Adsense CPA – Getting Paid Per Sale

There is a new addition to Google Adsense options, a Cost-Per-Action (CPA) model.

For the publisher, this means getting paid per sale instead of per click, much like promoting any other affiliate program.

For merchants this means only paying for traffic that converts, instead of paying for every click-through.

I just heard of this CPA option over the weekend, while talking with Paul of SpamBully. He mentioned that it may be a good option for promoting his program, to which I agreed. It definitely sounds like a great option for merchants - and so I set out to learn more about it, and see what the publishers are saying...

Here is what I've found so far:

William Charlwood, of Facts About Adsense, writes:

Google's been beta testing a new type of AdSense ad that pays you only when the person clicking the ad on your site goes on to complete an action such as making a purchase from the advertiser.

As a big AdWords advertiser myself (controlling around 2000 dollars a day) I would certainly bid much much more aggressively for these Cost per Action (CPA) ads because I could be certain that I wasn't wasting any money on valueless traffic to my sites.

There were some great articles on the topic filed under the News section on Google search, including:

Google Tests Cost-Per-Action Ads
...that publishers would have more control over how the ads were displayed. "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 e-mail said. "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."
According to the e-mail, the cost-per-action ads will not compete with Google's AdSense cost-per-click ads, and will be displayed on a different network, dubbed the "Content Referral network."

Google "Cost Per Action" Advertising: Only Pay for Sales
Action based systems generally provide better ROI for marketers, but it will be interesting to see how AdSense publishers react. Unlike the current pay per click model, action based systems will probably generate less regular revenue for publishers, but the commission could provide a reasonable trade-off.
The downside is that publishers have no control over conversion on advertiser's websites, which could mean a lot of free advertising with no real returns. Google suggests that the action based system won't replace their existing AdSense system, but will be an additional service if and when it is officially launched.

More resources:

Adsense Testing Cost Per Action at WebmasterWorld
I received the invitation this morning. I intend to try this program, but I'm not excited about it. I agree 100% with the following statement: "Too much dependency on the advertisers to actually close a sale or other option".

Google Start Testing CPA Ads at Digital Point
If you are picking the selection of ad's and only getting paid when someone signs up for something or buys something, then why not just use affilate programs and cut out google all together?

Google Pay Per Action Network Test at John Battelle's SearchBlog
Google is testing a CPA (cost per action) network - the kind of approach Bill Gross is trying at Snap, and many others, like Valueclick, have employed, with limited success so far. Why? Is Google hedging against click fraud and spam? Is this just spaghetti against the wall? (the comments at the end are most interesting)

Google Testing Cost Per Action Ads at ProBlogger
The ads do not appear in the same place as your other contextual AdSense text ads - instead you set up another ad unit for them.
What I find interesting is that AdSense are allowing publishers to actively promote these products...

After reading through several forum threads, blog posts and news sites... I decided to check with Google and see what they had to say. Unfortunately there were no results in the Adsense Help Center, and there was nothing posted about it on the official Adsense Blog. I searched a bit on Google.com, the official Adwords Blog (which wont load for me this morning), the Adwords site and help section... nothing.

Apparently the news of this beta testing all stems from the post on SeekingAlpha, where the actual email from Google was posted.

Personally, I would rather stick to promoting Affiliate Programs directly. I know what I am promoting, what I will be paid, and can presell the product through my content. It would seem to me that this is a much better option than using a CPA model through Adsense, where you have no control over which products or which ads will be displayed alongside your content.

Your thoughts?

Technorati Tags: adsense, google adsense, adsense cpa, cost per action