Snap Elaborates: Google's CPA, Snap's Target Market, CPA's Not Just for Lead Gen
I was somewhat of a dick to Fred Walti of Snap (in my little asides requesting more feedback, noted by the "+" signs in the body of his responses).

I get like that for some reason right before I publish... I start thinking of how funny it would be (to me) to read SOMEONE ELSE saying what I'm saying and the next thing I know I've actually gone and published it.

In my defense, given the time it took to get the interview from them in the first place I didn't expect a quick response from either Mr. Walti or Mr. McGovern, and so I gave myself more critical license.

Still, that's no excuse for my taking a condescending and belittling tone with Mr. Walti.

Fred Walti and Tom McGovern kindly overlooked my tone and answered my requests for more information very quickly, and for this I thank them deeply, and offer my apologies and a pledge to send questions to them, through Mr. West, in the future, rather than lambast them in print again.

...and I'm defintely going to take up Mr. Walti's invitation to visit Snap the next time I'm out west :)

GOOGLE CPA
++please elaborate - how would you rate Google's CPA experiment at this stage?++

TM - Well its tough to rate a secret alpha test ;-) But from what I’ve read, their first foray into CPA is similar to the affiliate networks such as Commission Junction and Linkshare.

That is very different than Snap, but I would expect Google to expand from there. However it eventually manifests itself, it will be good for advertisers as the incentives will be aligned.

It may not be so great for some publishers if they are the source of poor converting traffic, but that is why it’s a good model - its true performance based marketing.

OUR BACKGROUNDS
++please elaborate: this is marketing fluff, which I think shows disrespect to my readers. *I'm* the only one allowed to disrespect my readers on my blog ;)

FW – Sorry if it came across as “marketing fluff.” My intention was to try to summarize my experience rather than bore your readers with a detailed resume.

what companies did you work for?
FW – Companies include: BBDO, Grey, Saatchi, FCB, FMI.

Clients: Apple, P&G, Pepsi, GF, Hanes, Citigroup, Dell, Gillette, Visa.
how are *you personally* going to be sensitive through an ad buying console? are you personally working with clients? if so, in what capacity? how, in Snap's sensitivity to "client service," are you different from or similar to GYMA?
FW - We’re “sensitive” to advertisers in the same way that Snap.com is sensitive to users – we’re trying to build an application that will be used by people. To be successful, we need to understand user’s needs and deliver something that then meets those needs. Advertisers are no different.

Our long term goal is to build the best in class user experience for advertisers – which means everything from providing full reporting capabilities to answering questions in a direct, understandable manner.

The size of our organization allows me to personally work with clients on a daily basis to get a better understanding of what those needs are. I go on sales calls, draft presentations, shape the product, answer questions, etc., etc.

You’re always welcome to come visit us to see just how hands on we are.

Snap is different; we’re small, we answer our phones, and we return emails. We’re hungry and are willing to work with clients to design solutions to meet their needs.

OUR TECH
++please elaborate: what are your thoughts on creating methods for users to contribute to the search results, or perhaps to import their own personal usage data from projects like Attention Trust? What will be Snap's answer to social search?++
TM - We currently don’t intend to offer personalization of the search results however, we have means on our site where users can provide feedback on the quality of individual search results and the page previews. Every time someone does a search and provides feedback it will make Snap better for everyone else.

++please elaborate: what data are you gathering with the plug in? what is the advantage to the user for downloading the plug in? how will you be driving downloads?++
TM - We actually do not look over the shoulder of the user via the toolbar or Fire Fox plug in. The goal of these is solely to offer convenience to the user.

THE UI
What are your metrics for determining if the split screen UI is a success?

TM: We believe the strongest metrics for measuring the success for any search engine are user loyalty measures (repeat rates, for example) and search usage metrics (searches per visit, for example).

++elaborate please: well... what have the results been so far?++

TM: Well I know you will be shocked but we can not be too specific ;-) What I can say is that it is bimodal - some folks absolutely can not live without the experience while others prefer a command line type interface.

THE MODEL
Which major companies have been most interested in CPA thus far? Who do you think would most benefit from CPA vs. PPC?

++please elaborate: what *kinds* of companies? What industries or sectors are best suited for CPA? If you say "everyone" then you get detention ;)++

TM: Bring out the paddle... I have not met an advertiser that did not want true performance based advertising!
Maybe it is semantics, many people associate CPA with lead generation but it can be any desired business result; a sale, a download, a new customer, an offline lead, etc.

CPA is much more flexible than charging for just clicks and, by the way, a click can be an action. Obviously all advertisers benefit from this model versus PPC, however, as I mentioned above, the beauty of it is that it aligns interests and in the end, that will benefit users as they will be presented only relevant sponsored search results.

++elaborate please: so who's the target market for this sales force? why do you require a sales force - is it because you're not targeting smbs with a console-based ad offering? and is there CPA advertising live yet?

FW: We have a three-pronged advertising target:

(1) SMB’s that are comfortable enough with paid search advertising that they can manage the process themselves. They would be the primary target for our advertising console. We believe this group is our primary channel.

(2) SMB advertisers that either spend sufficient dollars and/or require customer service to handle questions and installations. Part of our advertising sales/service team would be targeted to them;

(3) Large advertisers and their agencies. Eventually, we will have a key account sales force to cover this group.

Yes, many of our advertisers are using CPA today.

Thanks guys - again, I appreciate your time, and look forward to hearing from you with more Snap news in the future.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |