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Google just announced that it’s testing what it call Pay-Per-Action ads. Basically, advertisers will pay not for every click, as they do now, but only when someone buys something, fills out a form, or takes some other action (besides clicking). On the surface, it looks like the Holy Grail for advertisers, some of whom wonder why they’re paying for clicks that may produce no revenue, or may even be fraudulent. But it’s not a replacement for pay-per-click ads.

Andy Beal at Marketing Pilgrim thinks it’s mainly a shot at affiliate networks such as Amazon.com’s Affiliates, which are Web sites that get a cut of revenue when people they send to Amazon buy something. Jeremy Liew at Lightspeed Venture Partners think it also will do a number on lead generation firms such as LowerMyBills.com and LendingTree. Mike Arrington at TechCrunch has a good summary. Google Moves Beyond Pay-Per-Click Ads