Down on RSOC as AdSense for Domains dies — Google clamps

Fresh rules make it harder for search arbitrage firms to use alternative to AdSense for Domains.

With Google AdSense for Domains effectively dead, domain monetizers and search arbitrage businesses are moving to the firm’s Related Search for Content (RSOC) product.

This is prompting Google to impose restrictions on the product, which could further reduce publishers’ revenue.

In August, the firm added fresh “Restricted Access Features” to its Related Search product.

Publishers are limited to showing only five suggested search terms per ad block and only one related search ad block per page. They are also limited in how they can style these ads and the number of reporting channels they can access.

Google will remove the restrictions on a case-by-case basis for publishers that maintain good standing.

Additionally, AdSense is requiring publishers that use arbitrage to provide “Referrer Ad Creative” when they send traffic to pages with AdSense.

Google provided this example:

For example, within an upstream video source featuring an influencer walking down a street, speaking to the camera, with background music also present, the full transcript of the speech, the song lyrics, and any visible text on street signs, among other elements that might appear anywhere on the user’s screen, must be provided verbatim and in their entirety.

These fresh restrictions and policies could further dampen revenue. Team Internet Group cited the latest policies in a release that mentions the challenges of RSOC. The changes could also make it harder for Sedo, which has otherwise had a fairly successful transition to RSOC this year.