A planned acquisition of Team Internet by Norwegian private equity firm Verdane has been scrapped after Google announced changes to how it handles advertising on parked domains—a major revenue stream for Team Internet.
Verdane, which had until today to finalize its bid, cited a “material change of circumstances” for backing out. Although it did not specify details, Team Internet confirmed that Google’s AdSense for Domains (AFD) changes pose a serious challenge to its business.
Starting March 19, Google will automatically opt advertisers out of AFD, forcing them to opt back in manually. Industry experts expect most advertisers will not return, leading to a significant drop in revenue for domain monetization services.
Team Internet, whose Search segment generated $72 million of its $91 million net revenue from AFD in 2024, now expects a sharp decline in earnings. The company plans to pivot to Related Search On Content (RSOC), a Google product that displays search results, including ads, based on a webpage’s content. This shift could push domain owners toward filling their sites with AI-generated or low-quality content to trigger RSOC’s contextual algorithm.
Acknowledging the revenue gap, Team Internet warned investors that its adjusted EBITDA for 2025 will plummet to between $20 million and $25 million, down from $57 million in 2024. However, the company reassured stakeholders that its domains business—spanning registries and registrars—remains stable and is still attracting acquisition interest.
With Team Internet now reviewing its asset ownership and considering offers for its domain division, the future of its monetization strategy remains uncertain.
News Source:domainincite，This article does not represent our position.
