Google AdSense’s Matched content widget will only show ads starting on March 1, 2022

Jason November 24, 2021 0 Comments

Beginning on March 1, 2022, Google AdSense’s Matched content widget will only show ads, the company announced Wednesday. To go along with the change, Google is also rebranding Matched content as “Multiplex ads.”

What’s changing. Launched in 2015 as a free recommendation service that enables sites to promote their own content, along with ads (which can be disabled), to visitors, the Matched content widget will continue to function that way until February 28, 2022.

An example of a Matched content widget. Image: Google.

“Due to decreasing usage of the content promotion service, and positive customer feedback and performance results from the ads-only Matched content ad format, we’ve decided to turn down the content promotion service and convert all existing Matched content units to only show ads,” Google said in the announcement, “This also applies to Matched content units that have the ‘Monetize with Ads’ option turned off.”

Fresh rebrand, new rules. To be eligible for Matched content, sites must contain a minimum number of unique pages and meet a traffic volume requirement. With the change and subsequent rebrand as Multiplex ads, these requirements will be lifted and the ad type will be available to all AdSense publishers.

After March 1, 2022, the Matched content page in the AdSense interface will be removed and the Matched content unit editor will be updated to show the new ads-only format.

Why we care. Sites that were using the Matched content widget to show users a mix of their own content and ads will, as of March 1, only be showing ads. This change will happen automatically, even if you have the “Monetize with Ads” option switched off.

If you don’t want the widget to only show ads, you should remove it before March 1.

The post Google AdSense’s Matched content widget will only show ads starting on March 1, 2022 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

AboutJason Richardson

Jason specializes in digital marketing strategies and founded a digital marketing agency Richardson Digital Media™. Richardson Digital Media™ has quickly become a preferred marketing provider for real estate companies and nationwide mortgage lenders. Jason has won 9 President’s Circle of Excellence Awards for loan production over his career and was most recently honored as one of National Mortgage Professional Magazine’s “40 Under 40: The 40 Most Influential Mortgage Professionals.”