Search feeds: the sell side quiz
AFS, RSOC, parked domains, Bing and Yahoo feeds, N2S and S2S, revenue share and what it takes to keep a feed. Twelve questions on where the money comes in. intermediate · 12 questions
Question 1 of 12Score 0
What is a search feed?
All questions with answers
- What is a search feed?
Answer: A stream of a search engine's sponsored results that a partner site is allowed to show and earn from. A search feed delivers a search engine's paid listings to a partner page, and the partner earns a share when they are clicked. It is not a keyword list or a news feed, despite the name. - Where do AdSense for Search (AFS) ads appear?
Answer: On a publisher's search results page, after a query. AdSense for Search puts Google search ads on the publisher's own results page in response to a query. Ads on Google.com are Google's own inventory, and banners inside articles are display ads, a different product. - How does Related Search on Content (RSOC) work?
Answer: It shows a block of related search terms on a content page; clicking a term opens a results page that carries search ads. Related Search on Content adds related search terms to an article. The visitor picks a term, lands on a search results page and only then sees ads: a two-click flow. The unit itself contains no ads, which is the detail people miss. - What happened to Google's parked-domain product, AdSense for Domains (AFD), in 2025?
Answer: Google began opting advertisers out of parked domains by default from March 2025, revenue collapsed and the product was wound down. Google Ads started removing parked domain placements by default in March 2025, so an advertiser has to opt back in on purpose. Trade press reported the last accounts were moved by September 2025 and the product's formal end in early 2026, pushing the industry towards RSOC. - What does "native-to-search" (N2S) mean?
Answer: Buying clicks from native ad widgets and sending them to a page monetised by a search feed. Native-to-search names both ends of the trade: traffic bought from native advertising, money earned from a search feed. "Native" refers to the ad format, not to language or to organic ranking. - In a search-to-search (S2S) model, what is the traffic source?
Answer: Search ads bought on a search engine. Search-to-search buys clicks from search ads and sends them to another search results page that carries a feed. Type-in traffic belongs to domain parking, which is a different model. - For example, a feed provider receives $1.00 for a click and its contract passes 80% to the publisher. How much does the publisher get?
Answer: $0.80. 80% of $1.00 is $0.80; the provider keeps $0.20 as its take rate. The trap is $0.20, which is the provider's side of the revenue share, not the publisher's. - What happened to Bing feed partners in 2024?
Answer: Microsoft excluded a number of publishers from its search distribution marketplace, and partners such as Perion cut their forecasts. In 2024 Microsoft Bing told distribution partners it was removing a number of publishers from its syndication marketplace. Perion said its search revenue fell sharply as a result. The lesson for a bing feed is platform risk: the search engine can change the rules at any time. - What is the difference between a direct feed and a hosted feed?
Answer: With a direct feed the publisher has its own contract with the search engine; with a hosted feed it uses a provider's contract and pages. A direct feed is your own agreement with the search engine, hard to get and usually reserved for large, proven publishers. A hosted feed rides on a provider's agreement, which is how most arbitrageurs start. Neither is "free": both take a share. - What is a channel ID used for?
Answer: Labelling feed traffic so revenue can be reported separately per campaign, source or page. A Channel ID is a reporting label: it lets you see which campaign earned what. It has no effect on which ads show or on the ad auction; those belong to the search engine. - What does the referrerAdCreative parameter carry in an RSOC request?
Answer: The exact text of the ad or link that brought the visitor to the page. referrerAdCreative tells Google what the visitor was promised before arriving. Since 1 November 2025 Google requires it whenever traffic comes from a source under the publisher's control, and the text must be complete and word for word. It never carries personal data or prices. - What most often costs a publisher its feed?
Answer: Poor traffic quality or policy violations. Feeds are lost over invalid traffic, weak traffic quality and policy violations, because the provider's own contract is at risk. Low early revenue or long articles do not trigger an feed suspension.