Great article from the current issue of The Economist, suggesting that we’re on the right track in enabling precise, pay-per-sale advertising:
But even the pay-per-call model may turn out to be only an intermediate
step towards the ultimate in advertising efficiency, which would be a
pay-per-sale approach. This is what Bill Gross has recently started
offering at SNAP, a search engine that he founded. United Airlines, for
instance, places text links on SNAP’s search pages, but it pays (about
$10) not when somebody clicks or calls, but only when somebody actually
buys a ticket. Eventually, argues Mr Gross, 100% of advertising will
follow such a pay-per-sale approach— although he won’t guess how
soon– because this is “the holy grail of advertising.”
We’re on the quest…
