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Often when Google releases earnings, AdSense publishers try to extract how much share Google is paying them of the earnings. Ad you know, a publisher places an ad from Google on their site, the advertiser pays Google and then Google pays a share of that to the publishers. Looking at Google's earnings, you can somewhat figure out how much share publishers make. Always, keep in mind, certain publishers likely get special arrangements.
Labnol posted the latest look at this share, showing that in the first quarter of 2009, Google paid an even 75% to the publishers. However, in the fourth quarter of 2009, that share dropped to 72.06%.
Here is a graph I made showing the decline in 2009:
Here is the data:
| Q1 ‘09 | Q2 ‘09 | Q3 ‘09 | Q4 ‘09 | |
| Google AdSense Earnings (in billion) | $1.64 | $1.68 | $1.80 | $2.04 |
| Google Payments to AdSense Publishers (in billion) | $1.23 | $1.24 | $1.33 | $1.47 |
| Percent Given to Publishers | 75.00% | 73.81% | 73.89% | 72.06% |
Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.
Update: Google revealed on May 24, 2010, the exact revenue share for the AdSense content and search network.
Comments:
Colin
01/26/2010 03:17 pm
That's just plain mean. It doesn't bode well for long term development - when sites with steady/quality traffic earn less and less and less in the longrun... Publishers are logically going to want to explore other revenue channels.
Michael Martinez
01/26/2010 04:54 pm
Payments to publishers increase from $1.23 billion to $1.47 billion and everyone complains. Go figure.
Colin
01/26/2010 08:34 pm
^ That could just be a natural/seasonal fluctuation between two quarters. The real maths is in the percentage given to publishers - which over the full course of the year goes down by 2.94%.
Michael Martinez
01/27/2010 01:01 am
Yes, I see now. An 87% increase in revenue paid out to AdSense publishers versus an overall 80% increase in AdSense revenues is an alarming statistic. I guess I'll just have to abandon the AdSense program completely.
Colin
01/27/2010 11:08 am
Lol you need to work on your maths mate - thats a ~20% increase in the total amount paid to Adsense publishers, compared to a ~24% increase in revenue earned by Google.
Michael Martinez
01/28/2010 01:02 am
More like a 16.3% increase (versus a 19.6% increase overall) in AdSense payments to publishers. Just checking to see if anyone was paying attention. This discussion is still much ado about nothing. We already know that Google has been booting people out of the AdSense program. Apparently, that did not stop the publisher network from earning more money through the program.