hyperkik - 5:03 am on Jun 26, 2006 (gmt 0)

Google's not doing this to lose money. Google is experimenting with the goal of making money. If the test shows that CPA will result in less money for Google (and thus for publishers), Google can be expected to reconsider or retool.

If Google can bring back some of the publishers who left the content network due to poor performance, or don't enter due to concerns of fraud, there will be more advertisers competing for the space. And yes, particularly for small sites, CPA may produce more of a revenue rollercoaster, but on the whole revenues to publishers should go up.

If Google doesn't enter this market (assuming it can be profitably incorporated into AdSense) it gives up a tremendous share of online advertising revenue. If it succeeds, it becomes that much harder for its competitors to displace it as the market leader.