Want to add more to your advertising arsenal? Consider the benefits of ad-supported payment options.

Google revolutionized the online advertising industry when it introduced its innovative bidding system. For the first time companies could let the market value of a term dictate its price. However, years later, the concept is quickly becoming outdated, just as the preceding approaches did.

Think of it this way: Would you rather bid for a word or for the actual customer?

Without a doubt, bidding directly for a customer is much more appealing, but unfortunately that's not the way it works on platforms like Google AdWords.

With AdWords, you have the privilege of bidding to pay a certain amount of money every time a potential customer clicks on your selected word. This continues to be one of the more effective models and has proven its place in a comprehensive marketing campaign, but other, more cost-effective modes of customer acquisition should be looked at as well. Consider, for example, the emerging idea of ad-supported payments.

According to a study by Javelin Research, roughly 90 million Americans (30 percent of the population) will be using alternative payment methods by 2012. This includes the use of services like PayPal, Google Checkout and Bill Me Later, but it also includes ad-supported payment options like my company, TrialPay, that marketers should consider as part of their advertising arsenal.

It's a mutually beneficial model for online merchants and online advertisers that can create two transactions out of a situation where there may have been none. Essentially, ad-supported payments enable an online merchant to offer free (or discounted) goods or services to customers that choose to transact with one highly qualified advertiser.

For example, let's say John Q. Public is researching his options to buy a piece of anti-virus software online. He has found a piece of software that he likes, but he doesn't quite want to pay the $49 licensing fee. He contemplates the purchase and considers if he should pay by credit card, pay by PayPal or get it for free. 

Wait a second, what? The third option throws him for a loop, but he clicks on the "free" button to investigate and is presented with dozens of offers from qualified advertisers -- from signing up for a free trial at Stamps.com, to shopping at the Gap or Home Depot, to buying a diamond on Diamond.com.

Incentive marketing has been around forever (like the free t-shirt I got for my favorite sports team when I signed up for a low-interest credit card) but until now, marketers have had to guess which combination of products would be attractive to potential customers. The problem is, even making an educated guess is imperfect since every potential customer is different and finds value in different things. A perfect example: Who would have thought about giving away anti-virus software for buying a diamond?

Guess what? It happened. Someone recently received a free copy of ZoneAlarm's anti-virus software by purchasing a diamond on Diamond.com. True story.

Getting free anti-virus software for buying a diamond is an extreme example, but just as easily, the shopper could have spent money at the Gap, signed up for Blockbuster, or chosen from dozens of other advertisers. At that point in time, however, he happened to be in the market for a diamond.

The beauty here is in recognizing that different people find value in different things. A person who wasn't willing to spend $50 on a piece of software was willing to spend more than $1,000 on a diamond. As a result, ZoneAlarm made three times its asking price from a customer that was on-the-fence about purchasing (since Diamond.com was willing to pay $150 for a new customer), and Diamond.com got a new customer that could have gone to any other jewelry store in America.

Now, think back to Google AdWords.

Just as Google takes into consideration many factors when ranking its ads and search results, so too can ad-supported payment options. When a shopper checks-out with ad-supported payment, they're presented with dozens of options to make sure they find an offer that is appealing to them at that point in time. But, those offers can be ranked depending upon a shopper's geography, the original product he wanted to buy, cookies on his computer, or how much the advertiser is willing to pay to acquire a customer.

The maximum price an advertiser is willing to pay is completely up to the advertiser, but the kicker is, it only has to pay if it makes a sale.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more efficient cost-per-acquisition.

Alex Rampell is CEO of TrialPay.