David Berkowitz’s 12/14/07 article on WebProNews gives Jordan Rohan’s views from Search Insider Summit. Some great insight into the industry, but my favorite part is a two-line statement toward the very bottom of the article:

New developments in lead gen:

• Matchpoint.com – user-initiated, user remains anonymous, compares offers; this will change lead-gen altogether”

This article can be found at http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/12/14/search-insider-summit-jordan-rohan

Phil Butler’s 11 December 2007 blog post on Profy talks about his discussion with Matchpoint President Peter Adams. I enjoyed this blog as it was very informative and a useful description of the Matchpoint model. Phil praises the Win-Win advertising benefits for both users and businesses.

The essence of Phil’s discussion is summarized in his conclusion:

… but somehow I feel this service will take off and become something very useful. Just think of asking for a local plumber or a worldwide ad agency and getting exactly what you asked for. Email, or no email—relevance is the name of the game now and in the future.

This blog post can be found at http://www.profy.com/2007/12/11/game-matchpoint/

Wow. Click Forensics and MediaPost are reporting that click fraud has reached 28% on content networks. Even if it’s half that, it’s still a giant number. This level of fraud puts a lot of pressure on making cost-per-click (CPC) advertising models work as they scale beyond search and into content placements. I suppose, the upside in the story is that 28% click-fraud really represents a artificial 28% depression in the CPCs that advertisers are willing to pay as the fraud is priced into the market. Either way it’s bad news as there is virtually no way to stop click-fraud in CPC models.

Luckily alternatives to CPC text ads are starting to emerge.

For example, the Matchpoint search model shields advertisers from the fraudulent clicks by it’s very nature. Consumers that use Matchpoint to get competitive offers and proposals from businesses first complete a category specific search form and then confirm their interest via e-mail before businesses are charged for the introduction.

Partnership provides MediaSpan with business search and additional revenue streams

Mountain View, California—19 November 2007—Matchpoint, an online service that helps consumers find and select the right businesses, has announced that MediaSpan is the latest to join its growing network of publishers that are looking for a better way to connect visitors to their web sites with the relevant service providers they are looking for.

“Matchpoint provides a very compelling way for visitors of our web sites to confidentially request offers and proposals from relevant businesses,” said MediaSpan Chief Marketing Officer Mark Zagorski. “Matchpoint’s unique consumer proxy model keeps the consumer anonymous throughout the process and in control of their personal information.”

MediaSpan’s network of 1,300+ local radio, television, and newspaper web sites will display Matchpoint’s contextually relevant text links or forms, giving consumers the ability to anonymously request competitive offers or proposals from a wide range of businesses ranging from financial services to health and fitness.

“As our media partners drive more of their business online, they are looking to generate revenue while also ensuring a great customer experience,” said Zagorski. “By incorporating Matchpoint’s service into our sites and positioning its web forms in contextually relevant locations, MediaSpan gains the ability to give our visitors a great new way to find and select businesses they are looking for. It also provides our partners with additional revenue streams that are scalable.”

“Businesses of any kind can use the Matchpoint marketplace to go beyond buying clicks or impressions and instead meet consumers that match the profile of their target customers at the time they are looking,” said Matchpoint President Adams. “We have businesses ranging from the local Lasik eye surgeon to major financial institutions using the marketplace to profitably acquire customers online with a lot less risk and effort than other forms of online advertising.”

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About MediaSpan
MediaSpan Online Services provides a comprehensive suite of online marketing solutions and enables 1300+ local radio, television and newspaper client partners to deliver their content and promotions to anyone.