Google has introduced a new product: Google Consumer Surveys. The service lets anyone easily create a consumer survey which Google will then distribute across its “diverse publisher network” of online news sites, video creators, and app developers. The survey creator pays Google for each response received, and Google pays the publishers hosting the surveys for each response generated from their sites.
Here’s a video from Google showing how to set up a survey:
Surveys for Market Researchers
Anyone wanting to get consumer insight can create one of these consumer surveys. As you see in the video above, Google has made survey creation quick and painless, with a wizard to walk you through the steps. You can even target you survey by demographics.
Included is an option to randomize your multiple choice responses (in order to eliminate answer order bias).
Completion Incentives for Consumers
The surveys will be served up as premium content gates on selected publishers’ sites. In other words, just as you might require an email address for a newsletter, eBook, or white paper, taking the survey becomes the “cost” of getting at your premium content, whether that’s a special video, free app, or insider news story. Surveys are restricted to one question at a time in order to encourage more completions.
Publishers are allowed to give visitors a choice of action to receive the premium content. For example, you might let them know they can either answer the survey question or give you their email address.
In return, Google pays the publisher a small amount for each survey completed.
Aggregated and Analyzed Data Returned
Results are sent to survey creators as they happen, and are shown in a detailed analytics dashboard that displays the data broken out by various segments.
Google claims their distribution methodology is superior to many other surveys that are sent to predetermined “panels,” producing as close as possible a statistical sampling of the stratification of the US population on the Internet. Download their white paper with more details on methodology.
How would you use these consumer surveys? Do you agree they are worth paying for? Do you see advantages over other available consumer survey options? Or if you are a content publisher, would you be willing to gate your premium content with such surveys in return for compensation from Google?
Related articles
- Google’s Consumer Surveys Create Paywall Alternative (marketingpilgrim.com)
- Gain Customer Insight Through Google Consumer Surveys (sproutsocial.com)
- Google Consumer Surveys: A Third Way for Content Strategy (musicindustryblog.wordpress.com)
