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Google Launches Affiliate Network
Is Google building a ValueClick killer?
Is Google thinking of getting of pulling up to the CPA table now that it has run the cards on the CPC deck?
Just came across this piece…
David Jackson submits: Last night, after market close, I received the following email from Google’s AdSense team:
The Google AdSense team would like to invite you to test a feature that provides you with a new way to earn revenue from your website by hosting ads that are compensated based on a Cost-Per-Action [CPA] basis. These ads are very different in that you will be able to choose amongst a selection and you will also have more flexibility in promoting them…
The attachment contained the following:
How do I participate in the CPA test?
Simply reply to the invitation email and express your interest in participating and we will send you some sample CPA ads. You can then choose which ads you’d like to host and we will send you the code to copy and paste on to your site. It’s just that easy!
What can I do to optimize my revenue from the CPA ads?
While we encourage you to experiment as much as possible with these ads on your site, here are some general tips on implementing a CPA ad:
1) Ads that blend in with the site and are placed prominently tend to perform better. Look to integrate the ad within the page.
2) Ads that are relevant to the interest of your site visitor also tend to perform better. For example, if you have a travel site, having ads relevant to airline travel would generate higher interest. For more tips on increasing revenue, please see our optimization tips page at: https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page=tips.html&sourceid= aso&subid=ww-ww-et-asui&medium=linkHow do I get paid?
You get paid whenever a site visitor clicks on the ad on your site AND performs a specified action, such as generating a lead or purchasing a product.
Do these compete with regular content ads?
These ads will not compete with contextually targeted ads. Instead, they will show across a separate network, the Content Referral network. To place one of these ads on your site, you can set up a new ad unit that supports any of our current ad unit sizes.
How much could publishers expect to earn with this CPA test?
How much a publisher will earn will depend on a number of factors about the publisher and advertiser, including whether the ads match the topic of the site, and level of interest of their site visitors. We have tried to match the appropriate publishers with advertisers for this test.
Will CPA offerings compete with my current AdSense revenue?
We expect that the CPA test will offer ad units that will expand publishers AFC revenue because the ad units are separate and appeal to different types of users. These CPA ads are also additional inventory to your existing AFC ad units.
How can I promote the CPA ad unit?
Since this is a test and these CPA ads are not regular ad units, we are giving you more flexibility in saying things like “I recommend this product” or “Try JetBlue today” next to the CPA ad unit. However, you should still not incite someone to click on the ad, so saying “Click Here” is not ok.
Where do these CPA ads comes from?
The CPA ads come from a limited group of high quality advertisers that are interested in displaying ads on a CPA basis. They pay you whenever a site visitor performs a specified action, such as generating a lead or purchasing a product.
Will I be able to see reports within my account?
When the test begins, you will receive weekly email reports of conversions you have accrued and your total revenue within the CPA test.
In other words, Google is launching a fully-fledged cost-per-action - otherwise known as affiliate marketing - network.
Let’s not mince words. This is Google’s ValueClick (VCLK) killer. Google has greater resources than ValueClick, a larger advertiser base, and the advantage of being able to offer publishers a full range of ads based on page views [CPM], clicks [CPC] and now actual purchases or leads [CPA]. Google can translate the performance of all these ads into “effective CPMs”, allowing publishers to compare and optimize for whichever type of ad produces maximum revenue.
This morning, soon after the market opened, I shorted ValueClick. Stock buyback or not, this spells the end of ValueClick’s Commission Junction business.
Would Google extension into the CPA Affiliate Network world spell the end of CJ? I doubt it. The CPA world is larger and more expansive than the pre-AdSense CPC worldlet. Lead generation (as Beth Kirsch brilliantly pointed out) is red hot and catching even more kinetic energy. It’s clear to see why Google is making a play into this area. With eBay’s adContext coming down the pipe and the pressure from click fraud, Google stands to gain a great deal by extending its advertising reach into CPA. Google, after all, is an advertising company.
Oh, this is getting good!
Google’s CPA Announcement
Google’s latest announcement that they will start testing cost per acquisition (CPA) advertisements has perked up the ears of the affiliate community. David Jackson appears to be the first to layout the Google CPA plan by which Google will start…
Thanks for the kind words. Glad your back.
That was just a nice opening to tell you. Now if we can only get Jay over here to blog with us
Cheers,
Beth
This is no different from their CPC pricing. All the advertisers are already backing their CPC spends into an eCPA and managing as such. This will be just one more way for VCLK or any other affiliate business to further mine the search engines with their publishers’ base. It’s actually a really good thing for the overall sector.
Ad networks are still a very necessary link in the ad monetization chain. Google is a frictionless business and affiliate marketing is all about the “service”, whether it is the optimization, creative development or overall relationship, Google has no desire to become a service-oriented company. It’s all about the technology for them.
Every time Google or Yahoo releases a new metric or tool, it just makes it easier for the ad networks that utilize their search impressions to gain access to even more inventory that much faster and that much cheaper.
Google entering the space is indeed the best form for flattery. It’s about time advertisers learn that the most logical metric for buying ads online is CPA. This move should only aid every affiliate network working on a CPA basis with the search engines.
I really don’t see this as Google launching an affiliate or CPA network or entering the affiliate or CPA market. It’s just an extension to their AdSense and AdWords products to provide extra value and choices to advertisers (and indirectly to publishers).
I think this is no different than when they introduced CPM options and image ads. Did they enter the banner advertising market then? Perhaps. Did it spell the end to banner advertising companies? Not a chance.
Google AdSense’s core busiess is and will remain the same. They’re just adding (or testing, at this point) a new option. CPA ads will still need to compete with existing CPC and CPM ads and Google will still optimize to display the ads that they expect to produce maximum income.
I am in total agreement with you, this is really getting good.
As a manager of 4 affiliate programs at CJ, I have expereinced their struggles over the last few years against declining affiliate participation due to AdSense (AdWords pimping and the like), so I can understand why CJ in particular could be worried.
Durk Price
The end of Affiliate Marketing! Again?
Adam Viener’s post called “Yahoo Coupons Get Top Results - Search Engines Become Affiliates” from last Tuesday sparked a chain of comments that lasted all week. Over 50 comments altogether. I was reading through the comments and made one comment…