Last June 30, 2008 Google announced that their AdSense Refferal is now retiring and Google Affiliate Network is becoming their new program for both Advertisers and Publishers.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to improve AdSense by developing and supporting features which drive the best monetization results for our publishers.” - Google Blog

| Google Affiliate Network

Google acquire DoubleClick Performics last March 2008.  Just like any other Affiliate program Google’s Affiliate Network works the same, someone clicks the ad on your site -> buys that product -> you get commission.  With some new features added and enhanced systems, Google’s Affiliate Program could be the best program for publishers to monetize with.

If you are still using the referral ads program you might want to monetize it till last week of August 2008.  And Google suggests the you should remove the referral code from your site(s). This is not going to be easy specially for those who are managing multiple websites who do have referral codes, patience is all you need, this is all for you.  So the deadline is last week of August 2008.

Getting more curious? see Google Affiliate Network