Google CPA Test
David Jackson posted an invitation e-mail from Google regarding its pending CPA test. A CPA-based ad product is part of the wider strategy to push toward landing page optimization, conversion tracking products like the rumored GBuy, offline media ads and other programs discussed in various releases and earnings calls.
Yahoo! Search Marketing has told us that lead conversion tracking up to 45 days post click will be included in the upcoming (Q3) release. It is this release, called Panama, that the company will move to a yield-based results system similar to Google.
SEMs and SEOs have provided us with information that shows that in many verticals and local markets lead aggregators are purchasing the vast majority of keyword inventory. No surprise here. Typically, they convert click traffic to more valuable lead forms and incur sales and conversion risk. A CPA-based product could conceivably move Google and YSM closer to the individual advertisers that are interested in buying leads in the form of calls, forms or transactions.
A CPA-based product from Google and YSM helps move them further upstream in these segments. With all the hype about vertical markets, it's interesting to contemplate how (or if) a well-functioning CPA-based product could change the advertising landscape and which companies will be affected.