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Yahoo & Google Testing Pay-Per-Call Ads

Posted by Zonk on from the do-i-get-money dept.

khundeck writes "'Internet giants Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. are testing a new form of online advertising that encourages people to pick up the phone rather than click on a link, lending credibility to the 'pay-per-call' ad model.'" From the article: "Google is testing a variant in which users click on a phone icon and type their number into a box. Google then dials the user, who hears ringing until the merchant answers. Google says the service is free for callers even on long-distance calls, and it promises not to divulge the caller's number to anyone."

3 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm... by Bun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Google says the service is free for callers even on long-distance calls, and it promises not to divulge the caller's number to anyone.

    That seems pretty empty to me. They will still have the information. If they promised to not keep a record of the caller's number, I'd feel better about it.

    --
    "Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it-good for you."--J.Carmack
  2. Who says I have to use my own number? by canadiangoose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds like a great way to prank-call someone at all hours of the day. Heck, you could even prank-call people from your desk at work all without picking up the phone.

    --
    Never eat more than you can lift -- Miss Piggy
  3. Why would I want someone to call me? by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Whats the incentive?

    Do they pay me to listen to an ad? Or is this a way to add my number for a product I am interested on some website?

    With sites like buy.com and ebay.com I can just browse what I want and pick my price. Its a little different from someone calling me and I have no idea who the hell they are.

    Also I do pay even for local calls on my wireless plan if I go above a certain number of minutes during certain hours of the day.

    --
    http://saveie6.com/