Sean Johnson - Intentionally - The Education of Sean Johnson

Google just keeps it coming. In the coming weeks you might start seeing little telephones next to sponsored ads on Google pages. It’s called ‘click-to’call’ and it allows you to call the company directly from your computer - likely leveraging the technology they’ve implemented in Google Talk. Google apparently pays for the telephone charges, and the advertiser pays a fee for every call they receive.

I wonder how that will pan out given the pseudo-anonymous nature of the web. While it’s compelling to think that a user is a click away from calling you, what are the odds they’re going to do so based on your ad? Getting me to click on to your website or landing page is one thing - getting me to have a conversation with you over the phone is another entirely.