Google Improving It's Cost Per Action Ad System

 Google is improving it's CPA ad system.

Google is helping publishers get Google CPA ads that work better with their content.

It looks like publishers will be able to choose products for the site or choose keywords that get relavant ads.

Cost Per Action ads differ from the normal Adsense ads.

With a CPA ad, the viewer must not only click on the ad, but also perform an action at the advertiser's site. The action may be providing some sort of information or buying a product. This is all done before the publisher will get paid.

With a typical Adsense ad , or CPC (cost per click), all of your must do for the publisher to get paid is click on the link to the advertiser's site.  This is much easier for the publisher than a CPA ad.  To balance the difficulty or lower success rate (most will probably not complete the action) the pay is higher.

You can check the Adsense blog from the snipet below.

Now accepting applications for new referrals beta

Many of you already use referrals to direct users to your favorite Google products. Now, with our new referrals beta, you can select products and services from our base of AdWords advertisers. This is good news for those of you who have wanted to use referrals in the past, but couldn't find a product to match your site's content. With the referrals beta, you can search for products that match up directly with your site's content. And you can customize your referral units to match the look and feel of your site, making it easier than ever to find a referral ad that fits in seamlessly with your site's design and content.

Source: Inside AdSense: Now accepting applications for new referrals beta

Google is not the only source for CPA ads.

There are some affiliate networks that specialize in CPA ads. The pay for a CPA ad can run from $.15 to over $100. It depends on the difficulty in getting the conversion and the value of the advertiser's product. There are some CPA ads that will pay over $1 just for an email or zip code.

It is interesting to see Google moving in this direction.  Combined with the Google check out, Google is providing a complete system for advertising and sales.  This would give Google a serious advantage over a other CPA networks who do not provide a checkout system.

I'm not sure what effect this will have on publishers in the long run. 

On one hand there is convenience for advertisers and publishers, on the other hand, over dependence on a developing monopoly can be a serious problem.