Pay for Call

Phones are still being used!  Introducing  'pay-for-call'.  This technique prompts Web surfers to pick up the phone instead of clicking an ad or sending e-mail.  As in Google's and Yahoo's pay-for-click, in pay-per-call, keywords also are auctioned. But instead of a link to click, the ad directs the user to the telephone. This is a neat way for advertisers without an online presence (yes there are some still) to generate leads and serve customers ready to buy.

As with pay-for click, the advertiser is billed for the referral. Ingenio Inc charges $7 per call, compared with about 50 cents per click.  ThinkingVoice, plans to offer flat fees.

One of the benefits of pay-for-call is that advertisers know the performance is not inflated. Another is, they get folks on the phone at the moment of impulse or purchase readiness (vs. risking losing them in the online jungle).

Comments

[Dan]

Pay per call is an exciting new advertising model, and with companies like Microsoft and Google adding to their VoIP capabilities, it's definitely something to look out for in the future. But companies like eStara, www.estara.com, are advocating that pay per call is just one of the models online advertisers have to choose from. Their goal is to be flexible, so they offer pay for performance, pay per call, call volume guarantee, or subscription-based pricing.