Google continues to roll out its "click to call" test on a more widespread basis, reports the
Wall Street Journal. "Click-to-call" gives Web surfers the opportunity to talk with advertisers
by phone. They simply click on the little handset icon appearing beside the sponsored link, type in their phone number, and then Google simultaneously calls both the user and the advertiser, and they
chat over the Web. Like its pay-par-click service, the search giant charges advertisers for the number of calls they receive via the icon. These so-called pay-per-call services could become an
important new source of revenue for search engines. Time Warner's AOL, for example, recently deployed pay-per-call technology from tech services provider Ingenio. Both Microsoft and Yahoo say they
will soon be testing pay-per-call as well. Meanwhile, the Kelsey Group, a local market research firm, projects that pay-per-call could hit $3.82 billion by 2010, up from just $60 million this year.
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