The Limitations Of Pay Per Click

from the not-always-the-best-plan dept

With the rise of Google's advertising system, it seems that everyone is focused (yet again) on the "pay-per-click" model of advertising. While pay-per-click is great in many situations, it shouldn't be the only model for advertising. For example, advertising isn't always about creating action immediately. It can be used for brand building, so that someone may return to the company or product at a later date. Therefore you can have an effective ad that never gets clicked (just as you can have an ineffective ad that does get clicked - such as one that seems interesting, but turns out to be poorly targeted). Another issue with pay-per-click is that it doesn't do well when the point of the ad is to try to get someone to call. Now, a few companies are working on ways to measure calls that were started via online ads. One company is basically setting up specific phone numbers to be advertised online so they can track how many calls come from the online ads. Another company has a system where you do click through the ad, but it can then establish a phone call with the company. Clearly, we're getting beyond just click-based performance metrics, but there's still a way to go.

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