Google tests CPA program
Something always expected and always speculated on is now turning out to be true— Google AdSense is testing a Cost per Action model (by invitation). At least at this present moment, it seems that it will be an additional option for AdSense publishers and is not expected to negatively impact publisher revenues from the cost per click model that they have been operating on.
However, I am intrigued by one of the conditions that Google has apparently applied during the test phase which is that publishers are not allowed to incite users to click on the CPA ads ie. say Click here. Publishers are given the freedom to make positive statements about the ads, but not make an obvious call to action. While such a condition can be understood in the case of a CPC model, I am not sure why it should apply on the pay-for-performance model. Obviously, as a marketer getting a return only when the user completes a pre-determined action/ transaction, it is in my interest to make the user click on the ad as a first step towards generating sufficient interest in the product/ service. Of course, this is a test phase, and hopefully, Google will get sufficient feedback from affiliate/Adsense publishers to put together an offering that is fair to both the advertiser as well as the publisher.
With a prorgram like this, can Google seriously dent the major affiliate networks? Definite possibility — but this had to be something that the affiliate networks should have seen coming and been prepared accordingly. How well they are prepared for the major search engines using their distribution networks for a pay per action model, we will know soon.
