For centuries advertisers have almost proceeded on blind faith. They faced two problems. They never really knew how much people paid attention to their ads. And they hoped media spending would lead consumers to buy more, but they never really knew for sure. The search-based advertising business solved the first problem a few years ago: advertisers only pay when consumers click on an ad. Google didn’t invent this approach, but it did do more than anyone else to popularize it.

Now Google is rolling out a platform that solves the second problem. With Google’s “pay-for-action”, advertisers only pay when consumers do something–like actually buy the promoted product. This could revolutionize the advertising business. Companies might still spend for Super Bowl ads that reach millions of people, but they are likely to pay more for media that can deliver action–such as Google and those who follow it—-and less for media like newspapers and free-television that offer but a wing and a prayer for advertisers.

Google has yet again shown the tremendous power that comes to catalysts that use the incredible prowess of modern information technology for bringing together people who are looking for something and businesses selling something. Consumers will get better information on products and services, businesses will get more bang for their advertising dollars, and the process of exchange will work more smoothly and efficiently.

Unfortunately, traditional media–which have already taken a drubbing–have yet another reason to worry about the viabiliy of their creaky business models. Newspaper ad revenues declined significantly in February from a year before (7.5 percent at the New York Times and a whopping 14 percent at USA Today). One analyst referred to those as “scary numbers, given that we’re not in a recession.” Further declines are inevitable since print-based advertising platforms such as newspapers simply can’t match the innovations like “pay-for-action” coming from the Internet and digital-based platforms.

What’s your take on Google’s pay-per-action model? Is it the future of advertising? Will it spell doom for the newspaper industry?