The Google “referrals” scheme is far from perfect. It now transpires that it’s got even worse without anybody being told.
A number of probloggers have picked up on a change in the terms and conditions that seem to have been quietly slipped in without anyone noticing.
The report on Jensense covers it in detail, but the basics are that if you refer someone to adsense you will get the referral once they have earned $100 but this must happen within 90 days. The 90 day clause is not mentioned in most parts of the documentation and, as Jensense shows, is hidden in very small print.
Why is this such a big deal?
Well, first of all any change to terms and conditions can annoy those who have already signed up to something, however in the case of adsense the issue is that most “publishers” do not break the $100 mark quickly. Any forum or blog where this is being discussed the anecdotal evidence points to 90 days being far too long as many of the referrals simply will not have made the minimum in that period.
And don’t forget .. the “advertise on this site” link still does not give you any referral…
Ah. Oh, dear. Wouldn’t even have occurred to me to check. And yep; I would imagine MOST people don’t break the limit in the first 90 days. Don’t think I did.
As a matter of interest, has anyone signed up through your links?
Rob – that’s part of the problem:
https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=27415
Until they hit the threshold they won’t show up. I can see clicks reported.. but that’s all for the moment