Neil Lemons’ Blog

I just received two emails in two days stating that Google will be doing away with two features and/or conversion measurements — Pay-per-action Beta and Cross Conversion Tracking.

By doing away with the Cross Conversion Tracking, I’m sure they hope you choose to engage more with their products by becoming a Google Analytics user which allows the site owner to set up “Goals,” which can measures conversions from “non-Google pay-per-click services.”

From the beginning I’ve done both. Using Cross Conversion Tracking I enjoyed being able to see conversions and traffic from MSN adCenter and Yahoo! Search Marketing by only having to log into one interface, AdWords. Although, that pesky extra tracking code had to be added to every destination URL in every ad from other ‘”non Google” ppc platform was cumbersome for someone who uses multiple tracking URLs and creates new adgroups often.

Unfortunately I bought some domains the day I heard Google was starting a pay-per-action platform that will go to waste. I also renewed this year. $60 gone. Luckily I didn’t buy them for more than one year at at time (which you should always register for at least two years at a time if you have a site you are actually developing, according Rand Fiskin’s interpretation to small variable in the Google algorithm patten).

Entrepreneur’s Domain Graveyard
R.I.P. : ADWORDSCOSTPERACTION.COM
R.I.P. : ADWORDSCPA.COM
R.I.P. : ADWORDSPPA.ORG

I probably would have received a cease and desist for using AdWords in the domain anyway. Read Google’s PR Spun “Dear John” letters in here:

Death to Google AdWords Pay-Per-Action

Subject: Service Announcement: AdWords pay-per-action beta is being retired
Hello,

Thank you for participating in the pay-per-action beta. We’re writing to let you know that in the last week of August 2008, the AdWords pay-per-action beta test will be retired. Pay-per-action campaigns and all related data will be removed from all AdWords accounts the last week of October. We appreciate your patience during this transition and want to update you about the following changes in your account and campaigns in the coming months:

* Starting the last week in August, your pay-per-action campaigns will no longer be active, and any ads in your campaigns will stop running. As a result, you will no longer be able to edit or create pay-per-action campaigns.

Important note: You will still be charged for conversions that occur up to 30 days after a click on a pay-per-action ad. To learn more, visit http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6349.

* Starting the last week in October, your pay-per-action campaigns and all related data will be removed from your AdWords account. This includes pay-per-action reports in the Report Center. After this time you will no longer have access to your pay-per-action campaign data. If you wish to retain a permanent record of your pay-per-action campaign data, please export your data from the Report Center using the directions at http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=97265.

Why is this happening?

Google is constantly working to offer features that will provide a better experience to our users. As part of Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick, the Performics affiliate network is now a part of Google and has been renamed Google Affiliate Network. To consolidate our offerings, we will be phasing out the AdWords pay-per-action beta in the last week of August 2008. As an alternative to pay-per-action advertising, Google offers two products that allow you to manage your advertising on a CPA (cost-per-acquisition) basis: the Conversion Optimizer and the Google Affiliate Network. To learn more about these options, visit http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=97264.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

——————————————–

Email preferences: You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about the retirement of an AdWords feature.

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

Death to Google AdWords Cross-Channel Conversion Tracking

Subject: Service Announcement: AdWords pay-per-action beta is being retired

Dear AdWords Advertiser,

We regret to inform you that we will no longer be providing cross-channel tracking in your AdWords account beginning August 25, 2008. As of that date, the feature and its related data will be removed from all accounts. If you’d like to keep a copy of your cross-channel conversion data, please make a record of it for yourself before the removal. AdWords conversion tracking will not be affected by this change.

As an alternative to cross-channel tracking, we encourage you to use the free Google Analytics service to track all your online marketing efforts. Analytics offers the same functionality as cross-channel tracking, plus much more. It shows you how people find and explore your site, which keywords are really working, which ad text is the most effective, and where your visitors are dropping off during the conversion process. To get started using Analytics, visit http://www.google.com/analytics/features.html.

If you already have an Analytics account and would like to track your non-AdWords online advertising campaigns, you’ll need to tag your destination URLs with special variables. Visit http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55518 for instructions.

Once cross-channel tracking has been retired, we recommend that you remove the cross-channel tracking code from your site.

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause you. If you need further help transitioning from cross-channel tracking, please contact us at http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/request.py?ctx=cuffhelp.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

——————————————–

Email preferences: You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about the retirement of an AdWords feature.

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043