blog.wired.com— Google AdWords advertisers will now have access to a self-service site optimization tool that helps them determine what content works best to sell their products.
Oct 18, 2006View in Crawl 4
A smart move by Google. Ultimately merchants will push Google more and more toward a cost per acquisition (CPA) model, versus cost per click (CPC). That means they'll pay Google a percentage of sales rather than a fixed cost per lead. It's in Google's and the advertiser's best interest to increase conversion rates in the world of CPA. Secondly, it will buy Google some advertiser goodwill since today people pay big bucks for this exact service (one provider, Optimost, is apparently working with Google on this).
This is a frightening development for merchants. With this move (along with GA / Adwords integration), Google effectively gains visibility into the margin profile of every downstream sale that its merchants make. Google now knows the true value of a keyword to its merchants' business, not just what they're willing to bid for it. In this model, the balance of power shifts to the supplier.
This is quite an unexpected product from Google.Not only they enable millions of people to monetize their website traffic, they're also helping them to make the most out of it. win-win is always nice.
Everything that Google does should not be viewed as a threat. This is not necessarily about moving to a CPA model. CPC advertisers benefit because they get much higher ROI if their landing pages convert better. Everyone has been so focused on driving the traffic to their site that the quality of the landing pages has largely been neglected. Now the playing field is level and everyone who uses Website Optimizer to fix their sites can afford to pay more for the traffic while maintaining the same CPA. Of course this is good for Google too.The main problem is that most advertisers are not testing experts and won't be able to go to far beyond simple A-B Split testing without getting into trouble. In other words, just making the tool available is not enough. Google has recognized this and created an Authorized Consultant partner program. Companies like <a class="user" href="http://SiteTuners.com">http://SiteTuners.com</a> can run complete engagements using the tool.
kennethnOct 19, 2006
A smart move by Google. Ultimately merchants will push Google more and more toward a cost per acquisition (CPA) model, versus cost per click (CPC). That means they'll pay Google a percentage of sales rather than a fixed cost per lead. It's in Google's and the advertiser's best interest to increase conversion rates in the world of CPA. Secondly, it will buy Google some advertiser goodwill since today people pay big bucks for this exact service (one provider, Optimost, is apparently working with Google on this).
twopoint0Oct 19, 2006
This is a frightening development for merchants. With this move (along with GA / Adwords integration), Google effectively gains visibility into the margin profile of every downstream sale that its merchants make. Google now knows the true value of a keyword to its merchants' business, not just what they're willing to bid for it. In this model, the balance of power shifts to the supplier.
miaowOct 19, 2006
they should also allow webmasters some control over ads displayed. at least to ban genres or products.
lhnzOct 19, 2006
In other words. Very good business move for Google.
wickedmanOct 19, 2006
This is quite an unexpected product from Google.Not only they enable millions of people to monetize their website traffic, they're also helping them to make the most out of it. win-win is always nice.
webconversionMar 28, 2007
Everything that Google does should not be viewed as a threat. This is not necessarily about moving to a CPA model. CPC advertisers benefit because they get much higher ROI if their landing pages convert better. Everyone has been so focused on driving the traffic to their site that the quality of the landing pages has largely been neglected. Now the playing field is level and everyone who uses Website Optimizer to fix their sites can afford to pay more for the traffic while maintaining the same CPA. Of course this is good for Google too.The main problem is that most advertisers are not testing experts and won't be able to go to far beyond simple A-B Split testing without getting into trouble. In other words, just making the tool available is not enough. Google has recognized this and created an Authorized Consultant partner program. Companies like <a class="user" href="http://SiteTuners.com">http://SiteTuners.com</a> can run complete engagements using the tool.