Google AdSense moving to per-impression payments in 2024

Abner Li | Nov 2 2023 - 9:00 am PT

Google today announced two changes to AdSense but doesn’t “expect publishers to see a change in their earnings” and payments. Consistency and “greater transparency” were cited as the reason for these updates.

Today, Google pays publishers when somebody clicks an ad on their site, or “per click.” AdSense is soon moving to paying “per impression,” which Google notes is the industry standard for display ads (banners, boxes, etc.).

As such, this will “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.”

It’s important to note that this change will not influence the type or quantity of ads publishers can display on their websites.

Meanwhile, Google is also changing the AdSense revenue share structure so that fees aren’t processed within a single transaction.

We are 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.

Google says that “publishers will continue to keep about 68% of the revenue.”

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

These changes will go into effect “early next year” and do not “require any action from publishers.” Google said it has conducted testing on possible earning changes for publishers and doesn’t expect anything to change.

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