Google is making two crucial changes to its digital advertising offering AdSense that are expected to go into effect early next year.
In a latest blog, Dan Taylor, Vice President, Global Ads, wrote that these changes will provide a consistent way for publishers to compare the differing fees across the various technologies they use to monetize and will provide even greater transparency into the media-buying process.
However, Google doesn’t expect publishers to see a change in their earnings as a result of these updates.
AdSense will soon transition from primarily paying publishers per click to the display industry standard of paying per impression. This update is expected to provide a more uniform way for paying publishers for their ad space across Google’s products and third-party platforms, helping them compare with other technology providers they use.
Meanwhile, it is also changing the AdSense revenue structure, so that the fees aren't processed within a single transaction. Previously, when publishers have chosen to use AdSense to monetize their content, they have kept 68% of the revenue. This is when the Google AdSense network processed fees within a single transaction.
It is now splitting the AdSense revenue share into separate rates for the buy-side and sell-side. For displaying ads with AdSense for content, publishers will receive 80% of the revenue after the advertiser platform takes its fee, whether that be Google’s buy-side or third-party platforms.
Taylor explains, “For example, when Google Ads purchases display ads on AdSense, Google Ads will retain on average 15% of advertiser spend. There are variations because Google Ads does not take a fixed, per-impression fee, as many advertisers choose to pay based on user actions, like a click or conversion. Overall, publishers will continue to keep about 68% of the revenue.
When advertisers use a third-party platform to purchase display ads on AdSense, publishers will keep 80% of the revenue after the third-party platform has taken its fee. Google does not control or have visibility into the fees that these third-party platforms charge advertisers or how they calculate them.”
In summary, the change in the AdSense revenue structure means that publishers will now receive a higher share of the ad revenue (80%) after the advertiser's platform takes its fee, rather than the previous 68% when fees were processed within a single transaction. This change is designed to benefit publishers by increasing their earnings from displaying ads on their content.