Salesforce.com Buys Google AdWords Tool

Ad management company Salesforce.com has acquired the start-up Kieden, which offers analytics and search campaign management. With Kieden, Salesforce.com will begin offering search engine marketing services for clients that want to buy keywords on Google.

Kieden was only formed this January, and launched its software in May. From the beginning, the company intended its product to work with Salesforce.com. To develop its platform, Kieden used Salesforce.com's AppExchange program--which allows third-party developers to create programs specifically for Salesforce.com customers.

Rebecca Wetteman, vice president of technology research firm Nucleus Research, said Salesforce.com's acquisition of Kieden validates the AppExchange program. "Those great ideas wouldn't get into software before because it just took too much time and investment, and now we'll get to see some of those innovations, and that's great," she said. "It enables small companies to quickly develop and access the broader Salesforce.com customer base for prospecting, and it helps salesforce.com deliver more to their customers and add functionality."

The Salesforce for Google AdWords, which is being offered for $300 per company per month, aims to provide advertisers with information about exactly how much in sales is being generated by each Google AdWords keyword buy.

Wetteman said that the service could help companies to determine how, if at all, the keyword buys are affecting their bottom line. "It's going to enable companies to get a much better handle on is it worth it to buy AdWords on Google, and if it is, what keywords should I buy," she said. "So for the companies that have been buying AdWords on Google, this is a way for them to see is it worth it or not."

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