{"id":62585,"date":"2023-02-26T11:31:41","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T06:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=62585"},"modified":"2026-10-07T20:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T15:07:30","slug":"adsense-shopping-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn off AdSense Shopping Links and Ad Intents (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Want to <strong>turn off AdSense shopping links<\/strong> or the newer AdSense &#8220;ad intents&#8221; links that appear inside your article text? Google keeps testing formats that turn words on your page into dotted, clickable links with a search icon. We tried the original AdSense shopping links on QuickOnlineTips and were disappointed &#8211; here is what happened, and how to switch these in-text ad links off in AdSense in 2026.<\/p>\n<div class=\"quick-answer\" style=\"border-left: 4px solid #F28C1E; background: #f6f8fb; padding: 14px 18px; margin: 18px 0;\"><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> The original shopping links were an AdSense Labs experiment, turned off under <em>Optimization &gt; Labs<\/em>. Today, Google&#8217;s in-text link ads are called <strong>Ad intents<\/strong>. To turn them off, go to <em>Ads &gt; By site<\/em>, click <em>Edit<\/em> next to your site, open <em>Intent-driven formats<\/em> and uncheck <em>Ad intents<\/em> (or only the links, anchors or chips you don&#8217;t want), then click <em>Apply<\/em>.<\/div>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae6ecb9e0dc3\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ae6ecb9e0dc3\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#What_were_AdSense_shopping_links\" >What were AdSense shopping links?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#What_happened_when_I_clicked_the_links\" >What happened when I clicked the links<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#Should_you_use_AdSense_shopping_links_or_ad_intents\" >Should you use AdSense shopping links or ad intents?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#Pros_and_cons\" >Pros and cons<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#How_to_turn_off_AdSense_shopping_links_old_Labs_method\" >How to turn off AdSense shopping links (old Labs method)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#How_to_turn_off_AdSense_ad_intents_2026\" >How to turn off AdSense ad intents (2026)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#How_to_judge_if_in-text_ad_links_earn_more\" >How to judge if in-text ad links earn more<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#Are_AdSense_shopping_links_still_available\" >Are AdSense shopping links still available?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#Why_do_AdSense_links_with_a_search_icon_appear_in_my_posts\" >Why do AdSense links with a search icon appear in my posts?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#Will_turning_off_ad_intents_reduce_my_AdSense_earnings\" >Will turning off ad intents reduce my AdSense earnings?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2023\/02\/adsense-shopping-links\/#Can_I_turn_off_only_the_in-text_links\" >Can I turn off only the in-text links?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_were_AdSense_shopping_links\"><\/span>What were AdSense shopping links?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>AdSense shopping links were a way to earn AdSense income by showing shopping ads from keywords inside your content. I enabled them from AdSense Labs on our website, hoping for extra revenue, and was disappointed both by how the links were displayed and by the ads that were shown.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a screenshot of one of our articles. You can see multiple new links with dotted underlines and a search icon beside them:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-62587 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links.png\" alt=\"adsense shopping links in article text\" width=\"594\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links.png 594w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-300x101.png 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-150x50.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Because these search links looked new, readers were naturally tempted to click them. Clicking opened a large panel that slid in from the right with shopping ads. Even this short paragraph had three such links, and the full article had many more. So I tested what readers would see. (Never make the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/05\/15-common-mistakes-by-google-adsense-publishers\/\">AdSense mistake<\/a> of clicking your own ads. Clicking a search link only opens the panel; it is not clicking a paid ad.)<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happened_when_I_clicked_the_links\"><\/span>What happened when I clicked the links<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>1. &#8220;Apple&#8221;:<\/strong> the shopping panel showed no content and no ads &#8211; just a blank, poor experience.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-62589 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-blank.png\" alt=\"adsense shopping links blank panel\" width=\"573\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-blank.png 573w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-blank-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-blank-150x65.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 573px) 100vw, 573px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. &#8220;iPad&#8221;:<\/strong> it showed iPad shopping links that were basically one text link to a general shopping website.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-62588 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-text.png\" alt=\"adsense shopping links text ads\" width=\"705\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-text.png 705w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-text-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-text-150x63.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 705px) 100vw, 705px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. &#8220;Microsoft&#8221;:<\/strong> it showed four image ads with prices, which would take users to a shopping website.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-62590 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-cards.png\" alt=\"adsense shopping links product cards\" width=\"569\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-cards.png 569w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-cards-300x239.png 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/adsense-shopping-links-cards-150x120.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 569px) 100vw, 569px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_you_use_AdSense_shopping_links_or_ad_intents\"><\/span>Should you use AdSense shopping links or ad intents?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Unless you run a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2013\/10\/best-online-shopping-stores-india\/\">shopping site<\/a>, a gadget blog or another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/amazon-kindle-affiliate-earnings\/\">affiliate marketing<\/a> website, you might <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2022\/03\/hide-unfilled-adsense-ad-spaces\/\">not have enough ad inventory<\/a> for these keywords. The engine marks lots of product words as potential links, but clicking them can lead to empty or weak ads (much like old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/public-service-ads-psa-in-adsense-how-to-get-rid-of-them\/\">Public Service Ads<\/a>) and a poor user experience.<\/p>\n<p>Results also depend heavily on the reader&#8217;s country. US advertisers may show shopping ads only in the US, so readers in India saw blank panels. Our pages filled up with these links, which hurt the reading experience and took clicks away from internal links and regular display ads. Unless the ads are useful and the format clearly earns more, it is not worth spoiling the experience.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pros_and_cons\"><\/span>Pros and cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pros:<\/strong> extra revenue without new ad slots; can work on product, review and deal sites; opt-in and easy to switch off.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cons:<\/strong> links inside your text can confuse readers; they compete with your own internal links; quality varies by country and topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_turn_off_AdSense_shopping_links_old_Labs_method\"><\/span>How to turn off AdSense shopping links (old Labs method)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When we tested it, shopping links were an AdSense Labs feature that you could turn on and off from <em>Optimization &gt; Labs<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-62586 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-adsense-shopping-links.png\" alt=\"turn off adsense shopping links in labs\" width=\"790\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-adsense-shopping-links.png 790w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-adsense-shopping-links-300x116.png 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-adsense-shopping-links-150x58.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-adsense-shopping-links-768x297.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>They were not on by default on our site &#8211; I had enabled them to experiment. Labs experiments come and go, so if you no longer see this page, the feature has moved or ended. The current equivalent is ad intents.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_turn_off_AdSense_ad_intents_2026\"><\/span>How to turn off AdSense ad intents (2026)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In 2024 Google launched <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/adsense\/answer\/13844047\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ad intents<\/a>, an opt-in Auto ads format that places <strong>links<\/strong> in existing text, <strong>anchors<\/strong> at the bottom of the page and <strong>chips<\/strong> at the end of paragraphs. When readers tap one, a dialog opens with related ads and content. To switch them off:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Sign in to <a href=\"https:\/\/adsense.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google AdSense<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Ads<\/em>, then <em>By site<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Edit<\/em> (the pencil) next to your site.<\/li>\n<li>In the Auto ads settings panel, open <em>Intent-driven formats<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Uncheck <em>Ad intents<\/em>, or keep it on and uncheck only the links, anchors or chips you don&#8217;t want.<\/li>\n<li>Click <em>Apply<\/em>. Changes can take up to an hour to show on your site.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2022\/12\/using-adsense-auto-ads\/\">AdSense Auto ads<\/a>, check these settings after any AdSense update, because new formats are sometimes added to the same panel.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_judge_if_in-text_ad_links_earn_more\"><\/span>How to judge if in-text ad links earn more<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Turn the format on for a few weeks, then compare Page RPM and overall earnings with a similar period without it, using <em>Reports<\/em> in AdSense. Also watch engagement in your analytics: if pages per visit drop, the format may cost you more than it earns.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_AdSense_shopping_links_still_available\"><\/span>Are AdSense shopping links still available?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Labs version we tested is no longer where in-text ad links are managed. Google&#8217;s current in-text link format is ad intents, found under Auto ads &gt; Intent-driven formats.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_do_AdSense_links_with_a_search_icon_appear_in_my_posts\"><\/span>Why do AdSense links with a search icon appear in my posts?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>They are created by AdSense ad intents (or, earlier, shopping links). They appear only if the format is enabled for your site in Auto ads.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_turning_off_ad_intents_reduce_my_AdSense_earnings\"><\/span>Will turning off ad intents reduce my AdSense earnings?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Possibly a little, if readers were clicking them. Compare your RPM before and after; many content sites find the impact small and the reading experience better.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_turn_off_only_the_in-text_links\"><\/span>Can I turn off only the in-text links?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. In Intent-driven formats you can keep ad intents enabled but disable links, anchors or chips individually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to turn off AdSense shopping links or the newer AdSense &#8220;ad intents&#8221; links that appear inside your article text?&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":62590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43,6],"tags":[13,49],"class_list":["post-62585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","category-blogging","tag-adsense","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63566,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62585\/revisions\/63566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}