Google Adsense cuts their payout rates

Just got the following in my inbox.  Google Adsense has decided to return their referrer rates back to their older scale and to ditch the first level payouts. (The $5 kickback when someone you've signed up earned their first five bucks themselves.)

Gotta admit that I'm torn on this.  The $5 bounty was something that I was able to nab quite a few times, including one money where I earned more on bounties than I did on actual clicks.  Too many folks don't realize how hard it is to $100 within 180 days unless your site is targeted or has very heavily traffic.

Here's the email they sent out:

Hello AdSense publisher,

We are writing to share some important information with you about
referrals to the AdSense product. As part of ongoing efforts to
optimize revenue opportunities for our publishers, we are
constantly experimenting with new revenue-enhancing features as
well as tweaking those products already available to our
publishers.
In this spirit, we will be making some significant changes to
referrals for the AdSense program in the coming weeks.

As some of you may remember, in February 2007, as an experiment,
we raised the bounty paid (from $100 to $250) when a publisher you
refer brings in $100.  We have decided to conclude this experiment
and return to the original paid bounty amount of $100. In
addition, we will no longer be offering the $5 bounty for the
first $5 that a referred publisher brings in or the $2,000 bonus
for referring 25 publishers earning $100 or more in any 180 day
period. $100 will be the only bounty paid for referrals to the
AdSense program.

If you're currently displaying referral units on your site
directing users to sign up for AdSense, read on below for details
about what to expect in the coming weeks.

In early January, your AdSense account will be updated to only
note the $100 payment for referring users to AdSense. You will
continue to be paid under the current bounty structure ($5, $250,
$2,000) until late January, after which you will receive $100 once
a referred publisher brings in $100 within 180 days.

Thank you for referring users to AdSense in the past. We
apologize for any inconvenience this news may cause.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

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