Basics · also called search partner, distribution partner
Syndication partner
A syndication partner is a company approved by a search engine to display that engine's search ads on its own sites, apps or tools.
A syndication partner is the third party in a search syndication deal. It might be a large portal, a metasearch engine, a browser maker, a shopping site with a search box, or a feed provider that passes the ads on to many smaller publishers.
Partners sign a contract that sets the revenue share, the approved ways of getting traffic and the technical rules for requesting ads. They are responsible for everything that happens under their account, including traffic from any sub-publishers they bring in.
The obligations have grown heavier. Google's rules for Related Search on Content require partners to report the exact wording of the ad that brought each visitor (referrerAdCreative). Microsoft said in November 2025 that third-party publishers in its network must run its Clarity analytics tool, and that ad traffic from pages without it would be filtered out as non-billable. In June 2024, Perion disclosed that Microsoft Bing had excluded a number of publishers from its search distribution marketplace, showing how quickly partner status can change.
Think of it like this
A syndication partner is like an authorised reseller of concert tickets: allowed to sell the promoter's tickets for a commission, as long as it follows the promoter's rules.
Related terms
Search syndication
Search syndication is when a search engine lets other websites and apps show its search results and search ads, and shares the ad revenue with them.
Feed provider
A feed provider is a company that holds a search ad contract with Google, Microsoft or Yahoo and lets smaller publishers use it in return for a share of revenue.
Search partner network
The search partner network is the collection of non-Google or non-Microsoft sites where an advertiser's search ads can appear through syndication.
Traffic source approval
Traffic source approval is a feed provider's sign-off that a particular place you buy visitors from is allowed to send traffic to its search feed.
Feed suspension (account termination)
A feed suspension is when the search feed owner or feed provider stops serving ads to a publisher, pausing or permanently ending its ability to earn from that feed.
Sources: PPC Land: Microsoft Advertising requires Clarity for third-party publishers, Perion: Updates Q2 and full year 2024 guidance (10 June 2024), Google AdSense Help: AFS Product-Integrated Feature policies