The fact that consumers can now get their hands on equipment to download and listen to these broadcasts so cheaply means a whole world of amateur dj's and talk show hosts is about to hit cyber-airwaves.

Though you've heard rumblings about it, and people are grasping around in dark trying to get a grip on how to implement it, now you can actually plan to see and hear about widespread use of "pod casting" in very near future since a potential audience of listeners with right equipment is now set to grow.

** Associated Press Offers RSS Feeds **

The Associated Press now offers RSS feeds of their top news stories. RSS (Real Simple Syndication) makes it possible for content providers to offer instant updates to their readers without sending email.

Anyone with an RSS reader such as FeedDemon (www.feeddemon.com) can receive and read RSS feeds.

Traditionally, Associated Press marketed their services exclusively to newspapers and online sources such as Yahoo! News.

Now, by offering their RSS feeds directly to consumers at www.ap.org, Associated Press is obviously seeking to bypass online news sources and go directly to consumer.

The fact that world's oldest and largest news source has chosen to start offering content this way demonstrates quite clearly that RSS is fast coming of age as an acceptable mass-communication medium and that widespread consumer adoption is imminent.

Soon, there'll be an RSS reader on every computer desktop and use of RSS will become as widespread as email.

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There are some downsides that I have to point out however. At moment maximum size of ‘Ad Links’ box is 200*90, with a maximum of five topics. This is fine for people who use smaller Ad Units, but for those who use biggest rectangle possible this could be a problem. The other fact to consider is how long it may take your visitors to adapt to new layout. I have no evidence to back this up, as I’ve only been experimenting with new system for two days now, but it does seem that, in short term at least, you will be seeing a decrease in revenue from your AdSense account as visitors get used to new layout.

The most beneficial changes Google has bestowed on us, however, has to be changes in payment system. A real boon to non-US based publishers such as myself has to be supply of local currency cheques. Now you can elect to receive your check in Pounds Sterling, Indian Rupees, Euros, Turkish Lira or any of 43 local currencies. There is also option to sign up for beta of new EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) payment option, which will deposit money directly into your back account.

So those are changes that Google has made to its AdSense program. But as ours IS to wonder why, maybe I can make a comment of possibility of why this update has come this week. Is it coincidence that at same time as Google was updating its program Yahoo has announced its own textual Ad serving service, based on its Overture Paid Inclusion search engine? Personally I don’t think so. But competition is almost always a good thing, and who knows, maybe Yahoo may even spur Google into giving people Ad tracking capabilities that many publishers have been crying out for.