Google is going to remove all the link ads from the Adsence network from March 10th, 2021. The legacy ad format from google is now getting retired. Publishers start receiving emails from Adsense regarding the announcement.
Why and When the link ads are getting stopped?
Google always follow optimisation strategy with ad network also. To deliver the best experience with users, advertisers, and publishers, they implement new changes all the time.
Link ads, fixed sized display ads were some of the initial ad formats. Later Google introduced responsive ads, matched ads, etc. As per the current trends and performance, link ads are getting the least priority in the industry.
The new change applies to the link ad format, and no other ad formats are affected by this. As per Google, the link ads are not performing well these times. So they decided to provide more optimized and valuable ads to their publishers, advertisers, and users.
The change will come into effect on March 10th, 2021, and after that, publishers won’t be able to create a new link ad unit.
What will happen to the existing ad unit?
All the existing link ad unit name will be renamed with some text at the end as per Google. Publishers can see the change after March 10th.
All the existing responsive link ad unit will automatically start showing display ads when it comes to ad display. The fixed ad unit will show some optimized ads if available. Otherwise, it will show a blank space.
If you are using a responsive link ad unit, then no action is needed, and it will automatically start showing display ads where it is better to remove or replace the fixed size link ad unit from the websites.
What about the earnings from Link Ads
Since Google is updating the revenue daily in your account, all the income earned till March 10th will get added as usual, and the next day onwards, the same unit will start earning with display ads. So nothing to worry about the earnings.
What to do next?
As mentioned above, if your existing link ad unit is responsive, then no action is needed. However, all the fixed link ad units should get replaced with any other ad format on or before March 10th, 2021.
