The Google Adsense affiliate marketing program was the first to use interest-based Java script to display contextual advertising to users. The software is completely automatic; when a visitor comes to your website or blog, they are shown ads that are relevant to the content on the page being viewed. 
The same script can be applied to search engine advertisements; they are based on the user’s keyword search and in Google Gmail where ads are displayed based on keyword ratio on the page and the availability of related advertisements.
Google’s Mediabot is the component which makes the actual determination. As technology becomes more sophisticated, so do the algorithms used to govern ad matching.
Recent Google Adsense Changes
You may have already known about interest-based contextual advertising through Google’s Adsense program, but are you aware that the search engine giant recently made changes that may affect results for your website?
One difference with the new Google Adsense changes is that the program allows advertisers themselves to determine whether they want their ads appearing on the search results page or included on publishers’ websites. Because search engine results usually achieve a higher conversion rate, most advertisers have opted for this placement.
Secondly, Google has finally taken steps to delete spammy sites created purely for affiliate marketing purposes. But in addition, affiliate landing pages (also known as squeeze pages) are being penalised and in some cases removed. Many internet marketers use these pages to build a prospect list and receive income for selling the opt-ins.
Some bloggers are predicting the demise of Adsense for affiliate marketing. Some suggest that you develop a direct relationship with the advertiser and contract for Cost Per Action (CPA) commissions at a higher rate.
The CPA model is recognised as being more accurate paying affiliates for completion of a predetermined action (sales leads, referral purchases, customer acquisition, etc.) rather than per click or per impression, which is subject to blatant fraud. CPA is quickly becoming the preferred model for businesses of many types, too. By building up their qualified prospect list, salespeople are able to nurture the relationship in the hopes of gaining a lifelong customer.
Don’t worry about Google not providing publishers any opportunities for income. Google already offers CPA commissions for referrals based on sign-ups to the Adwords and Adsense programs and Firefox. According to the company’s website, they are currently considering additional CPA opportunities for affiliate marketers.
Until Google institutes new affiliate marketing opportunities, it may be wise to look for several options for blog advertising partners. You may also want to concentrate on advertisers who offer CPA commissions, which tend to pay better than Google Adsense ads, which can take your hard-earned traffic off your website for a small bit of revenue.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hello Sean,
Just when I apply for something to be used they go and change!! I have not used Adwords as yet, but have used a link from one of your blogs and applied to have Google adwords added to my blog. It will be interesting to see how the changes affect all bloggers/website owners. Will that weed at the websites that are not here on the internet with the best of intentions? Will it add value to the serious Internet Marketers? All like you say will website owners need to look else where to make money?
Interesting times ahead.
Cheers
Lisa
I once was a participant in Google Adsense, advertised the heck out of one particular site I had and because people clicked on links from work (all with the same ip address) I was kicked out and banned from their program. I think it’s ridiculous that Google is able to determine fraud without even hearing what action people have taken. What happened to being innocent before being proved guilty??
Hi Sarah – Innocent until proven guilty might work well in a criminal justice system, but when it comes to a multi-billion dollar company like Google, they’re not going to care if they lose a few bucks from you. I don’t mean to make them sound arrogant when I say that (although, they have been receiving a lot of criticsm lately about their perceived arrogance). I just mean they have their very sophisticated algorithms that tell them if you’re “likely” to be a spammer/fraudulent/dodgy, so it’s easier (and cost-effective) to cut you off than listening to your pleas. I suspect that would be their point of view.
Hi Lisa – My gut reaction too, was to look at it from our point of view as IM’ers. But, I can see the changes are driven by what works for the advertisers and the end users, who are ultimately Google’s customers. If I were an advertiser, I would definitely prefer to have the ads that I’m paying good money for, appearing on SERPs than some spammy site or squeeze page. Hands down. I also know where I’d prefer to land when I’m searching for something.
Ultimately, if the changes are best for consumers, then I think IM’ers should run with it. Well, we have no choice in the matter anyway but to run with it. It’s not a bad thing that we have to keep up with changes and be kept up on our toes. Ultimately, if we make our sites more relevant and value-adding, that can only be a win-win for everyone. Well, except the spammers and scammers. But who cares about them?
By the way, there are LOADS of advertisers other than Google. LOADS.
I’m with you Lina, I too would prefer my adds to turn up on search engine pages with the potential of thousands finding it, opposed to sites which may only have a couple of visitors a day. I haven’t put adsense on my blog as it is a part of my website and I would prefer they visit my other pages instead of being redirected from my site but it is a great add on for independent blogs.
I have heard of this happening to many people Sarah. Click fraud has become so big, Google has to monitor who is clicking what I guess, and one way they can monitor this is by watching if people from the same IP (or even many clicks from the same general area) are constantly clicking on the ads.
Hi Sean,
The tiger is getting to big. It devours its own followers. The pie is there for all to share.
There are thousands of products to sell, adsense takes up valuable advertising space on blog pages. Good riddance.
I was in Google AdSense with a site that was very small. I pushed it hard everywhere I could and it started to grow. From 10,000 page views a month to about 125,000 page views a month, and all of that in a very short time.
So Google dropped and banned me. They told me I couldn’t be getting that many visitors in such a short time. So I was banned.
I have lost total faith in Google to be honest. Part of the whole idea is to bring people to your web sites. But when you do, and they click on Google Ads, you get bumped out. It truly is frustrating to say the least.
Corner the market, get folks involved, get your own product pushed, then get dumped.
Makes no sense.
I feel for you there Mike. The good thing is that you are getting a lot of traffic, and there are many other ways to monetise your site to take advantage of that traffic
Hi Mike
Stories like this aren’t helping Google’s arrogant image right now. Was your whole website banned or just your PPC campaign?
I seem to recall a video by Yang in the YOTA forum about CJ and choosing a company that had CPA, saying some positive words about it. Was he giving a hint? Thanks for the info about Google Adsense changes, I am glad we have you to keep us up to date. This “delete spammy sites” thing escapes me. When does an affiliate site become spammy? Pardon my inexperience in these matters. Depending on Google’s definition, that could potentially include the majority of affiliate sites?
You will find a lot of sites that basically have no useful information (articles/reviews etc), but hundreds of links and banners to affiliate products Wal. I think they would be classed as quite spammy in Google’s eyes.
I guess if less and less appropriate adds appear on my sites I will remove Adsense. So it’s the question if longterm there are any quality sites left for Google to put their ads on, or if than there will be only one option left for advertisers (in the search engine).
Hi Sean,
I have held off from installing Google Adsense on my site as I wasn’t sure it was the right way to go. I’m still not sure but I think that as it is Google’s playground, I would have to play by their rules.
I can appreciate their point of view. I would much rather have my ads appear in the SERPs than on some spammy website. I guess I will wait and see what happens.
I recently deleted my adsense account as it would have taken years for me to reach the minimum payment threshold given the number of visitors I get. How many small-circulation websites are serving up free advertising for Google that will never have to be reimbursed – it makes you think…
There would be a lot of website owners who never get paid from Adsense due to minimal earnings I would imagine Pete. Like anything, I guess Adsense is something that you need to put time and focus into to make it work. You could either cancel the Adsense campaign, and replace them with affiliate offers, or try and build your website up to attract more visitors. I know for a fact there can be very good money in Adsense revenue for those who work hard on it.