Google AdSense have decided to retire Link ads

Dec 10, 2020

Technology : Google AdSense has officially decided to discontinue "Link Ads".

They Wrote :

We've decided to retire link ads. This is in order to modernize our available ad formats, based on the feedback from users, publishers and advertisers. Going forward, we’ll be focussing on improving and developing other ad formats to help you grow.

What does this mean?

From 10-03-2021:

• You will no longer be able to create link ad units.
• Your link ad units will be renamed with [previously link ad unit] added to the end of the ad unit name. This will apply to both responsive and fixed-size link ad units.
• Responsive link ads will begin to serve display ad units on your site(s).
• Fixed-size link ads will stop serving on your site(s).We will collapse each ad unit where possible. In other cases we will show a blank ad.

Your earnings :

Our experiments show that, for the vast majority of publishers, responsive display ads can perform as well as link ads. We are constantly optimizing responsive display ads to maximize performance. You will be able to monitor the performance of your link units through the ad units report to compare performance before and after.

What to do next?

There is no action required from you in relation to your responsive link ads as these will begin to serve display ads from 10-03-2021.
We recommend that you remove the fixed-size link ad units from your site and try out the following ad formats instead:

• You can let Auto ads scan your site and automatically place ads where they’re likely to perform well. Learn more about how to get started with Auto ads.
• Display ads work well anywhere on your site. Learn more about how to create a display ad unit.
• For a customized ad experience, you could try native ads. Learn more about how to create a native ad unit.
• If your site is eligible for Matched content, you can replace your link ad units with a customizable Matched content ad unit. Learn more about customizing Matched content.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to develop our products.
Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team.

So, As for fixed-size link units, Google will stop serving those entirely in March, either collapsing the ad or making it invisible on sites using them.