Salesforce.com links up with Google AdWords

Kieden acquisition paves way for collaboration

Salesforce.com has linked up with Google's advertising program, AdWords, after acquiring an add-on with its purchase of tech firm Kieden.

Salesforce.com acquired San Francisco-based tech firm Kieden Corporation in August 2006, but has not disclosed any details of the deal, including the price tag.

The small tech firm has created an application that can be used to integrate AdWords with Salesforce.com's software, making it easier to manage the campaigns. The acquisition of Keiden sees Salesforce.com unveiling a new offering, called Salesforce for Google AdWords, which allows users to create, manage, and measure search engine marketing campaigns from directly within Salesforce.

"Business applications are moving to the business web and Salesforce for Google AdWords is a perfect example of the innovation that is possible when we embrace the reality that the future of software is on-demand business services," said Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com chairman and CEO.

During the pilot phase of the programme, which began on Tuesday, the new Salesforce offering will be available for a free 30 day trial to all Salesforce customers. The general availability release of Salesforce.com for Google AdWords is expected to take place during the second half of the year; from then, the service will cost $300 per organisation per month.

The product is available via the Salesforce.com AppExchange, the company's development environment which was launched in January 2006 and currently contains more than 300 applications from 200 companies.

The integrated system manages everything from the creation and placement of the ads to tracking the campaigns and measuring the campaign's effectiveness.

Salesforce.com believes its new offering addresses the growing popularity of search engine advertising, and the difficulties some firms may have with integrating the new medium into their existing business systems.

"Companies have been searching for better ways to understand how spending on online search engine advertising delivers real-world sales," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus Research. "Salesforce for Google AdWords bridges the gap to enable companies to track how, and if, their investment in online advertising actually delivers."

And according to a recent AMR Research survey, measuring return on marketing investment ranked as one of the top considerations with technology spend.

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