<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"The cat's finally out of the bag on Google's Adsense API, which will provide a simple way for sites to share their ad revenue with users.  One of the first services to make use of this new functionality is RateItAll, a community rating site.  They put out a press release earlier today:\nPioneering online community and social network RateItAll.com today announced that it had integrated Google Adsense into its service via an API in order to share advertising inventory with RateItAll members.  By leveraging the Google Adsense API, RateItAll has enabled its members to create Google Adsense accounts, earn cash for their content contributions, and track their earnings without ever leaving the RateItAll.com Web site.\nIn many ways, this is an acceptance of what's already happening: it allows users to insert their Adsense ID and earn a revenue share (exactly what Simpy did in January).  However, the whole process can now be handled through the API - you can sign up for Adsense, track your earnings and get paid without ever leaving RateItAll.  What's great about this is that sites no longer have to build their own accounting systems - all the tracking (and click fraud monitoring) is left to Google.\nIt seems likely that scores of Web 2.0 sites will now start sharing revenue with their users.  The question is: should they?  If set up incorrectly, revenue sharing can lead to an adverse selection problem - you attract spammers and scammers who are motivated solely by the money.  The other issue is that without high value content, the rev share is abismally low - Squidoo's top earners get $30 per month, for instance.  And let's not forget that Google's minimum payout is $100 - will this change once they launch a Paypal competitor?  I think this is a great move on Google's part, but it's still up to site owners to get the motivation part right.\n\n\n\n\nUpdate: John Battelle has more.\nUpdate 2 (May 31st): Google has now announced the launch on the AdSense blog."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2006/05/30/googles-adsense-api-revenue-sharing-for-the-masses/>