Two weeks ago, Google announced some changes to their AdSense Referral Program.
In addition to reverting to a simpler payment structure, they were also going to be discontinuing the program outside of the Americas and Japan. This meant that not only would referrals from other countries not be credited toward their referring AdSense publishers, but publishers located outside these areas would be forced out of the referral program altogether.
As you can imagine, this was upsetting for many publishers. Possibly among the most vocal was Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net. As an Australian publisher (and A-list blogger), Darren stood to lose a major source of revenue. He announced the changes and his critiques of the new rules on ProBlogger, followed by an open letter protesting the changes. He certainly wasn’t alone in protesting the changes.
Over the weekend, however, Google made an announcement worthy of a new ‘love’ letter from Darren: they rethought some of the pending changes. AdSense referring publishers outside the Americas and Japan would still be eligible for payouts. However, only referrals located in the Americas and Japan will constitute “referrals.”
The changes are still slated to take effect next week.
Retailers Panic Over Google Site SearchGoogle Getting Aggressive with AdvertisingShari Thurow Answers SEO QuestionsAdSense Earnings Down? Beating The Unbeatable GoogleGoogle Sacrifices Clicks To Increase Advertiser ROIWill It Blend? Google Says NoGoogle Slams Paid Links? Good or Bad?Google AdSense Delivered Courtesy Of YahooYahoo Patent Filing Sheds Light On PageRank 
