Anecdotal Evidence of Pay-per-Call Success
AOL distribution brings a report of success with Ingenio's pay-per-call for a Cruise Operator. Calls are ultimately a key to local for SMEs, but this model will likely be adopted by large advertisers (i.e., the cruise operator) sooner than mass adoption by SMEs.
Note that in the article the interviewee sees pay-per-call as something of an "antidote" to click fraud.
My brother is in a real estate niche with pay per call from Miva's (Findwhat) network, and AOL.
He is kicking butt. When I talk to him now he is constantly interupted by the other phone ringing. He is paying between $8 and $16 per call and is generating leads potentially worth thousands… per!
His biggest battle is with Ingenio as they are trying to resolve category lists. They admit that the beta status is still in effect and are obviously trying to manage the explosive growth on the fly. My brother's success may be tempered when others see how beautiful the product is.