Google Experiments with Cost-Per-Action Ads
Google announced recently that it would be testing a system that offers advertisers the option to pay only when their ads generate consumer action. Until now, advertisers on Google paid either when Internet users clicked on their ads or based on how many people viewed the ads. With the new system, advertisers may decide what consumer action their ads are pushing for and what those actions are worth. Based on this information, web publishers pick which ad or ads to place on their websites. Several other companies such as ValueClick and Turn are already using this method, which has proven to be quite effective as advertisers appreciate the idea that they do not have to pay for ads that generate no results. At least for now, Google is not putting the cost-per-action advertisements next to its regular search results, only on publishers' websites. Executives at Google hope to accelerate the company's growth and increase the company's already $10 billion-a-year revenue.
Judge Drops KinderStart's Lawsuit against Google
KinderStart, a search engine dedicated to child-related websites, sued Google after its page rank was reduced to a zero, consequently removing it from all search rankings. The accusations also included infringing upon free speech, antitrust activity, and defamation. Almost a year after the lawsuit was filed, Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled in favor of Google, ordering that KinderStart's counsel pay part of Google's legal fees. The judge ruled that the lawsuit had no merit and that Google's practices were not harmful, sending the message that if you don't like Google's rules and criteria for search results and page rank, there is nothing to be done about it.
Yahoo Increases Click Fraud Prevention Efforts
Yahoo has announced a plan to increase security in terms of click fraud and safety for advertisers. In addition to appointing executives to be in charge of marketplace quality and security, Yahoo has improved the geo-targeting controls in its new Panama platform. This means that advertisers will be able to block access to their ads from other countries, which is often where the click fraud is suspected to be originating. Also in the works from Yahoo is ad pricing at different levels, depending on the quality of the traffic brought to advertisers. This request from advertisers prevents them from paying for traffic that generates no revenue. Domain-level blocking is also in the future for advertisers on Yahoo, which will allow them to block traffic from certain domains which they deem harmful. In addition to these new services, Yahoo is in the process of setting up an online traffic quality center that will provide information related to click fraud prevention.
MSN's Soapbox Fails to Compete with YouTube
MSN's online video service Soapbox has failed to garner an audience comparable to other online video services, including YouTube. Although Soapbox is more advanced than YouTube and allows users to watch videos on bigger screens while searching for other videos at the same time, it still has not been able to compete with the name brand service. Research has shown that even if all 465 million MSN users (a month) participated in Soapbox and shared the service with others, the MSN services still would not come close to beating YouTube's traffic. In an attempt to fix the problem, MSN has been shopping around to buy an online video service, much as Google did with YouTube. Among the hopefuls are Revver, Metacafe, Veoh, and Guba, all of which are small video-sharing companies that offer more advanced technology than MSN and its competitors.