Sun
SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, is testing a form of online advertisements where clients pay only when Web surfers click on an ad and buy a product or generate a sales lead.
So-called “cost-per-action” ads are being tested on the Google AdSense advertising network, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said Wednesday. AdSense is a program that lets third-party publishers, such as writers of Web logs, show ads sold by Google on their sites.
Adding cost-per-action pricing may help companies more effectively track whether their online ad spending is generating sales. The approach may also assuage concerns from some advertisers about click-fraud, a practice whereby users maliciously click on ads to raise costs for competitors or line their own pockets.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006