What changed in search arbitrage between 2024 and 2026?
Three things. Microsoft Bing cut back its syndication marketplace in 2024. Google opted advertisers out of parked domains through 2025 and removed them as an ad surface on 10 February 2026, ending AdSense for Domains. And Google tightened Related Search on Content, adding restricted features in August 2025 and a mandatory referrerAdCreative parameter from 1 November 2025.
In order: early 2024, Microsoft changed pricing and then excluded publishers, cutting Perion's Bing revenue. Around March 2024 Google gave advertisers placement reporting and exclusions for search partners in Performance Max, after an Adalytics report. September 2024, new Google Ads accounts were no longer opted in to parked domains. November 2024, related search became a formal AFS feature with its own policies. 19 March 2025, existing advertisers began to be opted out, completed by September 2025.
Then came the RSOC policies tightening and, in June 2026, a partner-wide monetisation change that System1 said cut its RSOC revenue by more than 30%. The net effect: AdSense for Domains is gone, Related Search on Content is the standard, and Google sees the advert as well as the page.