Google AdSense Retiring Link Ad Units

[Lagonda]

We've decided to retire link ads. This is in order to modernize our available ad formats, based on the feedback from users, publishers and advertisers. Going forward, we’ll be focussing on improving and developing other ad formats to help you grow.
What does this mean?
From 10-03-2021:
• You will no longer be able to create link ad units.
• Your link ad units will be renamed with [previously link ad unit] added to the end of the ad unit name. This will apply to both responsive and fixed-size link ad units.
• Responsive link ads will begin to serve display ad units on your site(s).
• Fixed-size link ads will stop serving on your site(s).We will collapse each ad unit where possible. In other cases we will show a blank ad.
Your earnings
Our experiments show that, for the vast majority of publishers, responsive display ads can perform as well as link ads. We are constantly optimizing responsive display ads to maximize performance. You will be able to monitor the performance of your link units through the ad units report to compare performance before and after.
What to do next?
There is no action required from you in relation to your responsive link ads as these will begin to serve display ads from 10-03-2021.
We recommend that you remove the fixed-size link ad units from your site and try out the following ad formats instead:
• You can let Auto ads scan your site and automatically place ads where they’re likely to perform well. Learn more about how to get started with Auto ads.
• Display ads work well anywhere on your site. Learn more about how to create a display ad unit.
• For a customized ad experience, you could try native ads. Learn more about how to create a native ad unit.
• If your site is eligible for Matched content, you can replace your link ad units with a customizable Matched content ad unit. Learn more about customizing Matched content.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to develop our products.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

[support.google.com...]

In one of my sites, these ad units represent 55% of total revenue.
Nice Christmas gift Google.
Very, very nice.

Well, time to adjust.
They removed Ad Balance, now they remove link ads.
What's next? Not sure I'll be 100% around to wait and see.
(feeling really f'ed up)

[edited by: engine at 12:54 pm (utc) on Dec 11, 2020]
[edit reason] Added attribution [/edit]

[jetteroheller]

@MayankPramar
48,9% Standard ads
48,7% Vignette ads
2,4% Anchor/Overlay ads
for the last 30 days

[ember]

Vignettes do well for me, about 1/3 of my revenue, especially since they now regularly show on desktop.

[Lagonda]

Well... if we're arguing about the deceptive nature of link ad units, what's there to say about vignettes?
Where one just clicks anything or anywhere to get the modal* ad out of the way?
And if we're talking about deceptive nature of things, should we be in the advertising business?

To my audience link ad units were useful.
Yes, one could argue they were deceptive to some but, if there was enough advertiser inventory, they were useful: they could present several ads that could interest the user in a dedicated page without intruding too much in your own page.
If you clicked on a "blue widgets" link ad, you would expect a "blue widgets" dedicated ad page - that's what happens in a SERP.

Well, either way, it's a done deal. It doesn't matter if they were or not useful or deceitful or whatever, they're GONE.

Also, every Google's recent decisions, and my own reports, tell me that we're migrating (or already had) from a "page context ad behaviour scenario" to a "user context ad behaviour scenario".

I don't know how it works in other countries but to me, this is just like your favorite well marketed grocery.
You have the staple product (the one that has the brand, the image) and then, you have new versions of that product that last for sometime and are axed once their sales plummet.
Google's AdSense will be just like this: once an ad format isn't deceiving users anymore in sufficient numbers, it's gone.

So, to me, link ads were axed because:
- bad or subpar performance
- deceitful or unethical behaviour
- no place in a "user context" advertising scenario
- no place in an first impression driven business model (no programmatic, no viewable, etc.)

The problem is that we don't have a saying, we're just passive stakeholders, and that's frustrating because AdSense was still one or the only "stable" advertising platform (as in no rules changed every 15 days like for example Amazon Associates or any other affiliate network).

Better get used to it and ponder other revenue sources or models so that I don't depend as much from it as I currently do (yes, yes, I've always knew this but procrastination whatever and always had the sense that AdSense was "stable").

* yes, as long as I recall, that's the name for an ad with "vignette's" behaviour

Sorry for the wall of text, it's more of a rant...

[ember]

One day vignette ads could disappear, too, and 1/3 of my Adsense revenue with them. After nearly 20 years of doing this, I rather expect things to change, disappear, go away. Nothing stays the same. So I am always looking for other revenue streams, planning for the worst, etc. It is even why I downsized my house years ago, so that if everything goes sideways I can still afford my mortgage payments with a minimum wage job.

[RedBar]

Just seen this, all I can say is that until I removed AdSemse from all my sites link units were the only ones delivering any earnings and on mobile were, at that time, the only usable option.

I had the misfortune to see a mobile the other day without a DDG browser installed, it was horrific to view!

[mcneely]

Auto Ads

.... are a total scourge ...

Google places those stupid things mid-sentence and totally ruins the flow of the page.
Ads, both link and display work well when strategically placed.

When you paint a house, you have two choices. You can use a roller and a brush to apply the paint accordingly, or you can open the can and just throw the paint on the wall.
It appears that Google has chosen to use the latter when it comes to auto ads.

[NickMNS]

It appears that Google has chosen to use the latter when it comes to auto ads.

I think this is a better representation:
[youtube.com...]

[mcneely]

I think this is a better representation:
[youtube.com...]

Spot on

Devs at the Plex should be banned from ever watching Bean going forward.

[study123]

This is some serious #*$!. Link ads are one of the best ads that generate the most income for most of the users. Now it is being going. It will do some damage to the people.

[Lisa01]

How can we make Google see that link ads perform best for most users? It will affect their revenue as well

[worker]

Considering the vast majority of my revenue comes from Google link units, I have no alternative but to look for an alternative ad system.

Is anyone else already replacing Google Adsense with an alternative ad system? If so, which?

[RedBar]

It will affect their revenue as well

Quite simply they do not care, you adopt and adapt to their will or simply remove their code.

They are not your partner, they never have been, they are your supplier, take it or leave it.

No one should need the GoogleAid to survive, you are better off without it.

[Swanny007]

Quite simply they do not care, you adopt and adapt to their will or simply remove their code. They are not your partner, they never have been, they are your supplier, take it or leave it.

Very true.

Is anyone else already replacing Google Adsense with an alternative ad system? If so, which?

I have not found a good alternative yet. Depending on your site, selling ads directly can result in higher revenue.

[Lagonda]

Soooooooo... Google AdSense removes link ads from publisher's sites and in the bottom of Google's SERPs these begin to appear [i.imgur.com], is that it?

This is rather awkward... one could say that (insert your conspiracy theory here).

[NickMNS]

@Lagonda Google has been showing "related searches" for a long while now. The format may have evolved but it is not new, and this certainly predates deprecation of link-ad units.

[Lagonda]

Was the look like this?
Buttons with a magnifier arranged in that manner?
I have always saw them as blue links, nothing more.
These resemble ad link units like 95%.
It's good for Google but it isn't good for us? Is that it?

[gatormark]

Concerning link ads going away; I know many people are disappointed they are going away because they have proven to be a good source of revenue. However, there may be a more financially beneficial way to look at this according to this article.

The theory is that while the number of advertisers creating ad inventory will not change, the real estate they are competing for will decrease because ads will be larger. Thus, driving up the cost of ad space.

[edited by: martinibuster at 12:48 pm (utc) on Jan 20, 2021]

[NickMNS]

@gatromark
Interesting article, but I'm not sure it will actually be the case:

For instance, instead of a website owner displaying 13 ads on a page (assuming they have three display ads and ten links), they will show, let's say, only four display ads. This reduction will drive up the advertiser's cost because it will be harder to move into web advertising "neighborhoods" without paying a premium price for ad space.

The fundamental error is that the ad "inventory" isn't controlled by the publisher, it is controlled largely by Google search, more specifically it is the number of impressions, as opposed to the number of pages published. These impressions can occur on any website that meets the advertisers criteria. As such the marginal change from 13 ads to 4 ads on a small percentage of total page impressions is only likely to have negligible effect on price. Now I may be wrong, in that I am assuming the number of links ads impressions is small relative to the total number of impressions. This is based on my personal experience, and I have nothing to support this claim, moreover, a quick Google search did not turn up anything either. (if any knows of any stats than we could do quick calc). TL-DR: don't hold your breath, it wont make a difference.

In theory, this will increase bidding wars for the newly limited advertising space.

As per the long discussion in the January Adsense thread, it was concluded that bidding wars are not possible with AdSense (second price auction). Putting the bidding war thing aside, a reduction is supply for a fixed demand will push prices up, no bidding war required, but again I doubt that the change will be measurable.

[gatormark]

@NickMNS

Have you ever used Google Ads to promote a product or website? Using a tool like this can absolutely cause bidding wars, by your definition.

Depending on which networks your advertising campaign is targeting, and whether you want to focus on getting clicks, impressions, conversions, or views you can continually adjust bids for you specific needs.

If you choose to use the display network option, then your ads will display on websites and not just search results. In fact, you can choose specific websites or pages to display your ads. You can choose options where google automatically raises your prices for better positioning. Or, you can raise the prices yourself whenever you want.

[NickMNS]

Using a tool like this can absolutely cause bidding wars, by your definition.

...you can continually adjust bids for you specific needs.

You can certainly increase your bids, and yes as a result you will win more auctions, but that is not a bidding war.

It is very important to understand that when you buy ads that you are not placing many bids on one auction but rather making bids on a stream of auctions. Each impression is it's own auction, and there is one bid per auction.

When you increase your bid you are increasing your bid for future auctions. Stated differently, if you are out bid, you can certainly choose to increase your bid, but that increased bid will not be applied to the auction for that previous impression. It gets applied to the next available impression in the stream. The outcome of that next auction is at least partially independent of the last one. What I mean by this, is that the next auction can close at a lower price than the previous one. For example, if the previous winner's budget has been consumed and thus is no longer participating in the stream of auctions.

To be clear I'm not sating that price can't be pushed up, what I am saying is that this does not occur through a bidding war.

If you choose to use the display network option, then your ads will display on websites and not just search results. In fact, you can choose specific websites or pages to display your ads.

Yes I am well aware of this and it is why I stated:

These impressions can occur on any website that meets the advertisers criteria.

So certainly if there is a group of advertisers that is exclusively bidding on a specific website that uses link ads, and now due to the forced to switch away from those ads there are fewer impressions to bid on, then yes what the blog post suggests will likely occur the price of those ads will increase. This will be an edge case and is unlikely to apply generally. The most likely outcome in such a case, that is faced with an increase in price, the advertisers will be begin to look for alternatives, thus reducing demand and so price and in turn limiting the magnitude of the price increase.

[gatormark]

@NickMNS

I think your definition of a bidding war is a little narrow. For instance in residential real estate, a bidding war is not dependent on a single individual submitting multiple offers at the same time. It is dependent upon a single user submitting multiple offers over a period of time in an attempt to usurp a bid that has already been placed.

In fact, in real estate you only submit one bid at a time but you have the option of submitting a higher bid, assuming the homeowner allows this, too increase your purchase price and usurp the bid of another person.

In residential real estate, this process is ALWAYS called a “bidding war.”

[NickMNS]

This isn't residential real estate.

in real estate you only submit one bid at a time but you have the option of submitting a higher bid

When bidding in an ad auction you do not have the option to submit any subsequent bids. You can only ever make a single bid. Thus, by definition narrow or broad it is not possible to have a bidding war. You will say "but I can increase my bid in Google Ads.", Yes you can, but the increased bid is applied to a new auction that will occur at some point after you revised the amount you are willing to bid.

[JorgeV]

Hello,

From a visitor point of view, Link Ad Units are providing terrible user experience. Links, are often very good looking, appealing, and genuine, but when you reach the page showing "ads" , they are often unrelated, or of extremely low quality.

[gatormark]

Link Ads going away may end up being a good thing...

[back852]

Why did they decide to retire link ads? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU GOOGLE?
link ads present 78% share of full revenue. Without link ads my revenue will be destroyed. I can't see any perspective here. Matched ads , auto ads, picture ads and other responsive ad formats aren't as effective as it's link ads, I am crying wainting to 10 march and don't know What will happen :(((((

[worker]

A lot of websites/companies relying on Adsense revenue will end due to this change. For those that do not see substantial link unit revenue, this seems like a non-issue, but link units outperform every Adsense ad unit I have in place (and I use them all). My revenue will drop by 70%-90%.

[Niresh12495]

I still can not believe that link units perform 70-90% of total share of revenue for some publishers.

[gatormark]

@ember

One day vignette ads could disappear, too, and 1/3 of my Adsense revenue with them. After nearly 20 years of doing this, I rather expect things to change, disappear, go away. Nothing stays the same. So I am always looking for other revenue streams, planning for the worst, etc. It is even why I downsized my house years ago, so that if everything goes sideways I can still afford my mortgage payments with a minimum wage job.

I LOVE it! You sound like me. Just curious, are you a follower of Dave Ramsey?

[MayankParmar]

Link ads are very important for me too. I'll definitely look for alternatives.

[ember]

@gatormark, no, but I know who he is. I just quit trying to compete in the conspicuous consumption contest a few years ago and am much happier. Less stuff but more money in the bank :)