I love referral programs. Google AdSense has been running a referral program for several years now. You can make $1 per Firefox download, or as much as $100 per AdSense publisher. Now, you can make $1 for every user you convert to Google Checkout.

Google Checkout is a convenient payment system for shopping online. Checkout is comparable to eBay’s PayPal service, enabling users to easily buy items online, track orders, and configure shipping information all in one place.

The downside to the service is that not all online merchants work with Google Checkout yet. However, if you signup for a free Google Checkout account, you automatically get $10 credited to your account for whatever you wish. You can’t go wrong with a free $10.

I’m currently testing Checkout referrals on my PSP blog. I’m running a skyscraper unit to the right of the content on every page. So far, I’ve had zero conversions. However, it’s only been in place for several hours.

I’m pretty sure that Google Checkout referrals is not going to outperform a basic AdSense block. However, I also know that most people wont turn down free money.

More about making money with AdSense referrals