One of the most significant events of 2025 occurred in the Domain Monetization Industry, centered on the rapid decline in parking revenues. Google’s policy changes for Adsense for Domains (AFD) resulted in a 60% drop in revenue, and policy changes that automatically opted out advertisers’ ads from showing on Google-based parked pages resulted in a whopping 95% drop, followed by the announcement of the inevitable shutdown of AFD in Feb 2026.
Change is inevitable, so finding pathways to diversification and new monetization solutions is essential. With AFD shutting down this month, the race to master Related Search On Content (RSOC) is well and truly on, as RSOC allows domains to access the full spectrum of advertisers using Google Search results.
What is RSOC, and how does it work?
RSOC stands for Related Search for Content. It’s a content-based search monetisation format that displays contextually relevant search terms directly within a webpage, usually just after the introduction or alongside the main content. These search terms are dynamically generated based on what the page is about, helping visitors quickly discover related topics they may want to explore.
When a user clicks one of these suggested searches, they are taken to a dedicated search results page that contains relevant ads and organic search results. Revenue is generated when users engage with those ads. The goal is to guide visitors naturally from content to relevant commercial intent, without disrupting their browsing experience.
How is RSOC different from traditional parked domains?
RSOC is a modern, content-driven evolution of domain parking. Traditional parking often relied on parked domains with just Keywords that, on click, triggered a page of just Google Ads. RSOC, on the other hand, is built around real content that provides value before introducing monetization.
Instead of sending users directly to Keyword blocks that show Ads for that keyword, RSOC places relevant search options inside a genuine content page. This creates a smoother user journey, improves engagement metrics, and generally converts better for the Advertiser running ads on Google. For publishers, it means delivery of more focused and user-intent traffic to advertisers, which should, in turn, yield better payouts as the end user experience is better.
Can RSOC be used with paid traffic, and how is performance measured?
No. Even though RSOC was and is used by some clients at Above, we are strictly against any type of paid or incentive-based traffic being sent to our RSOC pages. It is just too easy to send poor-quality traffic in the hope of generating revenues while the Advertiser pays the bill for low-converting traffic. Not allowing and not endorsing this is the only way to ensure the Advertiser is protected. The Advertiser comes first because they are the ones paying, and the domain has to send quality organic traffic that is not artificially inflated to maintain the intent.
Performance and reporting are provided via the AdSense reporting platform. There are limitations with RSOC with 500 tracking IDs that can be upgraded to 100,000 tracking IDs, but anything more than that will need custom-developed technology to provide domain-level reporting. Reporting provides a range of data points that assist publishers in optimizing content to deliver even more relevant ads, driving RPMs up.
Next Steps With Above.com
Domain traffic has more and more demand by advertisers, with direct-to-advertiser being a key solution. Above and Trillion are the only white-hat platforms, avoiding arbitrage and ensuring we only serve quality traffic to quality advertisers. We filter more traffic than we send to advertisers, while we are the only platform with both Ad Feeds and a self-serve ad system, where we reject more advertisers than we accept, to protect our clients and their domains from malicious or low-quality ads.
Beware of providers claiming they work with 100s of feeds! They are likely the black-hat gang who sacrifice domains for revenue. Not only are they damaging clients’ valuable domains, but they wreak havoc in our industry, creating negativity and deep mistrust.
Over the past 20 years, innovation and diversification have been at the forefront of Above.com’s core business, driving solid results for our clients. We have invested substantially into a full-blown RSOC solution for domains, a direct-to-advertiser platform, and diverse monetization solutions driven by client needs that generate revenues but also enable For Sale links for domain sales.
Rising to the Challenge
The biggest challenge with RSOC is its current limitations around scale and reporting, but Above clients receive domain-level reporting to help make smarter, informed decisions. It is safe to say that 2026 will be a huge year for RSOC and Above.com!
If you want to talk about monetization strategies or get your account ready for RSOC, please reach out to your Above Account Manager.
