Interesting post on Traffick positing the theory that Google’s AdSense “faces extinction” unless Google does something about it. The author notes that AdSense doesn’t work so well for publishers with strong repeat audiences (I can attest to that), that click fraud is growing (I sure have proof of that with folks I’ve spoken to lately), and that new options are threatening AdSense’s base (like AdBrite and BlogAds).
net net, I don’t think we’ll see AdSense going anywhere, but I agree that upgrades are due, and I sense they are coming shortly. First up might be verticalization – so you can buy in large consumer verticals like autos, travel, etc. Second might be opeing up the network to let developers build mini-networks of endemically related sites. Now that’d be nice, eh?
(Thanks, Bill!)
UPDATE: Slashdot picks up this Newsweek article on click fraud, and my post above as well. Welcome, slashdotters, if you want to know more about Searchblog, head here.