The article was about a $20 million infusion by the Carlyle Group and H.I.G. Ventures in a Southern California-based company named REVShare. Your friend and mine, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), has made a push into Cost-Per-Action (CPA) advertising. CPA advertising is the holy grail for advertisers, because the advertiser only pays when an action he defines (like purchasing a product) occurs. This has long been a mainstay of internet advertising, as it's relatively easy to gauge such metrics. Commission Junction, part of ValueClick, (NASDAQ: VCLK) has been making a living at this for a long time (in relative web years). Television, on the other hand, has always been a slippery bugger.
Until REVShare. According to Tech Crunch, REVShare "...manages those ads that urge viewers to call a 1-800 number or go to a website. The company has relationships with 1,500 TV stations (most of these tend to be local, infomercial-style ads)." The rest is metrics -- providing the advertisers with enough info to match what they're willing to spend on a new sale with the cost of advertising.
Very interesting stuff. As Google has made its mark into newspaper, radio, and even in-game advertising, maybe REVShare and television advertising is next on the horizon.
Zack Miller is the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund. The author holds a long-term position in GOOG.
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