I work in product management, focusing on referrals. Product managers help in determining the product roadmap, strategy, and general improvements to the AdSense program.
What projects/features have you worked on?
Over the last year, I've worked with engineering to lead a redesign of the AdSense site. We launched a ton of new features including the overview page, custom reports, emailable reports, and more EFT options. Right now I'm focused on referrals and some other interesting projects that are not quite ready for prime time.
What are some of the surprising things you do every day at Google?
I usually check what's new on AdSense-related forums like WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint -- Google is genuinely interested in getting fresh feedback and hearing your opinions. One recent example of implementing your feedback was changing the time line for referrals. Several publishers emailed us and posted on forum threads that they thought 90 days was too short. We met to discuss an extension, and decided to make engineering changes to lengthen the time frame to 180 days.
In between meetings, I read blogs as well to keep up on other industry news and gossip. In particular, I like Om Malik, Guy Kawasaki, Malcolm Gladwell, Fred Wilson, Jenstar, Yahoo's Jeremy Zawodny, and our own Matt Cutts -- they all offer good industry insight. Occasionally, I also sneak in fun things like Gawker.
Why should publishers opt into referrals?
Referrals are a great way to generate more revenue without affecting any of your current AdSense earnings. It's an easy, no-risk way to augment your AdSense revenue.
Any tips on implementing referrals?
Experiment with different sizes and designs to figure out what's right for your own site. Different referral button colors and sizes perform differently for every site, so it's worth trying lots of combinations to see what works in your layout.
What's in the future for referrals?
You tell us. I love reading your feedback on what works and what doesn't, and we have other exciting plans in the works as well.
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