AdSense for Feeds: What Happened to Google RSS Feed Ads

AdSense for Feeds was Google’s program for placing contextual AdSense ads inside RSS feeds, delivered through FeedBurner. This article explains how it worked, why we were excited about it in 2008, what happened to it, and the best ways to earn from your feed and email subscribers today.

Quick answer: AdSense for Feeds no longer exists. Google began retiring it on October 2, 2012 and closed it on December 3, 2012. FeedBurner itself later dropped its extra features, including email subscriptions. Today, publishers earn from subscribers through email newsletters with sponsorships, and from AdSense ads on the website itself.

What was AdSense for Feeds?

FeedBurner was the most popular way for bloggers to publish and track RSS feeds, and Google acquired it in 2007. In 2008 FeedBurner confirmed that Google AdSense advertising was being integrated into FeedBurner feeds. Ads would appear inside feed items, so readers using feed readers would see them alongside your posts.

Google had actually tested AdSense for feeds as early as 2005. We applied back then, but the queue was too long and we were not accepted. In 2008 the integration was announced for a small group of publishers first.

Our experience with feed advertising

Our feed carried ads from the FeedBurner Ad Network for over a year, and QuickOnlineTips was even featured in the FeedBurner Computing & Technology channel. But in spite of over 15,000 RSS feed readers, the money earned from feed advertising was very little. The news came just when I had decided to remove these low-paying ads.

The main problem was a poor ad fill rate. Ads were enabled on all articles, yet most items showed no ad at all. CPM rates looked attractive at the time, but advertiser daily budgets were limited and spread across a huge network of publishers, so few impressions were actually filled.

That is why AdSense for Feeds looked so promising. Premium CPM ads would still be sold, and contextual ads from the huge pool of Google advertisers would fill the remaining inventory. In theory, empty ad spaces would disappear and advertisers could target feed readers directly.

What happened to AdSense for Feeds

The program never became the revolution we expected. Feed reading declined as social media grew, and Google announced it would retire AdSense for Feeds starting October 2, 2012, closing it completely on December 3, 2012. Publishers could keep their FeedBurner feed URLs, so subscribers did not need to change anything.

In April 2021 Google announced it would move FeedBurner to new infrastructure and remove non-core features, including email subscriptions. FeedBurner still serves feeds, but it is no longer a monetization platform. If you still rely on it for email, read how we moved our FeedBurner email subscribers to Amazon SES.

Alternatives to AdSense for Feeds in 2026

Readers who follow you by subscription are still valuable. These are the practical ways to earn from them now:

• Email newsletters with sponsorships: send your posts by email and sell a sponsor slot in each issue. Popular platforms include Mailchimp, Kit, beehiiv and Substack.
• Paid subscriptions: offer premium posts or an ad-free newsletter to paying members.
• Bring feed readers back to your site: AdSense ads still work well on your web pages. See our guide to Google AdSense Auto Ads.
• Affiliate links in your posts: relevant affiliate links travel with your content into feeds and emails.

Should you use full or summary feeds?

A summary feed brings more visits back to your site, where your ads are shown. A full-text feed is friendlier to readers but is easier for scrapers to copy. If you publish full feeds, take steps to stop RSS feed scraping and content theft.

FAQ

Does AdSense for Feeds still exist?

No. Google closed AdSense for Feeds on December 3, 2012. There is no official Google product for showing ads inside RSS feeds today.

Can I still use FeedBurner?

FeedBurner still serves existing feeds, but Google removed non-core features such as email subscriptions. Most publishers now use a dedicated email service instead.

Why did feed ads earn so little?

In our experience the fill rate was poor: advertisers had limited budgets spread across many publishers, so most feed items showed no ad.

What is the best way to monetize subscribers today?

Email newsletters with sponsors or paid tiers, plus ads and affiliate links on your website, are the most common options in 2026.