When Google slid its new Text Link Ad product under the Pay-Per-Action rug, bloggers who noticed immediately started comparing the in-text advertisements to Snap.com's content preview bubbles. But Snap.com's none to happy about being lumped into the same camp as IntelliTXT.
While the in-text ads like the one IntelliTXT offers and Google appears to be offering look similar in format to Snap's preview bubbles, Paul Angles, Snap's marketing director, points out that there are no ads in those little pop-ups.
These content previews have been met by the blogosphere with mixed reactions. Bloggers such as Michael Arrington and Guy Kawasaki both use Snap on their sites. Robert Scoble tried it out, but the flurry of negative comments about it may have moved him to quit.
"Yes, some people still don't like us," said Angles. "But a lot more people tell us that they're frustrated with sites that don't have it."
Regardless, Snap is not the same as IntelliTXT. "Snap.com does not deliver in-content ads," he said. "Our preview bubbles give users valuable information about what a link points to. That’s it. No ads."
Angles was also sure to let us know that Snap would be releasing a major upgrade to its product at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco next month and that Snap.com has offered Pay-Per-Action search since May of last year.
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The only major upgrade I want to see for Snap would be one where the world's biggest steamroller crushes their servers into a fine white powder. At least w/text link ads you know what they are and you can avoid them. The Snap popups are a lot more annoying than ads because you have to make them pop up just to click a link. Don't lump them in with text links, it's an insult to text link ad companies.