Two important posts over at Jensense today (why news break every time I go away):
1. Google AdSense begins rich media beta test – very interesting news. Google are going beyond just text ads and are testing a variety of other types of ads including interstitial (I’m not a fan of these – they are an ad page that sits between the actual page people want and where they came from that often make you click a link to continue on to the page you want), expanding ads (when you scroll over or click on an ad it expands) and floating ads (those that seem to hover over the page). This is sure to cause a real stir among both publisher and those who hate online advertising – especially any kind that might have an increased annoyance factor.
Jen says these are likely to be site targeted ads (not contextual). If you spot any of these ads I’d love to hear from you.
2. AdSense silently adds a 90-day time limit on AdSense referrals – Previously if you referred a publisher to AdSense with one of their buttons you’d earn $100 when they got to their first $100 of earnings. Now they’ve added a clause that says you only get this $100 commission if they make the $100 in the first 90 days that they are a publisher. I have to say I’m not at all impressed by this development. I’ve referred a number of people to Adsense in the past few months (20 or so) but am yet to see any earnings from them which indicates that none have hit the $100 mark. Last time I checked with readers they hadn’t had any payments either (let me know if you have). To me it just seems like they are changing the rules mid stream and that 90 days is quite a short time frame. In my experience as someone who consults with AdSense – it’s not uncommon for publishers to take longer than 90 days to get their first cheque. I’m pretty disappointed in this finding – and to see that they seem to have made the change without making any public announcement just seems a little underhanded.
