUS:

OK so I hear you foreigners… This doesnt effect you right… Well technically right this rule does not apply to you. Ohh but Adsense has something for you.

If you’re outside of North America, Latin America, and Japan, AdSense referrals will be retired.

They are terminating your referral program completely…. thats right… If you are not in the Americas, or Japan… your done.

From Australian based Darren Rowse AKA Problogger:

Yes you hear me right, its about the location of you as a publisher that excludes you from participating in the AdSense referral system. It’s got nothing to do with your audience’s location, the topic you write about, the quality of your blog or any other factor – it’s about where you blog from.

I’m not privy to the reasoning for this – they simply say ‘We’ve found that this referral product has not performed as well as we had hoped in these regions’ – but in my mind this is stupidity to the ultimate degree.

Hey Indians, Australians, Germans, Brits

What did the five fingers say to the face?

Google Adsense = Rick James

that was…….. coooooooldblooooooded

Disclaimer

Before acting on this post, be sure to read my Disclaimer.

- Comment Likes - Comment Dislikes

192 comments. What say you?

  1. Good Comment?
    Interjeras

    I like very much how YouTube put up the detail that the video was scrubbed by a claim from Viacom. Let’s you know who to vent to.

  2. Good Comment?
    besmele

    a great site. I too enjoy. I wish you success

  3. Good Comment?
    Neely

    You the abstract person

  4. Good Comment?
    sexy costumes

    thank you for your information. Hope to know more information from it.

  5. Good Comment?
    Andreas

    I am from Germany and I follow your posts from time to time. It’s a very good site. Keep on good work and the informative posts!

  6. Good Comment?
    Karsan Nakliyat

    Cool … Thanks for a very informative post.

  7. Good Comment?
    Pi TASARIM

    Thanks for a very informative post. cool .. tnx

  8. Good Comment?
    BusinessX

    I like how YouTube put up the detail that the video was scrubbed by a claim from Viacom. Let’s you know who to vent to.

  9. Good Comment?
    skepto

    Google Adsense is really ripped off. I have a cousin in Kansas and she told me that she wasn’t paid by Google. Imagine that, she’s already there…

  10. Good Comment?
    Web Marketeer

    As a proud South African am used to getting the short end of the stick, sort of like the poor cousin nobody talks about too much….sometimes living and working in a third world country has its advantages and disadvantages!

  11. Good Comment?
    mas

    Thanks for the info, I noticed that info on my adsense, specially foreigner like me

  12. Good Comment?
    alexis

    adsense sucks big time !!

  13. Good Comment?
    John Carnegie

    Thanks for a very informative post. I will send your blog link to my readers!

  14. Good Comment?
    Daniel Andrade

    Damn! This sucka

  15. Good Comment?
    tradeagent

    Damn… Google-Imperials nearly could change whatever they want.

  16. Good Comment?
    Blends

    The rule on their hand so they will take what can make them take all the money.

  17. Good Comment?
    manfixx

    Why are we all so pissed off by google? If they have changed the rules for AdSense, then
    everybody else should change too. My thoughts are international Webmasters
    1. Simply use a forwarding address service from the USA, use an address in the US and have your google cheque forwarded to you anywhere in the world.

    2. This is where JOINT VENTURES should come in big time. Get a partner in the US use their address and they send your goolge cheque to you whare ever you live.

    3. If you have relatives in the US then it makes things even easier.

    What do youn people think.

  18. Good Comment?
    Flash Gamer

    This sucks, good time to start looking at alternatives for PPC

  19. Good Comment?
    Blog Advertising Network

    AdSense sucks. That’s why I decided to start my blog advertising network.

  20. Good Comment?
    SEO Bootcamp Brisbane

    I suspect Google will start to raise the barrier on which sites get access to Adwords. Imagine if the minimum number of daily unique visitors was 500 per day? I suspect that would cut their numbers and management expenses by 90% for very little drop in Adsense revenue.

  21. Good Comment?
    Fat Lester

    AdSense is a horrible decision for any small business and all but a few bloggers. This is especially true if you’re actually making money from it.

    There are several reasons why small companies should avoid doing business with Google at all costs:

    1. Google won’t talk to you. In fact, your company isn’t even important enough for them to provide you with a phone number.

    2. Google reserves the right to ban your account and keep all your earnings for any reason it sees fit and/or no reason at all.

    3. Google doesn’t differentiate between you fraudulently clicking your own ads and your competitors fraudulently clicking your own ads. In either case, your account will be banned and your money withheld – and that includes anything revenue generated by legitimate clicks.

  22. Good Comment?
    SEOContest2008

    Lolzz. Maybe Googles policy on referral changes will increase the number of US immigrant visas ;)

  23. Good Comment?
    Niro

    Hmm .. I just started earning from adsense… shoe I wonder Why you are not using it.. Hmmm I didn’t see. May be thats a trick? So is it not that profitable ?

  24. Good Comment?
    Mad Ape

    Google is a self-righteous and pompous company that is fast becoming a dinosaur!

    The Mad Ape

  25. Good Comment?
    coldtobi

    [ .. ] Logging in to Google, it shows, that Google stops referrals for AdSense. Ok, the only referral I am currently in is for the firefox browser, but I never promoted AdSense in the referral program, but in case you are doing, you probably want to stop advertising for AdSense. [ .. ]

    http://blog.coldtobi.de/blog/coldtobis-blog/monetizing-a-blog/2008/01/24/google-ceases-adsense-referral-in-germany

  26. Good Comment?
    Internet Junkie

    I live in Ireland; yes, the little tiny European country that Americans only seem to acknowledge once a year, on Paddy’s day.
    So, Google is shutting down referrals; I guess I will have to live with that, that is just another program that will not be accessible to us.
    You gotta love us tiny little Europeans for trying so hard to make dollars (which are only worth peanuts to us at the moment, thanks to George Bush and his foreign policy. Why, but why did you have to vote for him?) online when everybody in the U.S (not only Google) is trying to slap us in the face (well, that is when they even notice us, we are so damn tiny!)

  27. Good Comment?
    Mondig

    I was happy with Google Adsense and Adwords. I regret to say that the decision taken by Google has made me change my mind. It was the referrals or the user’s promotion that helped Google gain market on this. All the users who referred Google spent a good amount of time putting up write on website and blogs explaining the Google Adsense system. I spent time in putting up blogs or websites and educating people. All the hard work every one has done is now Zero. I strongly protest against this. I am planning to shift from Google completely to a new PPC service like Yahoo or Bidvertiser. I do not see any point in sticking to Google because now I think they will start making more changes and you may never know what Google will come up with tomorrow. It is a Tight SLAP for all the webmasters who are not from North America, Latin America, and Japan.

    It was the users who promoted Google, now Google thinks it can work without them.

  28. Good Comment?
    PCNews

    CJ make similar move few months ago. referrals are no longer value for ads networks?

  29. Good Comment?
    Webmaster Discussion

    Damn I was really looking forward to becoming a member of the adsense referal scheme but I am from New Zealand, what is this Countryisim?

  30. Good Comment?
    RacerX

    Since it is outside the US that they are doing this with, I wonder if it is due to people or ISPs somehow gaming the system.

  31. Good Comment?
    Francis BEan

    hi

  32. Good Comment?
    Little Guy Network Review

    Yes I’m also foreigner and its not really good new for me.. will have to switch to something else.

  33. Good Comment?
    zaidimai

    as a foreign web developer I had to switch to other PPC network because Adsense payouts become to small…

  34. Good Comment?
    McBilly Wilford

    It’s really a slap in the face and a lot of people are getting angry over this. But that what did the five fingers say to the face video was hilarious! My anger shifted to laughter! LOL. :lol:

  35. Good Comment?
    Aleks

    hahaha i love the Rick James video!!!

  36. Good Comment?
    Peer Wandiger - Selbständig im Internet

    Does somebody knows why google did this? I am from germany and there are many german bloggers who have english language sites. So they have the right audience, but live the wrong country.

  37. Good Comment?
    LittleBoy

    I doubt that such a point will be reached but then again.All Corporations have meetings to count the money and how to squeeze more out every Friday.

  38. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    yeah, I mean they are obviously entitled to do whatever they want, but I just don’t get the reasoning behind it.

  39. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Personally, I doubt that such a point will be reached but then again, with G, you just never know :)

  40. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    As far as figures are concerned yes, but how can you take them seriously as potential long-term partners in the future considering the fact that they are willing to drop people such as Darren Rowse as referrers even though they have been a great asset up until this point?

  41. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    “If you don’t like the way they do business, stop using their services.”

    That’s just the thing though, the more people they piss off like this, the more people WILL stop using their services.

  42. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    not just the Europeans… the Ausies, Africans, and most of the Asians as well.

  43. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Even if they will end up having higher profits for the time being, things will definitely be going downhill if they don’t change their attitude.

  44. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    I don’t know about all that. Everyone hated Microsoft and it’s still around. Maybe in 2 or 3 years everyone will look at them only as another giant monopolistic company rather than some benevolent god of the internet. But they’ll still be around.

  45. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Of course, if your traffic has improved a lot, it is only natural that your earnings from ad networks such as this one go up.

  46. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    Well higher traffic would usually translate into higher earnings. How has your ecm done?

  47. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    I’ve been saying they’re evil for years, it’s nice that Google has begun providing me with some company. :D

  48. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    It’s also one more example of why you shouldn’t have all your income eggs in one basket. ESPECIALLY if that basket is owned by the increasingly greedy Google.

  49. Good Comment?
    Ben Cook

    Darren’s post is a great read, especially since his bottom line is directly affected.

  50. Good Comment?
    Affiliate Confession

    I guess you didn’t read the post, it is pretty clear that the big change refers to internetional publishers.

  51. Good Comment?
    VacationGuy

    i think i already got that audio book

  52. Good Comment?
    VacationGuy

    i’ve had mine go up – but i think its just my niche? and my traffic is better

  53. Good Comment?
    VacationGuy

    so when is google going to start not paying for adsense?

  54. Good Comment?
    Asle Skarpengland

    Yeah, I felt pretty safe myself when I started reading (I’m located in Norway).

    OT: If you put some work into your ads, and place CPA ads (from Tradedoubler or CJ) instead of CPC (from AdSense), you’re bound to make a lot more money. AdSense is fit for random traffic and parked domains. In all other cases, CPA programmes will give you a higher ROI.

  55. Good Comment?
    MoneyMingle

    All Corporations have meetings to count the money and how to squeeze more out every Friday..didn’t you know that?

  56. Good Comment?
    Mark - ProBloggers Matrix

    This is just plain ridiculous. Unbelievable.

  57. Good Comment?
    will

    Agreed. It’s a good thing though. Competition = google better make people happy or they will lose users.

  58. Good Comment?
    SC

    the falling dollar must make it a real B!%^& to pay overseas folks.

  59. Good Comment?
    Adam

    Fuck you, My heart got stopped for awhile. It is about the AdSense product only, not the whole AdSense referrals program. You should elaborate on this.

  60. Good Comment?
    Affiliate Confession

    Men, that Rick James video is seriously funny. That dude was whacked.

  61. Good Comment?
    Affiliate Confession

    Google obviously screwed up on this one. Maybe a few publishers on the international scene messed up, but to not look at a big publisher like Problogger and give him a break is just incredibly witless.

  62. Good Comment?
    Spy Optic

    you dont say

  63. Good Comment?
    Spy Optic

    ha i doubt that

  64. Good Comment?
    Jordan

    I wonder if they consider Antigua and Barbuda a part of Latin America. While we actually are not part of it, many people and businesses in the United States tend to put us in that category.

  65. Good Comment?
    Nicholas James

    Because, its rumoured they are struggling to maintain a solid cash flow whilst paying out these fees to users.

  66. Good Comment?
    BabyGearToday.com

    I guess google is feeling the economic crunch also. LOL!

  67. Good Comment?
    ImNiche

    You have to believe that Google has researched the impact and has figured they would be ahead by doing this.

  68. Good Comment?
    Tudi

    How can they run the program at a loss if they allowed foreign publishers? I don’t get it, it didn’t cost them a dime, it’s the same automated process that works in the US. Am I allowed to say fuck on this blog?

    Then fuck, this is annoying.

  69. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    The problem is the fact that they eliminate long-term business partners such as Darren Rowse from the equation in this manner. If you don’t value your business partners, you will definitely have to lose in the long run.

  70. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Indeed, while their decision will hurt them, it will not be enough to cause some serious damage, but if they keep it up, you never know :)

  71. Good Comment?
    Benson

    While it may injure them, I highly doubt Google will fail over this. They continue to have the referrers in the U.S., Japan, and Latin America which apparently converted better. They continue to have a majority of their AdSense business. They’re still the most popular search engine, and they stilll own YouTube.

  72. Good Comment?
    ATV Style

    And just when you were getting absolutely sick of seeing “YOU HAVE 1445235123 CLICK! – YOU EARNED 1.17 today!”

    Bleh. Google suketh us all dry. I wonder if the kid with the lemonade stand would throw me 5 bucks for my adsense space sometimes. How’s Yahoo! doing ?

  73. Good Comment?
    Arejay

    Google Does make money, remember when you get paid for your click’s, its because someone is paying for that in Adwords, someone who is trying to make money like you, its not Google throwing money for the advertisers. And if you consider yourself a “customer” of Google, that says that you pay for ads on Adwords ? ? And this is no PR fiasco, if it was then goto your local food store, ask 10 people about this issue, they will laugh, even more when you say you get paid to get stuff clicked (why take 10cents to have someone leave your website? if you spend time on it just to have someone click out, its pointless) Google is always hiring people http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/index.html

  74. Good Comment?
    Affiliate Confession

    There are so many more advertising models to Google than there were just 2 years ago. They had better wake up!

  75. Good Comment?
    Arejay

    LOL, guess its time for people to learn how to earn w/o adsense ref’s . No more easy ways to scam the Goog, but I know how upset most of these 3rd world $1USD a day people must feel. I hope this helps all these wishing to make easy money from the Goog, because everyone in a Internet Cafe does it, learns how to make money that will be consistent (maybe even get them there own computer!! WOW!). This is just like when the guy lost his apartment back in mid 2007, when Goog said your not allowed to bid on the keyword “Google Toolbar” (promoting the $2 GPack install on adwords would get $400+ a day in conversions) Now this person has not even been back on the internet, Don’t put all your egg’s (or goat egg’s) in one basket (or bag). Everyone who is crying or Mad, take that energy, and make a Biz plan. Layout your next 6months on a month by month basis, putting items into List’s so you know what you will need to get done. I say to Anyone who is upset, Goto Audible.com and for $7 you can download a Book by Brian Tracy called Eat The Frog … This is a great basis to help ANYONE to focus and have better time and project management and completion.

  76. Good Comment?
    Erica

    Google should find more ways to please their customers by finding more ways for them to MAKE money (the more referrals users are motivated to make, the more moolah for the G team, right??) Instead, they’re starting a potential PR fiasco, angering or at least annoying some of their best customers.

  77. Good Comment?
    InvestorBlogger

    I’m speechless… I can’t believe that… I was about to implement Google referrals on my blog… now I just will remove all my Adsense Ads with immediate effect.

    Kenneth

  78. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Yes, the referral program for people not located in North America, Latin America, or Japan

  79. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    I personally doubt that we will see something of that magnitude in 2008 but who knows what can happen in a couple of years :)

  80. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Indeed, if they keep it up, they will eventually have to face the consequences of their decisions. Sure, it’s their company and they can make whatever decisions they feel like making. But there can and will be consequences if they don’t wake up.

  81. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    I doubt that a high fraud rate is the reason behind their decision, since if it were, they wouldn’t limit that many countries.

  82. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    Indeed, with this kind of an attitude, it’s only a matter of time until the “too much is too much”-effect starts kicking in.

  83. Good Comment?
    Alan Johnson

    If Darren Rowse isn’t the kind of partner they would like to work with, I honestly don’t know who could “qualify”.

  84. Good Comment?
    Suzanne

    Google sucks … I’m glad to see that they are further irritating the very people who use them the most … the sooner they are cut down to size, the better. I don’t promote Google products and I’m glad. It would just be more code to remove. I don’t bother with Adsense either. There are too many alternatives that pay better. Wouldn’t it be a real kick if no one was displaying their products or ads … lol.

  85. Good Comment?
    Affordable SEO - Terry Reeves

    When it is there game, it’s there rules.

  86. Good Comment?
    Making The Money

    What a bunch of c***s! This will have a huge impact on my earnings, not to mention the hundreds of pages I have to go through and remove Adsense affiliate code from.

    I’m seriously considering cutting all ties with Adsense, my earnings have dropped 40% in the last 3 months with the same impressions and same CTR. They’re just not paying as big a percentage to publishers as they used to. Wonder if that’s because I’m in the UK as well?

  87. Good Comment?
    Sabrina's Money Matters

    I think they’re out to pinch pennies and in the process are losing a lot of love.

  88. Good Comment?
    Juan

    This is pure bullshit. I’m from Argentina and we are making less money than guys from other countrys. Just making enough for hosting payment, and now we are going to make LESS?! What the fuck is this?! Grr, that’s the bad thing on depending on Google.

  89. Good Comment?
    Edward

    This probably going to piss off those who are using Adsense referral…

  90. Good Comment?
    Stentorized

    It is so fairly unfair.
    This is a true example of discrimination
    done in a world wide scale.
    problogger is right
    this is “stupendous stupidity”

  91. Good Comment?
    Anthony

    Well you really dropped a bomb shell.. I was thinking “oh thats ok I’m in the UK” when I started reading.

    Oh well Googles cut has been increasing for years, payouts on Contextual advertising is at an all time low because of them. This is just the iceing on the cake if you ask me :)

  92. Good Comment?
    Derek

    (uk and de being the biggest after .com .net that is)

  93. Good Comment?
    Derek

    I’m kinda scratching my head about this one… In terms of domains, the UK and Germany are the biggest, and just read some crap on Sedo the other day about how Australia is really starting to boom.. More domains = more websites which you would think is going to mean more business for Google.. Ok then.

    I’m going to guess that it does have something to do with the low value of the USD compared to other currencies now.

  94. Good Comment?
    Richard

    Wait just a damn minute, Sergy and the other guy! Didn’t Google just see another record quarter for profits? Is this greed or just forward-thinking?

  95. Good Comment?
    Sam Daams

    Hmm, I wonder if this is due to the sliding USD more than anything else? That’s really the only logical reason I can see for this as ads focussed on non US destinations are likely to generate more when converted back to USD. I won’t go into the math behind it, but I’m pretty sure overseas publishers would be more likely to generate more new overseas publishers who in turn appeal more to overseas advertisers for whom in turn the USD has taken at least a 30% drop, so advertising in USD is cheap for a lot of these companies. Makes it a bit easier to hit the magic numbers.

    Either that, or Google has frikkin’ gone and lost it’s mind. Way to be a global organization; focus on less than 10% of the world…. hmmm???

  96. Good Comment?
    SatishSays.com

    Does Google have any shortage of liquidity to take such a drastic step?
    Google sux!!

  97. Good Comment?
    CatherineL

    This is totally ridiculous. I don’t understand what they are hoping to gain by doing this. It just seems like they’re annoying a whole heap of people for no reason.

  98. Good Comment?
    Ninja Steve

    As a ninja I am obliged to assassinate Larry And Sergei.
    I don’t use Adsense personally, but hey!

  99. Good Comment?
    Hyder

    Segregation of the Internet. Part 1.

    I believe there is still more seclusion going to be done by dominant U.S companies in regards to online monetization methods. It’s time for the rest of the world to start thinking of and using other than U.S based affiliate networks monetization methods for making money online.

  100. Good Comment?
    insurance

    hopefully they will come to their senses.

    love the rick james skit.

  101. Good Comment?
    Aahz

    @ Nicole – They did tell people, not sure why there’s no link to it in this post, but here’s one for you: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2008/01/upcoming-referrals-changes.html

    re: the article

    So, what exactly is the problem here? They paid everybody what they promised to pay them right? Does a business no longer have the right to offer only the programs it desires? Their reasoning is right there in the post: “We’ve found that this referral product has not performed as well as we had hoped in these regions.” What’s not to understand.

    Google is a business. This was a business decision. If you don’t like the way they do business, stop using their services. It’s as simple as that. They don’t owe the blogosphere anything (other then specific revenue they promised and apparently delivered).

  102. Good Comment?
    Nicole

    I just now read it again.

    It’s the referral program that gets dropped, not the whole thing, no?

  103. Good Comment?
    Nicole

    Are they planning on informing people about it, or what?
    I haven’t heard anything yet….
    This just plain sucks….!
    I just started, but, mh, oh well.
    At least I can advertise now whoever I want, no?
    My CTR went downhill this month anyway.

    *scratches head and goes looking for something else to promote ;) *

  104. Good Comment?
    Money School

    This really sucks. From now on it´s going downhill for google :) .Well you just got those money else where.

  105. Good Comment?
    Vinny Goldsmith

    It is astounding that Google does something like this. Pinching pennies to save a few bucks? Unbelievable.

  106. Good Comment?
    Vinny Goldsmith

    At Google Adsense Headquarters:

    Hmmm…. let’s see. We have a good program that is generating a lot of referrals. Too much so because we’re spending a lot of money to the referrers. I know – let’s change up the payment structure – that just might make it less successful. Then we won’t have to pay out so much.

    Oh and the Europeans… they can suck on it.

  107. Good Comment?
    esvl

    2008 the year Google falls.

  108. Good Comment?
    McBilly

    Lost thier minds completely! Darren has been such a loyal adsense publisher for the past several years. And not to mention being a big influence in creating a lot more adsense publishers in the US.

  109. Good Comment?
    McBilly

    CJ is actually a good alternative but it also has issues for foreign publishers. Most of the opportunities provided are for US markets only. :(

  110. Good Comment?
    Graham Langdon

    Google doesn’t realize that this is people’s livlihoods they’re playing with. People in Latin America depend on this income, and Google rips the floor out from under them. There needs to be more transparency and more forewarning, and less quick decisions.

  111. Good Comment?
    Nick - road2blogging

    Well just plain stupid if you ask me – next they’ll be cutting down the amount of blogs and sites that ads are displayed on because we’re located in Europe and Australia! silly, silly google. – let’s hope that doesn’t happen though ;-)

  112. Good Comment?
    AndrewPavelski

    That’s str8 ^ lamesauce….thanks for sharing this info.

    BTW>>>I’m really Rick James

  113. Good Comment?
    Affiliate Confession

    Google is sinking their ship with nonsense like this. I give them 2 to 3 more years and they’re done. The only product they really have isn’t a product at all, it’s advertising revenue and it’s going to dry up eventually. The begining of the end.

  114. Good Comment?
    will

    lol. for some reason I just see some high google exec petting his cat and yelling “SQUUZE MORE PROFITS” to his minions and this is what results. yea conan inspired if anyone saw that episode :)

  115. Good Comment?
    Hip Hop

    Wowww I’m moving to England soon :(

  116. Good Comment?
    Spy Optic

    glad i never bothered with that referral system.

  117. Good Comment?
    SlightlyShadySEO

    This completely boggles my mind. Is higher fraud in certain regions a possible cause? Google is definitely not making any friends lately.

  118. Good Comment?
    John Loch

    Ditto. Glad to see someone can see past the cute colored letters. :)

  119. Good Comment?
    devtrench

    Great video to go along with the post!! That really made it cool :)

  120. Good Comment?
    John Loch

    Hey, Google does what works for Google.. god knows its happened often enough.
    The solution is simple. Either stop using their programs, or shut the f*ck up.
    Unlike their index, you don’t have to give a damn about their affiliate programs. There’s a thousand alternatives out there. If you know how to look past what is now dated preschool branding, and I’m presuming you do, then go make some REAL money.

  121. Good Comment?
    Dom

    How utterly, utterly stupid.

  122. Good Comment?
    jim

    guess they have enough signups…

  123. Good Comment?
    Technology Slice

    Talk about alienating a big percentage of your publishers

  124. Good Comment?
    Matt Packer

    Ouch Ouch and Effin Ouch! Referrals have made up the biggest portion of my Adsense revenue, and so basically unless I relocate to the USA or Japan I’m boned…yay for Google..

  125. Good Comment?
    Affiliate Confession

    Google is stupid for pissing off bloggers like you Darren. Have they completely lost their mind?

  126. Good Comment?
    Sans

    Ooops!! I love adsense refferals. Someone please sent me a us immigrant visa!!

  127. Good Comment?
    Neerav

    Speaking as an Australian pro-blogger, this decision is disappointing but not surprising

    Internet marketers in the USA always seem to get beta access to search engine, affiliate programs, other features and preferential treatment compared to equivalent people overseas

    And yet the Internet is supposed to be a global system which breaks down arbitrary barriers …

  128. Good Comment?
    Firefox

    It most likely their incentive to get other publishers to refer new publishers didn’t have any good results for them, so the refferal program was running a loss for them so they canned it.

  129. Good Comment?
    Brian

    Just another brick in the wall for google who’s only concern is to support their valuation. I’ve had adsense revenue go down to less then 20% of what it was a year ago without any explanation at all from the adsense team.

    People should be careful when relying on them for anything.

  130. Good Comment?
    Tevin Anderson

    Wow. That is positively absurd!

  131. Good Comment?
    Fiscal Musings

    Google seems to be making some awfully stupid decisions lately and pissing off a lot of people. It can’t be all that great for their business to irritate so many on so many fronts.

  132. Good Comment?
    Marko Nikolic

    Just another reason for people using AdSense to find other forms of monetizing their websites. I personally have found CJ to be much more effective and have consistently been making 4 time more then what I was making with AdSense.

  133. Good Comment?
    賃貸 大阪

    I have no idea why they would want to do this. Why cut off the rest of the world?

  134. Good Comment?
    Hustle Strategy

    This seems like it could have a large impact on things. Google is always moving and shaking…

    • Good Comment?
      Martin

      Google always change her business method but still one of the best internet earning for me… :)

  135. Good Comment?
    Ingrid

    So glad I never bought into that referral programme.Thanks to you and John CHow, I’m rocking kontera,linkshare and etoro instead which are doing pretty cool for me.

Join the Discussion

*Discount rate good on new registrations only. Credits or refunds cannot be issued on previous registrations. Discount rate good through February 6, 2010, prevailing rate applies after that.