"It seems like I'll be losing a significant amount of income every month from now on." This was a post made by Akang on a forum on July 3, 2008. The reason behind this sentiment was that Google was set to fully suspend its AdSense Referral Program by the end of August, which included AdWords, AdSense, and related software product referrals.
On July 2nd, many webmasters received an email from Google announcing the suspension of the AdSense Referral Program in the last week of August 2008. For publishers currently running AdSense referral ads, Google recommended they remove all AdSense referral codes and replace them with AdSense text ads, which were still operational.
Google did not issue a public statement or grant interviews regarding this adjustment but instead provided further explanation on the AdSense Chinese blog: The AdSense program would continue, but one advertising product within the AdSense plan — referrals (including Firefox, AdSense, and AdWords referrals and referral ads) — would cease. AdSense for Content, Search Ads, Mobile Ads, and the Search Network would all continue as usual.
### AdSense No Longer Doing Referrals
Unlike AdSense text and search ads, AdSense referrals involved promoting AdSense to others to earn revenue. In other words, recommending others to place AdSense ads could generate income if those referred earned money; the referrer would also receive corresponding earnings. According to Google's rules, within 180 days, if someone you referred earned $5, you would also get $5; if they earned $100 within 180 days, you would receive $250; if 20 or more people you referred each earned $100 within 180 days, you would receive $2,000.
Additionally, there were related referral programs such as AdWords referrals and Firefox referrals. For instance, recommending the download of Firefox with the Google Toolbar would earn you $0.10 to $1 per download via your link.
Although these reward rules seemed somewhat incomprehensible—why should the referrer earn more than the person making the money?—many webmasters admitted they had profited from referrals since their introduction. However, with the suspension of the AdSense Referral Program, many domestic small website owners expressed concern over potential impacts.
Zhang Zhongguo, CEO of Caogen.com, told reporters that AdSense ad click prices had already dropped significantly, making it increasingly difficult for many webmasters to earn money. This suspension of the referral business might indicate poor performance of the referral program, prompting Google to adjust its business structure, or it could be due to cheating by domestic webmasters.
Zhang admitted that doing Google AdSense ads was mainly for earning pocket money, as most webmasters found it challenging to make over $100 a month through Google. However, Google's policies were quite stringent: recently, click prices had been drastically reduced, registering for AdSense had become more difficult, and Google had been more stringent in monitoring ad clicks, affecting webmaster incomes.
In fact, applying for Google AdSense domestically was relatively easy. Simply register for AdSense according to the requirements, wait for Google's confirmation email, activate your account, copy and paste the Google code onto your site, and Google would begin placing ads on the site. If the AdSense ads placed on the site received enough clicks, the webmaster would periodically receive a check from Google, which could then be exchanged at the bank for RMB.
### Easier to Make Money Under the Umbrella of Giants
For ad networks, Baidu Alliance Director Zhou Pin defined them as entities that first do not own media, second cannot act as advertisers themselves, and third establish pricing standards. "So ad networks operate on others' platforms, gain revenue, and then distribute it according to set standards," Zhou emphasized.
Domestically, besides Google AdSense, there are other forms of ad networks such as Baidu’s Thematic Promotion Alliance, Alimama, Sogou Bid Ranking, and Narrow Ads Alliance. The emergence of ad networks can be said to have created a new advertising model: previously, many advertisers relied on high-frequency appearances across various pages without considering whether users were interested in the content, inevitably leading to wasted advertisements. However, ad network ads analyze webpage content and provide relevant text and video ads, making them more likely to interest netizens and turning ads into relatively useful information. This aligns more closely with the pull rather than push function of internet advertising.
Specifically, although each small website has very low traffic and cannot independently generate advertising value, ad networks can aggregate the small traffic from numerous small websites. Through algorithms matching "relevant ads" to content, they enable all websites to earn income. This is the best practice of the "long tail theory." The value of ad networks lies in their ability to uncover deeper user needs through ad-matching algorithms. Advertisers can also achieve more precise ad returns through a pay-per-click model.
For example, in AdSense, advertisers and webmasters do not directly interact; both only deal with Google. Advertisers can view the ad market as a whole entity shielded from technical details, focusing solely on input and output effectiveness. Ad matching and financial transactions are entirely decided by Google's algorithms. By keeping the intermediate process and algorithms confidential, Google prevents cheating while simplifying user operations. Typically, webmasters can earn between 50% to 80% of the ad revenue, with Baidu distributing 2 billion RMB in profits to alliance members in 2007.
"In the past, we thought ad networks were simply a single-revenue-sharing model: you join my network, and I give you money. Now, mere profit-sharing isn't enough. Some sites reach a certain stage where they need capital or investment, so we introduce venture capitalists. Some companies reaching a certain stage need branding and require Baidu to collaborate on activities and promotions, integrating Baidu's brand endorsement into their brands. These are all values in joining an ad network. In the future, we may even launch forums and MP3 music alliances," Zhou said.
### The Importance of Following the Rules
The premise of Google AdSense is trusting all publishers, so the application process is extremely simple, unmatched by any other ad network. Only basic information is required because Google AdSense completely trusts its partners before collaboration. However, as the rule-setter, if anyone violates the rules, Google will remove violators without hesitation.
Many websites often complain about having their accounts arbitrarily sealed by Google without any reason. In reality, cheating through various means among domestic webmasters is quite common, but ad networks continuously optimize their technology to monitor such behaviors. If a website shows abnormal ad clicks—not too high or too many clicks from the same IP address—companies like Google will seal the account without hesitation.
If a website violates rules during operation due to copyright issues or is calculated to have low traffic and conversion rates, even without cheating, it is considered a waste of advertisers' money and will be sealed. Such websites are typically small entertainment sites with little valuable traffic.