Taking full advantage of April Fools day, Google yesterday announced the launch of Gmail Paper, a new feature through which users can request a paper copy of  any email delivered for free within 24 days. Taking the environmental high ground Google’s Gmail Paper promotional page claimed the Gmail paper was “printed on 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier.”

Suprisingly, “Gmail paper” was the most searched term on Technorati during the past 48 hours with over 3,000 blogs making mention of the spoof service within 24 hours of its release. “gmail paper”  

Shadowed by Google’s April Fools Day Gmail Paper spoof, was an  important annoucement that provides a glimpse of were Google is going next. Google has emerged together with Microsoft as a contender to buy DoubleClick Inc., one of the leading third party ad-serving firms, serving over 1 billion ads a day through its DART platform. Doubleclick is currently owned by private equity company Hellman & Friedman LLC. The third party ad-serving market is going through a wave of consolidation, with ATLAS recently purchasing Accipiter and Doubleclick’s purchase of Faulk eSolutions.

The purchase of Doubleclick would cement Google’s position in ad land, providing access to thousands of potential advertising technology clients. More importantly it would bonify Google’s planned CPA (cost per action) offering through DART, a proven and trusted platform to track and manage CPA advertising agreements. The combination of DART and Google’s reach could present a serious challenge for Trade Doubler, LinkShare, Commission Junction and buy.at. However Google will continue to face the challenge of click faud under any ad model it launches. Is the launch of a CPA network an antidote for click fraud? Unlikely; given Ad Sense publishers would be paid on the basis of completed actions as opposed to clicks generated. However, the success of Google in the world of CPA will not be determined by reach but by service. The current affiliate marketing market is a perfect example - 80% of actions are driven by 20% of affiliates.

The loyalty of super affiliates, for network owners and advertisers is gold dust.

These super affiliates must be managed closely. Based on a track record of automated solutions and poor service I don’t believe Google can sustain a CPA model without acquiring a specialist affiliate network. Lastly and more importantly, advertisers are increasingly concerned with the “quality” of actions or conversions they pay for as opposed to the “quantity” of actions or conversions. Again the quality of Google audience does not come down to the sheer size of its Ad Sense network but service; to acquire and retain quality sites.  

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