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Google AdSense encourages publishers to focus on bfcache, speculation rules, and AI debugging

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21 seconds ago

March 24, 2026

Google AdSense pushes bfcache, speculation rules, and AI debugging to publishers

Google AdSense Shares New Tips to Help Publishers Improve Website Performance

Google AdSense, a platform that helps website owners earn money through ads, sent an important email to publishers (people who run websites). In this email, Google suggests three new ways to make websites load faster and work better. These methods can help publishers get more visitors, keep them engaged longer, and earn more money from ads.

1. Using bfcache for Instant Page Return

One of the tips is about a technology called bfcache, which stands for “back/forward cache.” Normally, when a user clicks the back button on a browser, the webpage has to load again from the internet. This can take time and may make visitors leave if the page loads slowly.

With bfcache, instead of reloading, the browser keeps a snapshot of the page in memory. When the user goes back, the page appears instantly without reloading anything. To use this feature, website publishers need to remove certain blockers like event handlers (scripts that run when leaving the page), avoid directives that prevent caching, and close all open connections like databases or WebSocket connections before leaving the page.

Some publishers who have used this technique saw great results. Yahoo! JAPAN News, for example, increased mobile revenue by 9% and got 13% more page views per session by using bfcache. Other sites saw better load times and more ad views, which means more money.

2. Prefetch and Prerender with the Speculation Rules API

The second tip involves speculative loading – getting the next page ready before visitors click on it. This is done through the Speculation Rules API, which analyzes links on the current page and begins loading or rendering the next pages in the background.

There are two ways to do this:

Prefetch: downloads the next page’s resources quietly in the background.
Prerender: loads the next page invisibly so it appears instantly when visitors click.

Google recommends setting the browser to “moderate” eagerness, meaning it predicts which links visitors are most likely to click and loads them accordingly. This technique can improve the speed of navigation, reduce waiting time and increase the number of pages viewed.

However, publishers are told to test these methods carefully in staging environments first because incorrect setup can cause issues – such as double-counting ad impressions or breaking analytics tracking.

3. Using AI for Debugging Website Issues

The third new technique utilizes AI-assisted debugging within Chrome DevTools, Google’s tools for inspecting websites. For the first time, DevTools now connects to an AI system via a special server called Model Context Protocol (MCP).

This setup allows an AI agent-like Gemini or Claude-to analyze live performance data, troubleshoot errors, and even fix issues automatically. For example, a Japanese media company, CyberAgent, used this AI integration to fix website errors fully automatically, saving time and effort.

This AI debugging makes troubleshooting faster and easier, especially for smaller publishers without dedicated development teams. Instead of manually profiling or editing code, publishers can chat with the AI to identify problems and get solutions efficiently.

Why These Techniques Matter

Google’s email emphasizes that using these methods can boost website performance, which is tied directly to increased ad revenue in AdSense. Publishers like Yahoo! Japan, Netzwelt, and Monrif already reported gains after adopting these tips.

This guidance comes when many publishers are facing challenges like declining ad revenue, fewer visitors from search engines, and competition from AI-powered search features that keep users within search interfaces longer.

In Summary

Google is encouraging its publisher network to: