AdSense Lower AdWords and AdSense Referral Threshold and Payments

It looks like AdSense might be changing their payment structure for their AdSense and AdWords referrals.

After a tip from a reader I just logged into my account and saw that today I have XX conversions for my AdSense referrals for a total of $XXX and X conversions for AdWords referrals for a total of $XX (not sure if I’m allowed to disclose actual figures – but the payout is $5 per conversion).

This is unusual for two reasons:

1. They usually pay $100 for a conversion for AdSense and $20 for AdWords.
2. I rarely get any conversions – it’s unusual to have 1 per week, let alone 35!

Either this is some sort of glitch – or this is a new approach to paying publishers for AdSense conversions. Perhaps instead of paying the $100 when a new publisher makes their first $100 (or when an Advertiser reaches $100 in advertising) they are paying a lesser amount at a lower earnings level?

I can’t see any official notice of this yet – but will be watching with interest.

Thanks to Wentworth for the tip

Update: The previous payout structure for AdSense and AdWords referrals was:

AdSense: When a user you’ve referred to AdSense first earns US$100 within 180 days, AdSense credits your account with US$100.
AdWords: When a user you’ve referred to AdWords signs up and spends US$100 within 90 days, AdSense will credit your account with US$20.