Google is taking a multi-pronged approach when it comes to winning over the hearts and minds of Facebook developers. We already know that it will attempt a direct appeal to get developers to come over to Google’s side and create social applications via its OpenSocial APIs. But Google is also trying to convince Facebook developers to use Google’s new pay-per-action ads (still in beta) to get more people to install their apps on Facebook. Google’s AdSense team is specifically targeting Facebook developers with an invitation to its pay-per-action beta program (reprinted beow).
A pay-per-action (PPA) ad only costs the advertiser something if a specific action is taken by a consumer—in this case, installing a Facebook app or going to a developer’s application page on Facebook, where the developer can make money showing his or her own ads. For the most part, it seems these PPA ads will appear on Google itself or on sites elsewhere on the Web that are part of the AdSense network. Thus they will (ironically) drive more traffic to Facebook.
But there’s another, albeit speculative, scenario. According to VentureBeat, Google may try to sneak AdSense ads into Facebook itself. This is a stretch, but bear with us. Google would have to do so through a back door, by appealing to developers themselves, who control the ads on their own pages within Facebook. If Google can show generic AdSense ads on Facebook, it could show these PPA ads as well. In the letter to Facebook developers, Google curiosly says the PPA ads will appear on “individual publishers in the Google content network, including other Facebook applications.” It seems that Facebook would crack down on any such sneak attack, given its ad partnership with Microsoft. But it would be interesting to see which ads do better on Facebook: Google’s PPA ads or Facebook’s upcoming SocialAds. Let the most relevant ads win.
Here is the full text of the letter from Google to Facebook developers:
Dear Facebook Application Developer,
Would you like to drive more users to your app? We’ve expanded our pay-per-action (PPA) beta test and would like to invite you to participate by creating ads for your Facebook application.
To start setting up your first pay-per-action campaign, click on the link within the pay-per-action alert in your AdWords account and follow the simple steps at http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=68150 to get your PPA ads up & running across the Google content network and on other Facebook applications.
Key Benefits of PPA
* Save money by paying only for actions that you define, such as users adding your app. Rather than paying for clicks or impressions, you only pay when a visitor performs a specified action, such as installing your Facebook application or visiting your main application page.
* Save time by setting up AdWords conversion tracking: you can set your desired cost per action and pay for completed actions to hit your cost-per-action targets.
* Increase conversion rates by using publishers’ knowledge about visitors to their websites to your advantage. Individual publishers in the Google content network, including other Facebook applications, choose to display PPA ads that they feel will appeal to their visitors. This works to your advantage, as publishers are motivated to choose ads they believe will have a high conversion rate.With PPA, you decide how much you want to pay for each type of action, whether it’s $1 for a user installing your application or $.15 for visiting your application page. You can also control your spending by setting a daily budget. In addition, you can view clicks, impressions, conversion rate, cost per conversion, total conversions, and total cost for each pay-per-action campaign by running a Placement Performance Report or a pay-per-action report in the Report Center of your AdWords account.
For more information about pay-per-action ads and a list of our most frequently asked questions, please visit the pay-per-action section in the Google AdWords help center: http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=11635
We are excited to offer you a new way to attract new users to your Facebook application and meet your advertising goals.a If you have any questions, please email adsense-developer-research@google.com.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team
I followed up with more developers running Google ads, who confirmed what I’d originally been hearing.
First?
Can’t wait to try this out. Things are developing rather quickly.
I still don’t understand why Google didn’t start working on its Orkut platform earlier. it’s really strange. Orkut still runs on .Net and doesn’t have sufficient hardware to support millions of people, as facebook does. This, I guess shows that Google is not serious about it. Google did a great job in releasing their Maps API but here in social networks, it seems they have not made any decision. Maybe its just vague to me right now facebook’s API just looks more consistent than Google’s pool of technologies.
Gaggle can’t stand anything that Microsoft invest in because they know it will be an unqualified success!
that’s not gonna happen…. facebook will stop that dead in its tracks.
but then again google is going to have to support the $700 share price and not disappoint the street. google is a one trick pony when it comes to revenue and it’s going to be shut out of facebook….
Kudos to the Google product team to come up with such excellent ideas, especially to entice FB developers by offering something in which the platform is lacking.
http://www.meetingflex.com
Social Networking + Video
It looks like Google can look forward to an antitrust investigation really soon.
Shit like this is exactly why antitrust laws exist.
Shit like this is exactly what MS tried to get away with in the 90s.
But at $700/share, I don’t think Gevil is too worried about not doing evil anymore.
#5: Looking forward to seeing if you are correct or not. But, I think it is a “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” situation. It will not look good of FB stomps on their developer’s ability to generate revenue. Limiting freedom is not an idea a company with such high hopes wants to be associated with at this point in the SN evolution.
I remember larry saying – “We cant buy everything on the internet thats successful” when microsoft signed advertisment deal with facebook.
For a moment i thought like google is missing a great oppurtunity by not-wooing facebook community. Here the Father of internet comes again with a Killer Ad-Network-
Interesting that both the GOOG and Facebook are doing a bunch of backend hiring right now.
I am so sick of hearing about facebook, the latest over-hyped, over-valued, psuedo-paradigm shifter, that it’s a relief to hear that google hasn’t been sleeping at the wheel. Nothing against FB, I’m supportive of all entreprenuers but the hype has been nauseating. Let’s all take a collective breath and put things in perspective: This game has always been google’s to lose and FB had better put that $240M investment to good use and stop drinking the kool-aid.
@11 – Amen, my knukkle!
BTW, the meetingflix.com site looks like something I put together in 1995 when I started taking HTML classes
Hello Guys/Girls, if there are any developers on here who are excited about getting their hands on the OpenSocial APIs (I know I am!), I have made a website/forum for discussion, would be cool to get a few active members to get the website going http://www.osoc...al.co.uk/forum/
Are you sure that you really understand the e-mail? If yes, would you tell me the relation with your post and the e-mail?
Yea but what’s up with http://www.opensocial.com? Why didn’t Google register this domain?
I’ve already seen Google ads in Facebook…. in the Scrabulous app. So what’s the news here?
Who says that developers have to write exclusively for F8 or for Open Social? Marc Andreessen seems to think that app developers will take the time to build one backend and many front ends for their applications.
And if app developers do place Google CPA adds inside their applications, Facebook can’t crack down. They’ve already said that developers can monetize applications any way they want. If they start changing the rules too much, they’ll alienate the developer community.
CPA ads could be a really effective monetization strategy on FB, where the clickthrough rate is so low. A specificly identified action the user will take when clicking an ad is almost certainly more compelling than simply following an ad wherever it might lead.
nice
http://www.adwordsa.com/
Facebook Ads +Adsense+Adwords
I am writting an operating system called “TheZoid” at http://thezoid.co.uk
I have no choice but to add this due to nasty search engine which will not advertise my busuiness called google addwords on http://www.google.co.uk which wishes to charge very high prices and as an excuse call my website very poor quality. If you manage to find this website as http://www.google.co.uk is trying its best to keep it out of its search engine that is unbelivable. I would like to know why google cannot recognize TheZoid as an operating system !!! Please send http://www.google.co.uk lots of emails and tell them that shitting on the small man is good business sense. If google wishes me to remove this from my website than advertise my business fairly, at resaonable rates !!!!
Did you know google.co.uk wishes to charge upto five pounds for one Click for the word “Operating System” and many other words, I would like to know what is this Bullshit !!!!
Please show your outrage by boycotting the google search engine !!!!
This message was posted on 15/11/2007 just after I cancelled my google adwords account which will not advertise my business. I will not pay stupid prices for one click for one keyword !!
If you work at http://www.google.co.uk and find this fucking offensive then I am fucking hope so and you can go fuck yourselfs. PS keep pissing of the small man, and I hope you go out of business !!!!
Getting facebook Ads is really that easy, and one of the best ways of getting your site showing far better ads than most others will show.
http://www.infi...ebook-Apps.html
Take a look, the code is all there.
No, there is still no google ads on facebook..i wonder when thez will start using them..soon or later they will