Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

Does the new Google AdSense CPA (Pay Per Action) embedded “text link format” ad product risk doing advertising evil?

I asked Kim Malone, the top Google AdSense point person directly, just two weeks ago.

SEE: Google Exec Skirts CPA Advertising Evil

As Google widens its CPA /PPA “beta,” Google also widens its credibility gap vs. a vs. the (in)famous Brin & Page “you can make money without doing advertising evil” slogan:

Google does not allow pop-up ads of any kind on our site. We find them annoying.

In Google’s pop-ups are evil campaign, the leading online advertising company recommends consumers take action against pop-ups directly with the Federal Trade Commision (FTC):

We wish you luck in your quest to quell pop-ups. If you feel you were deceived when you installed a program that creates pop-ups, you may want to take action. The FTC handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. Contact the FTC to file a complaint.

Google users may indeed soon be filing deceptive advertising complaints, against Google!

In Google Wants Paid Link Ad Market I dissect how the Google decision to disclaim its new CPA / PPA embedded advertising within publisher content depending upon whether unsuspecting readers “mouseover” the unidentified as advertising Google AdWords ecommerce link, or not, is CONTRARY to the spirit of best online business practices determined by the Better Business Bureau.

HOW EVIL will Google’s CPA / PPA “hyperlinked brief text descriptions that take on the characteristics of a publisher’s page” so that publishers can “place them in line with other text to better blend the ad” embedded in a “publishers recommendatory text” BE?

Forums around the Web include virulent commentary rejecting such ads cum content links already widely integrated within online content via the IntelliTXT company. IntelliTXT touts “use in-text placement to cut through the advertising clutter.”

O’Reilly (Web 2.0) Media concurrs; It is both an IntelliTXT publisher partner and part of the Google AdSense network. O’Reilly playfully calls the IntelliTXT embedded in-editorial content advertising links it sports within its professional articles as being “decorated” with a double underline.

Other publishers and readers characterize IntelliTXT links as disruptive, rather than “decorative.”

IntelliTXT itself recognizes the inherent editorial cum advertising ambiguities of its in-content advertising links, “stongly” advising against implementing IntelliTXT in “late breaking news, political coverage, or other news channels” deemed to be “controversial or inappropriate.”

The entire Google CPA / PPA in-text ad product may soon be seen as “controversial” and “inappropriate.”

ALSO: Google PPA Advertorial: The Next PayPerPost?

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN