Google
launched their Pay Per Action ads March 07. Some predicted doom and gloom for the affiliate marketing industry. In my blog post above I quote Andy Beal from Marketing Pilgrim who said: "To me, it sounds like a clear threat to the likes of Commission Junction or LinkShare – or any other affiliate marketing network. Google, for all intents and purposes, has just entered the affiliate marketing arena, with the battle cry that they can do affiliate marketing better than the affiliate networks can.”
I blogged all along in all my coverage about
Google Pay per Action that there was nothing to worry about. They have tried various ways of promoting it to publishers and advertisers. They even tried
forced opt-in with Adsense publishers at one point.
So now
Search Engine Roundtable clues us in that the program's future is uncertain and Google may even be having 2nd thoughts about it. Barry wrote: "AdWordsPro Sarah, an official Google representative, responded to a question about the program:"
"Unfortunately, because the Pay Per Action pricing model is in beta, it is invitation only. At this time, invitations are no longer being extended while the product team figures out what direction the model will take in the future."
Wonder if they'll try to revive it or just let it die?
One thing is for certain. The doomsayers were wrong and this is just one more thing that was going to 'kill the affiliate marketing industry' - but didn't.