Two things happened in the week that just ended that are noteworthy for any serious, futuristic AdSense publisher and AdWords advertiser.
1. Arkansas Judge Joe Griffin gave a final nod of approval to the ninety billion dollar ($ 90 billion) amicable settlement in the lawsuit between Google and some of its largest advertisers led by Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles.
2. Larry Page, co-founder and president of Google products, in a second quarter investor conference call spoke of being “excited to use more data” (in the CPA campaign Google is currently testing).
The controversy surrounding the increasing incidence of click fraud in recent times may have been part, but not the only reason, why Google and its partners in the Content Referral Network may have chosen this “escape route” .
Some newcomers to the PPC industry, like Blogsvertise.com, have started a CPA-like program and are surely getting a growing list of publishers to subscribe to (two of my websites are currently involved with the Blogsvertise program). It’s very likely that the eagle-eyed Google has seen a chance for fortune on the table, and knows that by the force of its broader reach, it could position itself to grab a big slice of the pie when the baking is complete. .
A close examination of the CPA campaign shows that it will require a greater commitment to promoting the product from the website publishers who participate in it. This may seem obnoxious and may even be seen as a threat to business freedom of choice, at first. Publishers will begin to wonder why they should step outside of their traditional content writing to recommend and promote whatever product Google assigns to them.
However, the bottom line is higher revenue for both Google and participating publishers. You can’t eat your cake and have it at the same time. I can see amazing gains from the CPA when it finally goes live. Testimonials from Calacanis, Shoemoney and other current big winners would be child’s play in the next five years, when the “scourge of the CPA” would have overtaken and devastated the industry.
Water would always find its own level anywhere, I have always advocated that invisible market forces would not condone Google, Yahoo, MSN and others for encouraging click fraud due to intrinsic earnings, as some of our colleagues at the industry. That would naturally erode the integrity and trust of the industry. While click fraud cannot be completely eliminated, this new innovation would certainly control it and reduce it to negligible lows.
Google is an amazing giant, and as I said in another review on Amazon, it is not a scary Goliath, in fact we are very comfortable with the innovative, continuous and incredible growth of this giant. The more it grows, the more secure we feel.