• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, January 26, 2007

In an uncertain search-engine marketing world, who really knows whether those click-throughs to your site are real leads or fraudulent link-pushers? SearchAdNetworks has a radical solution that insulates a media buyer from click fraud: Just pay your marketer by the lead he delivers.

SearchAdNetworks assumes the cost of the campaign, and clients such as WestwoodCollege only pay the firm when it gets a lead or a sale. “We are taking all the risk and doing the front-end work,” says president Andrew Beckman. SearchAdNetworks calls the program “Profit Through Performance.” It requires a strong partnership and mutual trust, says Beckman. In the case of Westwood, his team not only tweaks the creative on the front end, but can even go into the client’s home site to adjust the landing page. “We can enhance the conversion percentages,” he says.

SearchAdNetworks also tracks click fraud and tries to recoup losses from the engines. “We probably picked up $30,000 in refunds in the past few months,” says Beckman.